Friday, April 13, 2012
Ensemble Ursae Majoris (Alex Opsahl, cornet; David Sego, violin; Josh Lee, viola da gamba and Gilbert Martinez, Italian spinet and organ)
“Suonare e Passegiare”
Extravagant 17th-century Italian and Spanish Music
Ensemble Ursae Majoris (Alex Opsahl, cornet; David Sego, violin; Josh Lee, viola da gamba; and Gilbert Martinez, Italian spinet and organ) will delight with this unusual combination of instruments perfectly suited to a rarely performed but fabulous repertoire.
Dazzling variations and sparkling passagework are the hallmark of the music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. Instrumentalists in Italy and Spain enraptured listeners with virtuosity and daring showmanship. Ensemble Ursae Majoris perform on splendid replicas of old instruments such as the cornet (a curved wind instrument with a brass mouthpiece and finger holes), baroque violin, viola da gamba, chamber organ and Italian spinet (a little pentagonal shaped harpsichord strung in brass and plucked with bird quill). This concert will be a rare treat.
To order tickets, go to www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/196714
St Mark’s Episcopal Church, Parish Hall
2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
6 pm
$15 at the door (students, seniors and SFEMS members $13)
18 and under admitted free
$3 discount for online orders