Photo courtesy Early Music Now
Early Music Now harpsichord
Early Music Now's French-style harpsichord
A French-style harpsichord and a bass viol, of recent vintage, along with a 1754 Italian Baroque violin, were recently donated to Early Music Now (EMN), Milwaukee’s internationally known presenters and exponents of “pre-classical” music from earlier times and—increasingly—places far away from Western Europe.
Photo courtesy Early Music Now
Early Music Now's 1754 Italian Baroque violin
Early Music Now's 1754 Italian Baroque violin
The three instruments are the centerpiece of EMN’s gala fundraiser, 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 914 E. Knapp Street. Desserts, wine and other beverages will be served at the reception. The instruments will be heard in performances of Vivaldi, Rameau and Scarlatti by Christine Hauptly Annin (violin), Charlie Rasmussen (viol) and Fumi Nakayama (harpsichord). Afterward, attendees can view the instruments up close and ask questions of the musicians.
The gala is the launch event for EMN’s 37th season. Executive and Artistic Director Charles Grosz took charge six seasons ago and says that the mission remains the same. However, EMN has been “trying to find more non-traditional early music,” citing the
2019 “Mystical Arts of Tibet” concert by Tibetan monks, among others. “I’m trying to bring the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus but am dealing with innumerable State Department issues.”
This season’s EMN schedule of six visiting artists and ensembles includes a few surprising twists, especially Benjamin Bagby’s performance of Beowulf (Nov. 4), accompanying himself on Germanic harp in a well-researched imagining of Anglo-Saxon bardic music. Opening the season, New York Polyphony (Oct. 21) will include work by 20th century composers alongside their French-Flemish Renaissance predecessors. The eight-member Constantinople & Academia del Piacere (April 6) will compare Spanish Renaissance compositions with music from recently discovered manuscripts in the Near East. In addition, EMN’s core of Milwaukee musicians perform regularly in local hospitals, libraries and other institutions.
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“I’m always reaching out for collaboration with other Milwaukee arts groups,” Grosz says. Next summer, EMN musicians will accompany Optimist Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park series. For more information, visit earlymusicnow.org.
