Bach's Birthday Bash

LA FOLLIA AUSTIN BAROQUE presents an online concert Bach’s Birthday Bash Concertos by the Master on his Birthday Anton Nel, harpsichord Stephen Redfield, violin Marcus McGuff, Baroque flute Release date: March 21, 2021, at 6pm Bach’s Birthday Bash Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 I. Allegro / II. Adagio / III. Allegro assai Stephen Redfield, violin Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 I. Allegro / II. Adagio / III. Allegro Anton Nel, harpsichord Orchestral Suite no. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 I. Ouverture / II. Rondeaux / III. Sarabande IV. Bourrée I/II / V. Polonaise / Double / VI. Menuet and Battinerie Marcus McGuff, Baroque flute 2 The Baroque Concerto The Baroque concerto generally, and concertos by Bach specifically, are different animals from their Classic and Romantic counterparts. While there are certainly many opportunities for the soloist to stand out alone in virtuosic passages, more typically the instrumentalist is engaged in either dialogue or integration with the ensemble acting as equals in developing or reinforcing thematic material. Notably, the soloist seldom rests (in fact never rests in these concerti). That requires considerable physical and mental stamina over the course of a 20-30 minute composition! The movements are organized in the Italian style, like Vivaldi’s concertos, which Bach intensely studied. Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 Written when Bach was either at the court in Köthen or when he was in Leipzig , this is a joyful romp with a beautiful grace to it. We do not have an original manuscript in Bach’s hand, but we do have his own arrangement of this piece for harpsichord, so its authenticity is beyond question. Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 This substantial concerto was actually an compilation and re-arrangment of sinfonias from two different church cantatas, with organ as the solo instrument. Although latest scholarship suggests that the original version of this concerto used organ as the solo instrument, we do have a manuscript in Bach’s hand of this concerto, for harpsichord, made around 1738. Orchestral Suite no. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 Bach wrote four orchestral suites. This second one is in the French style (hence the Frenchified movement names). It features the Baroque flute, or traverso, in all movements, playing nearly continuously. We have a manuscript in Bach’s hand (for two of the parts) dating from around 1738. Like the concerti, as often as not, the flute is engaged with the ensemble as equals in developing the musical material. Otherwise, it is essentially a flute concerto in suite form. The closing Battinerie is a tour-de-force of flute literature. 3 Anton Nel, harpsichord, winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall, enjoys a remarkable and multifaceted career that has taken him to North and South America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. Following an auspicious debut at the age of twelve with Beethoven’s C Major Concerto after only two years of study, the Johannesburg native captured first prizes in all the major South African competitions while still in his teens, toured his native country extensively and became a well-known radio and television personality. A student of Adolph Hallis, he made his European debut in France in 1982, and graduated with highest distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He came to the United States in 1983, attending the University of Cincinnati, where he pursued his Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees under Bela Siki and Frank Weinstock. Highlights of Mr. Nel’s nearly four decades of concertizing include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the symphonies of Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Detroit, and London, and many others. As recitalist he has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum and the Frick Collection in New York, at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, Davies Hall in San Francisco, and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Internationally he has performed recitals in major concert halls in Canada, England, France, Holland, Japan, Korea, and South Africa. Eager to pursue dual careers in teaching and performing, he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in his early twenties, followed by professorships at the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Michigan, where he was chairman of the piano department. In January 2010 he became the first holder of the new Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair in Piano at the University of Texas at Austin. Anton Nel became a citizen of the United States of America on September 11, 2003. He is a Steinway artist. 4 Stephen Redfield, violin, concertmaster for La Follia, also leads the orchestras of Conspirare, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Arizona Bach Festival and Victoria Bach Festival. A long-time participant with the Oregon Bach Festival, he has performed there as concertmaster, principal and soloist, and has participated in numerous recordings including the Grammy® award-winning disc Credo. Stephen served for five years as Assistant Concertmaster with the Austin Symphony while earning a doctorate at the Uni- versity of Texas. He also performs internationally as a soloist and a chamber musician on both modern and Baroque violin. Stephen teaches violin at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music, where he joins his colleagues in the Impromptu Piano Trio. In 2019, Stephen received the Austin Critics Table award for best classical instrumentalist. Marcus McGuff, Baroque flute (traverso), plays both modern and Baroque flute. He holds degrees in flute performance from the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts in flute from the University of Michigan. In addition, he holds degrees in mathematics from the University of Rochester. He has taught flute at Austin Community College and at Concordia University. Currently, he is Professor of Mathe- matics at Austin Community College and teaches flute privately. He has studied Baroque flute with Wilbert Hazelzet, Michael Lynn, and Jed Wentz and modern flute with Bonita Boyd. 5 Joan Carlson, violin, is a tenured member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and plays regularly with Austin Baroque Orchestra. Also a singer, she is a member of the San Antonio Chamber Choir and performs both as violinist and soprano with La Follia and Austin Baroque Orchestra. Bruce Colson, violin, winner of the Austin Critics Table 2017 award for Best Classical Instrumentalist, holds a degree in music from the University of Texas. He is a member of the Austin Opera orchestra and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. Stephanie Raby-Noori, viola, is an active soloist and chamber musician and a specialist in early music performance. Ms. Raby earned a masters degree in Early Music at Indiana Jacobs School of Music and in 2015 she was a final- ist in the Early Music International Young Artists Competi- tion in York, England with her chamber ensemble Les Touches. She is currently the concertmaster for Austin Ba- roque Orchestra and a founding member of the chamber ensemble Les Touches and multimedia performing arts organization Lumedia Mu- sicworks. David Dawson, bass, winner of a GRAMMY® Award, currently teaches bass, music theory and humanities at Texas State Uni- versity. A former member of the professional orchestras of San Antonio and Ft. Worth, he serves as the Principal Bassist for Austin Opera. 6 Eric Smith, cello, has been praised by critics for his “flawless lightness and grace” and called “the very model of an elegant cellist”. Eric is a multi-faceted musician, performing early music on period instruments, to contemporary music. As a soloist, chamber musician, and continuo player, Eric has collabo- rated with the Dallas Bach Society, Orchestra of New Spain, Texas Camerata, Ars Lyrica Houston, Sonare, Ensemble VIII, Denton Bach Society, Dallas Chamber Players, Bach Society of Houston, New York’s Concert Royal, and the New York Baroque Dance Company. His recordings have been heard on both NPR’s Performance Today, and Public Radio Interna- tional, and he was featured in an interview in the 125th Anniversary issue of The Strad magazine. Praised a performer with “unconventional ludic drive” by the press, Mario Aschauer works as conductor, harpsichordist, and musicologist at the interface of music scholarship and performance. As Associate Professor of Music, Mario teaches music history, historically informed performance and early keyboard instruments at the Sam Houston State Uni- versity School of Music (Huntsville, TX). He holds an MA in harpsichord performance from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, an MPhil and a PhD in musicology from the University of Vienna, as well as a degree in conducting from the Linz Bruckner Conservatory. As a performer on historical keyboard instruments Mario has built up a diverse reper- toire specializing in Austrian Baroque music. He is member of the Calamus-Consort, which won first prize at the International H.I.F. Biber Competetion in 2009 and since then has been invited to numerous renowned early music festivals such as Reso- nanzen Wien, Bach Fest Leipzig (Germany), and Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord Vert (France). His book on German Keyboard Treatises in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Cen- tury (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2011) is considered a standard reference in the field. 7 La Follia is deeply grateful to the following people and institutions

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