ON FRIDAY, JULY 25, SOPRANO DOMINIQUE LABELLE SINGS MUSIC FROM THE FRENCH BAROQUE AT ASTON MAGNA AT BARD
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—Aston Magna at Bard, whose concert series has been described by the New York Times as "America's preeminent summer early-music event," will present the fourth concert of its 2003 series on Friday evening, July 25. Under the artistic direction of Daniel Stepner, Aston Magna aims to interpret the music of the past as each composer imagined it. For three decades, Aston Magna has been internationally recognized for its contributions to the popularization of early music performed with historically accurate instruments and techniques. The concert, presented by The Bard Center, will begin at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall. A preconcert talk begins at 7:00 p.m.
Internationally acclaimed soprano Dominique Labelle will sing music of Louis-Nicolas Clérambault and Michel Pignolet de Montéclair for this Aston Magna, La Belle France. Clérambault’s Léandre et Héro will be paired with Montéclair’s Pan et Syrinx. Flutist Christopher Krueger will perform Jean Marie Leclair’s Sonata for Flute and Continuo in E Minor, Op. 9, No. 2. The program also will include instrumental works by Marin Marais, Louis Couperin, and Jean-Philippe Rameau. In addition to flutist Krueger, musicians also include Stepner, baroque violin; Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba; and John Gibbons, harpsichord.
For its final event on Friday, August 1, Aston Magna celebrates its three decades of music making with a performance of the complete Brandenburg Concertos by J. S. Bach. Among the many soloists will be Josh Cohen, trumpet; John Gibbons, harpsichord; Stephen Hammer, oboe and recorder; Christopher Krueger, flute and recorder; and Daniel Stepner and Nancy Wilson, violins. Stepner will also lead the instrumental ensemble.
Daniel Stepner
, artistic director, is a distinguished violinist of great versatility. He has performed and recorded contemporary music with Boston Musica Viva; the sonatas of Charles Ives with pianist John Kirkpatrick; and solo works, chamber works, and concertos from the baroque and classical eras on period instruments. He is first violinist with the Lydian String Quartet and has served as concertmaster of the Handel & Haydn Society, Banchetto Musicale, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, and New Haven Symphony, and as associate concertmaster of Frans Brüggen's Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. Stepner has taught at the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Longy School of Music.Aston Magna at Bard
is made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, and the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and the Leon Levy Foundation at Bard College. Single tickets cost $20. For information on the concert series and to order tickets, call The Bard Center at 845-758-7425.# # #
(6.16.03)