Baroque ensemble to give us Vivaldi
The internationally-acclaimed Italian baroque ensemble Arcomelo is coming to Shetland next weekend to perform a Vivaldi programme at two concerts in Lerwick and Brae.
Shetland Arts and the Italian Cultural Institute have teamed up to organise the events in St Columba’s Church in Lerwick on Friday 24th April and Busta House in Brae on Saturday 25th April.
The programme will feature a variety of music for voice, strings and organ. The line up for the concerts is organ, violin, two violas, cello and a soprano singer.
Arcomelo will also be leading two workshops: one at the Anderson High School on Friday 24th April and a public workshop at Lerwick Town Hall on Sunday 26th April from 5 to 7pm. The workshop at the Town Hall is suitable for instrumentalists and singers of any age and ability and musicians are encouraged to take along their instruments.
The concert on Friday 24th April takes place after the first day of the Young Fiddler of the Year Competition. Shetland Arts is offering all participants in the competition complimentary tickets to the Friday evening concert.
Arcomelo was founded by the harpsichord player Michele Benuzzi and comprises several musicians from different backgrounds who specialise in playing baroque music on original period instruments. Their repertoire dates from the beginning of the 17th century to the classical period and is mainly concert music for harpsichord and orchestra from manuscripts or unpublished material preserved in European libraries.
Arcomelo have played for important music festivals all over the world including the Tirol Festspiele in Austria, the Festival Internacional de Musica Antigua de Daroca in Spain, and the Tochigi Kuranomachi Early Music Festival in Japan.
They are recording artists for the Milan record label La Bottega Discantica and in September 2008 they recorded the symphonies and concerts for harpsichord and orchestra by W F Bach. This year they are planning to record works by J S Bach for solo harpsichord and for harpsichord and strings.
Shetland Arts Music Development Officer Bryan Peterson said: “The Arcomelo ensemble musicians are really looking forward to their trip north, performing in some of Shetland’s best venues, learning about Shetland music and joining in a session or two while they’re here.” Concerts: Friday 24th April, 7.30pm at St Columba’s Church, Lerwick; Saturday 25th April, 7.30pm at Busta House, Brae. Tickets £10/£8.
Workshops: Friday 24th April, 2pm at Anderson High School, Lerwick (free to AHS pupils); Sunday 26th April, 5pm at Lerwick Town Hall. Tickets £5 (under 16s free). All tickets are available from Shetland Box Office – (01595) 745555.
