BAROQUE & BEYOND

2nd Annual Baroque Music Festival


February 15 – 23, 2008

In collaboration with the Houston Camerata Ventepane
Barrett Sills, Artistic Director

17 internationally-acclaimed artists converge for a week of baroque concerts and recitals in the heart of Mexico, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato


Welcome to the 2nd Annual Baroque Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende. For your enjoyment, we bring international talents from Mexico, France, Germany, Russia, Colombia and the United States. We present music from the Baroque period in the beautiful and intimate environments this music was conceived for, with the rich and balanced sound of period instruments. We aim to transport the audiences to an age of elegance and nobility, making each concert a unique experience that contributes to making the whole Festival an unforgettable week for all participants. History will become alive as the magic and traditions of San Miguel transport us to ]the time when much of our civilization was born. Participants will have the opportunity to enjoy the lovely venues chosen for the concerts and linger to socialize and meet our performers. Your attendance will give you Baroque music, blended with the other fine arts: architecture, painting, sculpture, dance and literature, in a fundraising effort to help keep San Miguel’s music scene vibrant and well (registered charitable receipts available).
FESTIVAL THEME
For this year’s Festival, we have chosen to bring to life music that includes plucked string instruments, from romantic love songs, to dances like the fiery Fandango. Plucked string instruments like guitar, lute, theorbo and harpsichord were very popular during the Baroque period all over Europe and in Mexico. The old tradition of serenades, still alive in Mexico today, is often associated with the sounds of these instruments.

The Baroque era was the connection between the Renaissance and the Classical period, roughly spanning a century and a half from 1600 to 1750. The Baroque age saw not only the flourishing of new musical forms that remain in use to this date, but also new ideas in architecture, literature, philosophy and science. The brilliant discoveries of Galileo, the physics of Newton the expositions of Descartes, Spinoza and Locke are products of this age. In Mexico, cities like San Miguel de Allende were designed and developed during this period, giving them the charm and nobility that still make them very attractive places to visit and live. The music you will hear this week covers the era when San Miguel de Allende was being built and the murals
of the Atotonilco Sanctuary were being painted.

 

FESTIVAL HISTORY
•The Baroque Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato began in 2007 with the vision of Festival Co-Directors Henry Kirby and Rodrigo Antonio Treviño Lozano, to bring together musicians from the U.S. and Mexico in a baroque city and to introduce the magic of the baroque era via the music. In collaboration the Houston Camerata Ventapane, the vision was realized. •The first year was a resounding success that made way for ProMusica to develop a closer relationship with the Houston Camerata Ventapane, and helped satisfy the desire of devoted San Miguel patrons for more top quality chamber music performances during the year. The Baroque Music Festival has been so successful that for 2009, there are plans to expand its chamber music offerings to other cities in Mexico. With this successful festival reaching an ever-expanding audience, San Miguel El Grande ProMusica and Camerata Ventapane are proud to present the 2nd Annual Baroque Music Festival – Baroque & Beyond!

 

BAROQUE INSTRUMENT EXHIBIT
The Marvel of Strings
Exhibitions of Baroque String Instruments from 1500 to 1789
Sponsored by The Escuela de Lauderia of Queretaro A week long exhibit of String Musical instruments of the Baroque Period, at the Belles Artes Cultural Center, displays for the first time in San Miguel, a selection of string instrument replicas from the Baroque era, in which the choice of materials, the richness and the sound and the quality of the decorations reveal the intention of creating a visual work of art, in addition to musical enchantment.
Among the instruments displayed: an extraordinary selection of plucked and bowed instruments which include a 6-string baroque guitar, a lute, two extraordinary violins with the bottom and sides completely sculpted and carved.

•“KEYBOARD WIZARDRY” CONFERENCE: Friday, Feburary 15th at 12:00 PM
The exhibit will open with a presentation on building harpsichords courtesy of Juan Luis Garcia Orozco (harpsichord builder and tuner).

•“MUSIC AT THE DRESDEN COURT” RECITAL: Friday, Feburary 23rd at 12:00 PM
The exhibit will close with a 45-min musical tribute to the largest instrument of the plucked sting family, the harpsichord.  You won’t want to miss “Music at the Dresden Court”, performed by German Early music master Sebastian Knebel.

 

SILENT AUCTION
This years’ Festival poster artwork was especially designed to commemorate the 2nd Annual Baroque Music Festival’s theme, the Marvel of Strings. Local artist,
Armando Martinez was commissioned to create the poster image. 
•The original painting will be on exhibit the entire week along with the Baroque instruments exhibit at the Bellas Artes salon on the first floor.  
•A Silent Auction of the original masterpiece artwork will be held the night of the Gala Party at the Atotonilco Hacienda on the evening of Saturday, Feburary 23. You do not need to be present at the auction to place a bid. Bids may be placed at the exhibition salon in Bellas Artes.
•Proceeds from the auction go to benefit the continued efforts of San Miguel el Grande Pro Music in collaboration with the Houston Camerata Ventepane, to bring world-class chamber music to the San Miguel del Allende community.