I just put clean sheets on the bed for a houseguest this week, Patricia Halverson, viola da gamba player, who is coming to Honolulu as part of the trio called Chatham Baroque. The players also include Andrew Fouts, baroque violin;  and Scott Pauley, archlute and baroque guitar.

Sponsored by Early Music Hawaii, the concert will be Saturday, May 6th at 7:30 pm at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. The concert will be repeated Sunday, May 7th at 3:30 pm at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Kona. Their program is subtitled “A Mediterranean Odyssey,” and features dance music by Gaspar Sanz (1640 – 1710); Santiago de Murcia (1673 – 1739), Dario Castello (c. 1590 – c. 1658); Diego Ortiz (1525-1570); Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde (c. 1595 – c. 1638); Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713); Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741); Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (c. 1580 – 1681); Jean Baptiste Senaillé (1687 – 1730); Andrea Falconieri (c. 1586-1656); and Santiago de Murcia.

Here’s some information about the group:

“One of Pittsburgh’s greatest treasures” says the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Chatham Baroque continues to excite local, national and international audiences with dazzling technique and lively interpretations of 17th and 18th century music played on instruments of the period. Founded in 1990, Chatham Baroque continues to thrive with a full calendar of concerts, tours, musical collaborations, and the CD releases.

The trio of baroque violin, viola da gamba, theorbo/archlute and baroque guitar tours nationally and internationally and has recorded ten critically acclaimed CDs. The ensemble offers audiences the opportunity to hear baroque music that is accessible and thrillingly vivid, with a freshness akin to improvisational jazz. It has toured across the United States as well as in South America and Mexico, the Virgin Islands and Canada. The Washington Post calls them “musically impeccable”, the Chicago Tribune “a splendid period-instruments ensemble,” and the New York Times praises their “colorful virtuosity.”

Here’s an energetic performance of Diverse bizzarie Sopra la Vecchia Sarabanda ò pur Ciaccona by Nicola Matteis.

I’m looking forward to meeting my houseguest, whose bio is below:

Patricia Halverson, viola da gamba, holds a doctoral degree in Early Music Performance from Stanford University. After completing her graduate work, she studied in the Netherlands at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Patty is a founding member of Chatham Baroque and has been instrumental in raising the level of baroque chamber music in the Pittsburgh area. In addition to Chatham Baroque, Patty has performed recently with Ensemble VIII of Austin, Texas, the Washington Bach Consort, The Rose Ensemble of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, performing the Brandenburg Concertos. She teaches viola da gamba privately in the Pittsburgh area and in recent years has served on the faculty of the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s summer conclave.

You can hear sound clips of the group right on their website.

Here’s a video of one of the group’s concert selections. This “Piva” comes from Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger’s collection, Libro quarto d’intavolatura di chitarrone (1640), a book of solo music for theorbo. Though originally written for the chitarrone or theorbo, the Italian long-neck lute, the musicians of Chatham Baroque have arranged this tune for trio. The word “piva” means “bagpipe” in Italian, and you can hear the characteristic drone of the pipes throughout this charming piece.

You can purchase tickets for the concert by clicking here.

P.S. It will be a full weekend for me, with the Chatham Baroque concert on Saturday night, and the Cantate LCH choir concert on Sunday afternoon, May 7th at 5:00 pm. More about that concert in another post.