Music from Monticello by Ct Early Music Festival at Pequot Library

Connecticut Early Music Festival and Pequot Library Presents

 Music from Monticello:  Baroque and Classical Works from Jefferson’s Music Library

 At Pequot Library in Southport, CT

Friday, June 15, 7:30 p.m.

Performed by Musicians of the Old Post Road

 Hailed for their “scintillating performances of sentiment and sparkle” (BBC Music Magazine), Musicians from the Old Post Road unearth chamber music played and collected by Thomas Jefferson and his family at Monticello in a dazzling concert at Pequot Library. 

 Musicians of the Old Post Road has been captivating audiences in the US and abroad with its exciting programming and virtuoso performances. As a chamber ensemble specializing in the period instrument performance of music from the Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic periods, the ensemble specializes in offering a dynamic and diverse repertory that includes rediscovered works that have been lost to audiences for centuries.

 The concert is co-presented by Pequot Library and the New London-based Connecticut Early Music Society which presents an annual festival of between six and nine concerts each June. The term “early music” refers to both a repertory (European music written before about 1800, including medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music) and an approach to performance including the use of period instruments.

 As part of the event, staff from Pequot Library will have material relating to Jefferson and Monticello that is part of the Library’s internationally important Special Collection on display in the Perkin Gallery.

CEMF is a major annual festival for southeastern Connecticut and surrounding areas; concerts are presented in Old Lyme, New London, Stonington, and occasionally in other regions in the state. The Festival is especially celebrated for the intimacy of its venues and for the remarkable rapport between its audience and musicians. The ensembles and individual musicians presented are nationally and internationally known in the field. Innovative programming and pre-concert talks serve to broaden the audience’s understanding.

Recent Festivals have presented concerts by the medieval ensembles Dialogos (Paris) and Istanpitta (Texas); by Renaissance choirs Blue Heron (Boston) and Stile Antico (London); by the New York-based consorts Parthenia and My Lord Chamberlain’s Consort; and by the period orchestras Sinfonia New York and Arcadia Players (Northampton, MA).

CEMF receives regular support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and a host of foundations, corporations, and individual donors.

Tickets are $29 reserved, $24 general admission, and $12 for students with ID.  For more information about the concert and to buy tickets in advance, go to the Connecticut Early Music Festival at www.ctearlymusic.org .  For information about Pequot Library visit www.pequotlibrary.org.