Next Meeting:
Virtual Mini-workshop with Frances Blaker
Saturday, May 4 10:00am
Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque
Take a tour through time with a stop off in late medieval Burgundy, renaissance Denmark and 18th century Sweden. In Binchois’ Triste Plaisir we find the classic chanson, with its steady foundation in the tenor, fluid lyricism in the superius and quirky contratenor with its surprising leaps and rhythmic spice. The mysterious (= basically unknown) composer of Christian IV’s royal Danish court, Benedict Greebe, left this beautiful and lively Pavan-Galliard set to please our musical spirits and make us wonder what other wonderful pieces he wrote that have not survived into our time. The Baroque composer Johan Helmich Roman made a bigger mark in music history. Greatly influenced by G. F. Handel, Roman wrote operas and orchestral music as well as his set of 12 flute sonatas (the beautiful facsimile of which can be found on imslp). We will study the final movement, a minuetto, of his sonata no. 9.
About Frances: Frances Blaker, Recorders performs on recorders of all types and sizes as soloist and with Ensemble Vermillian, Calextone, Farallon Recorder Quartet and Tibia Recorder Duo. As a member of Ensemble Vermillian she explores, transcribes, performs and records chamber music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She has performed as soloist with the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra and with numerous other groups, appearing around the U. S. and Denmark, England, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. She is conductor and music director of the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and (until the pandemic) of BABO (Bay Area Baroque Orchestra), a community orchestra for accomplished amateur players.
Ms. Blaker teaches privately in person and long distance via Zoom/Facetime, and at workshops throughout the U. S. She has recorded with Ensemble Vermillian and the Farallon Recorder Quartet. As co-director of Tibia Adventures in Music with Letitia Berlin, she organizes workshops in the U. S. and Europe. She is Co-Executive Director of Amherst Early Music, where she is also director of the summer Amherst Early Music Festival. In 2022 Frances Blaker and Letitia Berlin jointly received the American Recorder Society’s Distinguished Achievement Award.
As a composer, Frances Blaker has been awarded month-long residencies focusing on music composition at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis, Oregon. She has received commissions to compose works for Hidden Valley Music Seminars in Carmel Valley, CA, and the Oregon Coast Recorder Society. She is currently working on a number of pieces, and is pondering how to depict in music the crystalline structures found in certain meteorites.
Paid members of the Hudson Mohawk Recorder Society receive email notices of both virtual and in-person sessions approximately one week prior to the session. The email contains a description of the upcoming program, links to the music to be used and a Zoom link for virtual mini-workshops. Participants download the music files and print them for use during the session.
We ask that anyone attending in-person sessions be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID19. In consideration of others, if you are exhibiting any symptoms of illness we ask that you not attend. We feel so very fortunate to be able to return to in-person meetings and hope that everyone will take care to ensure that we can continue. Now that newly updated immunizations against variants of the virus are available, we encourage those who are eligible to consider another booster.
Membership in HMRS includes admission to all mini-workshops and regular HMRS meetings. Mini-workshop guest admission is $20 per session. Dues for the 2023-2024 season are $50. Remit dues payment or guest fee by check to Gail Robinson, HMRS Treasurer, 101 Edgecomb Street Albany, NY 12209. See the Membership page of this site for additional information. Guests: indicate desired session on your check.
Future Sessions:
Please note that in-person meetings may be switched to virtual in the event of public health restrictions or hazardous road conditions caused by severe weather events. Participants will be notified by email in the event of changes.
| May 19, 2:00pm | Sunday | In-Person Playing Session Lynnwood Reformed Church |
| Jun 1, 10:00am | Saturday | Helen Hooker Virtual Mini-Workshop |
| Jun 9, 2:00pm | Sunday | In-Person Playing Session Lynnwood Reformed Church |
