HOUSTON EARLY MUSIC
P. O. Box 271193
Houston, TX 77277-1193
HoustonEarlyMusic.org
Media contact:
Susan Love Fitts, 936-597-8825
susan@susanlovefitts.com
Houston Early Music Announces 2014-2015 Concert Season
HOUSTON – July 8, 2014 – Join Houston Early Music for its expanded 2014-2015 Concert
Season featuring six renowned early music ensembles. Dedicated to showcasing music from
the Middle Ages through the 18th century, Houston Early Music presents concerts performed
with historical instruments and styles true to the period. This season will encompass both
masterworks and little-known gems with the goal of inspiring audiences to reimagine the past.
“Our artists breathe new life into the music from an earlier era, giving the audience an aural
glimpse of how the music would have sounded in an earlier time," said Nancy Ellis, artistic
director of Houston Early Music. "The emotions that the musical works evoke resonate with
modern audiences just as they must have with listeners for hundreds of years."
Houston Early Music continues its commitment to its Emerging Artists Series and Hispanic
Heritage Series this season. Five of the six performances also feature a discussion program
with ensemble members prior to the performances, as part of Houston Early Music’s
educational outreach initiative.
APOLLO’S FIRE, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra – Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of
1610
Monteverdi forged a vivid, new musical style with this choral masterpiece by evoking the
struggle between the archaic and the revolutionary. Led by Jeannette Sorrell, award-winning
harpsichordist, the Apollo’s Fire period orchestra, chamber choir and seven solo vocalists
bring this rich, magnificent work to one of Houston’s most dramatic concert settings.
The concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, at Co-Cathedral of the
Sacred Heart. A pre-concert talk with Jeannette Sorrell starts at 6:45 p.m.
TAFELMUSIK – The Galileo Project
Explore a fusion of arts and science! Tafelmusik performs the music of Monteverdi, Vivaldi,
Bach and Handel, enhanced by poetic narration and choreography, with a backdrop of highdefinition images captured by the Hubble Telescope. This concert is offered in collaboration
with Da Camera of Houston.
The program begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, at Cullen Theater at Wortham
Center. Houston Early Music subscribers receive a discount on preferred seating for this
concert. Single tickets will be available from Da Camera of Houston, 713-524-5050 or
dacamera.com. Free admission for children does not apply to this performance.
Hispanic Heritage Series: EL MUNDO – Villancicos y Cantadas de Navidad
Houston audience favorite El Mundo returns with a celebration of holiday music from Italy,
Spain and her colonies in the New World. Join director, Baroque guitarist and lutenist Richard
Savino and the ensemble for a festive multicultural extravaganza that includes newly
discovered vocal and instrumental works from the archives of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
The event is scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12, 2014, at Christ Church Cathedral. A
preconcert talk with Richard Savino begins at 7:15 p.m.
CIARAMELLA – Make a Joyful Noise
Hear the joyful noise of shawms, recorders, bagpipes and sackbuts improvising florid
polyphony over songs, dances and sacred chant. Praised for performing intricate 15th-century
counterpoint “with the ease of jazz musicians improvising on a theme” (The Cleveland Plain
Dealer), Ciaramella brings to life the music of the Burgundian Alta Capella ensembles that
piped across Renaissance Europe. This is a main stage concert for the 2015 Houston Early
Music Festival.
The performance begins at 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, at First Evangelical Lutheran
Church. A preconcert talk by Ciaramella artists begins at 2:15 p.m.
Emerging Artists Series: THE SEBASTIANS – Bach and Forth
Praised for their “well-thought-out articulation and phrasing” (Early Music Review) as well as
being "everywhere sharp-edged and engaging" (The New York Times), The Sebastians took
the Audience Prize at the 2012 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition.
Daniel S. Lee and Alexander Woods (violins), Ezra Seltzer (cello) and Jeffrey Grossman
(harpsichord) will present a concert of dynamic trio sonatas by J.S. Bach, Handel, Buxtehude,
Rosenmuller, Erlebach and Telemann.
The event is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2015, at First Evangelical Lutheran
Church. The preconcert talk by The Sebastians at begins at 6:45 p.m.
QUICKSILVER – Stile Moderno, New Music from the 17th Century
Numbered among the cultural revolutions of the 17th century was music. Composers
consciously created a stile moderno of dramatic oppositions and vivid emotions. “Revered
like rock stars within the early music scene” (The New York Times), Quicksilver vibrantly
explores this virtuosic, experimental and deeply moving “new music” by Castello, Fontana,
Merula and Marini, performed on baroque violins, cello and harpsichord.
The event is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2015, at Salem Evangelical Lutheran
Church. A preconcert talk by Robert Mealy, Quicksilver co-director, begins at 6:45 p.m.
SUBSCRIPTION / TICKET INFORMATION:
Full season subscriptions and individual tickets for the Houston Early Music 2014-2015
season are available now and can be purchased at HoustonEarlyMusic.org.
Until August 1, a discounted full-season subscription for all six concerts is $180 general
admission and $155 senior admission. After August 1, full-season subscriptions may be
purchased for $200 general admission and $175 senior admission.
A mini-pass option, which provides a selection of any three concerts, is also available for
$110 general admission and $95 for seniors. Individual tickets are available for $40 general
admission, $35 senior admission and $20 for students with a valid student ID card. Children
under the age of 15 receive free admission.
For more information, e-mail info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org or call 281-846-4222.
SEASON OVERVIEW:
Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
APOLLO’S FIRE, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra – Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers
of 1610
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
1701 San Jacinto St.
Houston, Texas 77002
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
TAFELMUSIK – The Galileo Project
Cullen Theater at Wortham Center
500 Texas Ave.
Houston, Texas 77002
Friday, Dec. 12, 2014, 8 p.m.
HISPANIC HERITAGE SERIES
EL MUNDO – Villancicos y Cantadas de Navidad
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Ave.
Houston, Texas 77002
Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, 3 p.m.
CIARAMELLA – Make a Joyful Noise
First Evangelical Lutheran Church
1311 Holman St.
Houston, Texas 77004
Friday, March 27, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
EMERGING ARTISTS SERIES
THE SEBASTIANS – Bach and Forth
First Evangelical Lutheran Church
1311 Holman St.
Houston, Texas 77004
Friday, April 10, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
QUICKSILVER – Stile Moderno, New Music from the 17th Century
Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church
4930 West Bellfort St.
Houston, Texas 77035
ABOUT HOUSTON EARLY MUSIC
As the city’s only organization dedicated to covering the large historical span of early music
in all of its forms, Houston Early Music epitomizes a movement that has swept the world of
classical music. Officially incorporated in 1969, the nonprofit provides performance
opportunities for up-and-coming and major early music artists from around the world in an
annual concert series. A successful educational outreach program introduces a future
generation to a broad range of music. Houston Early Music is funded in part by grants from
the Houston Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts and The National Endowment
for the Arts.
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Attached photo:
Houston Early Music’s 2014-2015 season includes its third annual Emerging Artists Series
concert, featuring The Sebastians, an up-and-coming group specializing in the Baroque and
Classical eras. To view the full line-up for the season and to purchase tickets, visit
HoustonEarlyMusic.org or call 281-846-4222.
Photo courtesy of Houston Early Music and The Sebastians.
Media contact:
Susan Love Fitts
Susan Love Fitts Communications Inc.
936-597-8825
susan@susanlovefitts.com