This page contains information on early music concert
events throughout the year. All Madison Early Music Festival concerts
and pre-concert lectures are open to the public.
For even greater enjoyment, we will have Handel there in “spirit.” A short program of German arias and violin and harpsichord music will be performed by Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, Edith Hines, and John Chappell Stowe starting at 3:30 pm.
Please reserve your place for the event on or before Monday, April 28 to John W. Barker (e-mail jwbarker@wisc.edu, or phone 608/274-5174). Cash or checks will be collected at the door. All proceeds of this event benefit the Madison Early Music Festival.
Madison Early Music Festival Concert Series
July 12-19, 2008
The Festival Concert Series consists of seven concerts and features MEMF guest artists-in-residence The Newberry Consort with Marion Verbruggen, Quicksilver, Tempesta di Mare, and Baroque Band. A free MEMF Participant Concert showcases participant consorts that have been coached throughout the week by MEMF faculty. The week culminates in an All-Festival Concert of choral and instrumental music as participants, faculty, and guest artists perform large scale works together.
All concerts begin at 7:30 pm in Mills Concert Hall, Mosse Humanities
Building, 455 N. Park St. All concerts include pre-concert lectures
beginning at 6:30 pm in the Humanities Building (rooms to be announced).
For information regarding the Madison Early Music Festival concert
series, please call 608-263-6670 or e-mail music@dcs.wisc.edu.
Saturday, July 12
The Newberry Consort with Marion Verbruggen
Presented in partnership with Early Music Now
6:30 pm Pre-concert lecture: “Handel: The Genius as a Man of His World”
Dr. John W. Barker, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
7:30 pm Performance: Handel in Miniature
George Frideric Handel’s genius lay in his ability to write music that was both intellectually stimulating and easily accessible; he was one of the few composers to remain consistently popular from the early eighteenth century to the present. The respect for his work held by performers and musicologists is second only to his appeal to the public at large, due entirely to his music’s astonishing beauty. The Newberry Consort will present some of Handel's greatest hits, in miniature, through the artistry of Dutch recorder virtuosa Marion Verbruggen, soprano Ellen Hargis, harpsichordist David Schrader, and baroque violinist and Newberry Consort director David Douglass.
Sunday, July 13
Tempesta di Mare
Presented in partnership with WORT-FM
6:30 pm Pre-concert lecture: “The Visual Arts in Handel's Time”
Gail Geiger, Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
7:30 pm Performance: Handel’s London
As the eighteenth century began, London’s concert scene bustled with activity thanks to the burgeoning middle class’s mania for foreign music. The British capital became a destination for ambitious musicians from all over Europe. Handel’s London presents music by the international cast of musicians and publishers who moved to London to hit the big time—foremost among them George Frideric Handel, along with William Babell and Rudolph Straube, with contributions by the enterprising, if somewhat unscrupulous, music publisher John Walsh—performed on recorder, violin, cello, lute and harpsichord by the Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players.
Tuesday, July 15
Quicksilver
Presented in partnership with Broadjam
6:30 pm Pre-concert lecture: “Stage Beauty: Style and Substance in Baroque Opera”
Ellen Hargis, Case Western Reserve University, member of Newberry Consort
7:30 pm Performance: The Harmony of Nations: Handel and the Musical Languages of Europe
Quicksilver is an exciting new ensemble of some of the finest historically-informed performers in America today. Led by Robert Mealy and Julie Andrijeski, two of today's leading baroque violinists, this ensemble explores the rich chamber music repertoire of the early modern period, from the strange and extravagant trio sonatas of the Italian and German seventeenth century to the spectacular chamber music of the High Baroque. The Quicksilver will explore the roots of Handel's music in Italian, French, and German seventeenth century music, illuminating Handel's arias and chamber music by putting them in the context of his own cosmopolitan musical education. Performers include Mealy, Andrijeski, David Douglass (baroque viola), Aaron Sheehan (tenor), and David Morris (baroque cello and gamba).
Thursday, July 17
MEMF Faculty Concert
Presented in partnership with Wisconsin Public Radio
6:30 pm Pre-concert lecture: “Dance in European Courts and Theatres ca.1700”
Julie Andrijeski, member of Quicksilver and Chatham
7:30 pm Performance: The Italian and German Sides of Handel
The MEMF faculty will present Italian and German compositions of Handel written before he settled in London. Cantatas, duets, and other chamber works will be performed by the singers and instrumentalists on the faculty from the ensembles-in-residence The Newberry Consort, Tempesta di Mare, and Quicksilver, and members of Piffaro.
Friday, July 18
Participant Concert
1:00 pm Festival workshop participants perform in ensembles that have been coached by faculty and guest artists throughout the week of the Festival. There is no pre-concert lecture and no admission fee for this Mills Hall concert.
Friday, July 18
Baroque Band
Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Union Theater
6:30 pm Pre-concert lecture: Go for Baroque: Historical vs. Modern Instruments
Collaborative Faculty Lecture moderated by Robert Wiemken, Co-Director of Piffaro and MEMF Artistic Advisor
7:30 pm Performance: Handling Handel!
Under the direction of British baroque violinist Garry Clarke, Baroque Band will present an entertaining and dramatic all-Handel program which includes the concerti grossi Op. 6, No. 4 and No. 7, overtures from Semele and Xerxes, and the Vauxhall Gardens Water Music Suite. Making its debut in May 2007, Baroque Band has quickly established itself as one of Chicago’s finest ensembles. Don’t miss the ensemble’s Madison debut!
Saturday, July 19
All-Festival Concert
Presented in partnership with A-R Editions
6:30 pm Pre-concert lecture: "What passion cannot music raise and quell -- Handel, Dryden, and St. Cecilia"
Dr. Michael Allsen, Professor of Musicology, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
7:30 pm Performance
The centerpiece for MEMF's All Festival Concert is Handel's 1739 “Ode for St. Cecilia's Day.” Handel responded to John Dryden's poem in praise of the power of music with sensuous harmonies that celebrate Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. Join the MEMF artists-in-residence and participants in this culminating celebration of the master.
Get directions
and parking information. 
Tickets are available through the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office located at 800 Langdon Street in Madison. Avoid service charges by purchasing your season pass or individual tickets in person at the WUT box office. Call (608) 262-2201 for box office hours or to purchase by phone. On the night of each performance tickets will go on sale by 6:30 pm in the lobby of Mills Concert Hall.
A 2008 MEMF Concert Series Pass includes admission to all six performances on the July 7-14 concert series schedule and is $65 ($55 for students with a valid ID and seniors 62+). Individual tickets are $16 ($13 students with a valid ID and seniors 62+).
