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Do you enjoy Scottish music? This is your lucky day! Today’s Beautiful Music features a group of brilliant musicians playing a charming mini-concert called THE SCOTTISH TRADITION at the 2023 Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie in France. These performers are in the inner circle of Les Arts Florissants, the French ensemble founded in […]

There’s a good chance that you’re unfamiliar with an instrument called “cornet à bouquin.” It’s a wind instrument that originated in the early 16th century. It resembles a long, slightly curved recorder, and it is played with a mouthpiece similar to the type used for a brass instrument. Its sound is unique! Today’s Beautiful Music

LASCIA CH’IO PIANGA (Let me Weep) is an aria from George Frideric Handel’s 1711 opera RINALDO. Today’s Beautiful Music is a tender and delicate performance of LASCIA CH’IO PIANGA by two world-class musicians: soprano Ana Vieira Leite and theorbo player Thomas Dunford. They were recorded yesterday on the grounds at Festival Dans les Jardins de

Yesterday’s Beautiful Music post introduced you to the annual Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie which takes place in Thiré, France on the grounds of the magnificent gardens and home of Les Arts Florissants founder and leader, William Christie. The festival continues throughout this week, and will include the premiere St. Mark Passion, a

In 1979, Buffalo, NY-born musician William Christie founded the period instrument ensemble Les Arts Florissants (LAF), and 13 years ago he founded an annual summer music festival in the tiny, remote French village of Thiré. There are nightly grand performances of baroque operas and sacred compositions by LAF musicians, as well as Juilliard School of

The late Peter Schickele was a composer who is often known better for his alter-ego — PDQ Bach. The fictional composer’s biography included being born on April 1, 1742 — the 21st of Johann’s 20 children, the youngest and oddest of Johann Sebastian’s 20-odd children. But Peter Schickele also had a significant body of work

Yesterday’s Beautiful Music featured a performance by keyboard virtuosa Barbara Harbach. Dr. Harbach is also an extraordinary composer, and today’s Beautiful Music is one of her compositions. SYMPHONY FOR FERGUSON was commissioned by the Missouri Humanities Council and premiered in October 2015. There is an additional link below with more information about the work.  https://www.jwpepper.com/Symphony-No.-10—Symphony-of-Ferguson/11315676.item?srsltid=AfmBOoo3WeI0VtNEBYtl3_WciFMsdQoNUVIE8vTQJltqQoHbxhQ2yCnD

Musician Barbara Harbach is a composer, arranger, performer, recording artist and editor. I was first introduced to Dr. Harbach as a harpsichordist who played and recorded a variety of baroque and classical era music. So today’s Beautiful Music is Barbara Harbach’s performance of a keyboard solo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

New Orleans native Eugenie Rocherolle is a composer, pianist, and teacher who earned her BA in music at Newcomb College of Tulane University. She spent her Junior Year of college in Paris where she had a class with renowned composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. Today’s Beautiful Music is a performance of Eugenie Rocherolle’s BLUES CONCERTO, featuring a young pianist and

As a huge fan of woodwind quintet music, I love sharing performances by the spectacularly talented Imani Winds. They are five outstanding instrumentalists with an eclectic and exciting repertory. Today’s Beautiful Music features Imani Winds playing STARTIN SUMTHIN, a composition for woodwind quintet by a member of their group, founding horn player (and composer) Jeff