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Sunday January 30, 2022
Emerson Avenue Salonlines Proudly Presents
a Live YouTube Broadcast

– A “hybrid” concert –

Rosa Lamoreaux, voice
Michael Bard, guitar
Jon Nazdin, contrabass

Sing Aloud Harmonious Spheres

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A lovely intimate program of classical repertoire as well as favorites from the great American SongBook

Program notes:
In this eclectic program we begin with the connection of 17^th century France and England through elegant love songs from the court. Though the lute was the traditional courtly instrument in the late 16^th and early 17^th centuries the guitar alternated between splendor and neglect eventually establishing dominance by the middle of the 17^th century as the accompanying instrument of choice.

We open with Sing Aloud Harmonious Spheres, found in a recently discovered collection of songs from mid 17^th c. at the Bodelian Library, Broxbourne England. Our program includes a few songs with no known composer. The text source is also vague but a delight to sing and invites music into our ears. Historians often assume this indicates an uncredited female composer or an etude piece which became popular as in the very popular Romanza, for guitar and bass, a bit later in the program. Strike the Viol is from the Ode to Queen Mary’s Birthday (1694) by the prolific but short-lived court musician, Henry Purcell. This elegant text attributed to the poet laureate at the time, Nahum Tate, depicts the grace and gift of music. A most elegant lute song by John Dowland is the curiously titled, Tarleton’s Resurrection, a musical tribute to Richard Tarleton, renowned court jester for Queen Elizabeth I. After his sudden death, Tarleton, skilled actor, professional fool, playwright and poet/essayist, was lauded and commemorated by his peers. The tune incorporated by Dowland, a most important musician in the Queen’s Court at the time, is now attributed to Tarleton himself.

We continue the elegance of the Renaissance with two French Airs de Cour beginning with the beautiful song, Enfin la beauté, a rare text on requited love, followed by Ma belle si ton âme, a sort of “Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May sentiment”- don’t squander the youth of love, but go for it!

Two beloved songs from the vast oeuvre of Reynaldo Hahn composed in a neo-baroque style gently escort us from the 17^th to the 19^th c. where we stay for an early 20^th c. guitar favorite, followed by three Fauré works. Pavane was arranged for us by the talented young composer, Justus Parrotta. Continuing south, Michael and Jon roam around Spain and bring us along for the fun. We three truly enjoy exploring repertoire of all eras and genres that fit the instruments at hand. So, from adapting the scoring for accompanying instruments such as the lute and piano to guitar and bass, we travel through Europe and end up in the Great American Songbook, North and South. We hope you will enjoy the journey.

Program

Click Here for Translations

17^th c. English Court Songs

17^th c. Airs de Cour

BIOGRAPHIES

Acclaimed in the Washington Post for “scrupulous musicianship…gorgeous sound and stylistic acuity”*, soprano Rosa Lamoreaux has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Center for the Performing Arts, in opera and oratorio, chamber music and as a recitalist. Recent highlights include Bach cantatas and the B minor Mass at the Bethlehem Bach Festival, Rameau and Lully with Opera Lafayette in Washington DC and New York City, St. John Passion of J.S. Bach at Strathmore Center for the Arts, French baroque cantatas in Philadelphia with Tempesta di Mare, live film scores for Hollywood’s silent movies, performances with the Folger Consort, and with her newest venture, OpenPageEnsemble commissioning and performing works of 20^th and 21^st c. composers. Ms. Lamoreaux has earned a solid reputation in the realms of early and contemporary opera, most recently, as the Mother in the premiere of Lost Childhood, by Janice Hamer, with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. As a recitalist her venues include the Terrace Theatre, National Gallery of Art, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Holocaust Museum, and the Phillips Collection. In demand as a chamber music performer, Ms. Lamoreaux has toured with Musicians from Marlboro, and performs with the Folger Consort, ArcoVoce, Opera Lafayette, and Musica Aperta, in wide-ranging small-ensemble repertoire spanning early chant to present-day works. She is the recipient of numerous WAMMIE awards.

Michael Bard is an active musician, composer and teacher who resides near Washington, D.C. He has performed as a soloist and with various musical ensembles throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, North Africa, South America, Central America and the Middle East. He has also been featured on various radio and television programs around the world.  Michael was chosen for multiple tours by the U.S. State Department to concertize throughout Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and the kingdom of Morocco with fellow guitarist Corey Whitehead. Billing themselves as ‘Douze Cordes’ Michael and Corey effectively served as cultural ambassadors, offering diplomacy through music.

While pursuing graduate studies at Arizona State University, Tempe, Michael was awarded a full scholarship to study at l’Accademia “Ottocento” in Vigevano, Italy, a school which specializes in the classical guitar music of the 19th century. During that time he also participated in a concert tour of northern Italy and Switzerland.

Michael has also performed as rhythm guitarist for Higher Octave/Virgin recording artists Shahin and Sepehr with whom he has toured nationally and abroad and also appeared on their fourth album “World Cafe” which peaked at #18 on the Billboard charts and was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He has performed often with The Choral Arts Society of Washington and performed the Spanish guitar accompaniment for the award winning NAXOS recording “Celebrating Sacred Rhythms” featuring Ariel Ramirez’ “Misa Criolla” & “Navidad Nuestra.”

Michael currently performs & records with Washington D.C. based Latin Rumba-Flamenco group Trio Caliente, which has released 3 albums, performed nationally, and whose music was featured on NBC’s former hit TV show “Smash” as well as E! Entertainment Society Television Network. He has served as Vice President of the Dayton Classical Guitar Society as well as Vice President of the Washington Guitar ​​Society.

Jon Nazdin, contrabass, is a native of Washington DC. A graduate of The Berklee College of Music, he plays all genres of music on double bass and electric bass.  Noteworthy highlights include working with Barbra Streisand, The Three Tenors, George Benson, Doc Severinson, Yo-yo Ma and his Silk Road project, Denise Graves, Branford Marsalis.  Mr. Nazdin has appeared on numerous “indie” recording projects.

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