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8 newportbeachindy . com MAY 24 , 2024
STEPPING OUT
Baroque Music Festival Returns to Corona del Mar with ‘ All the Pleasures ’ Theme June 16 – 23
By Christopher Trela | NB Indy Get ready to have a pleasurable experience when The Baroque Music Festival , Newport Beach ’ s only professional classical music performing organization , returns to Corona del Mar with a theme of “ All the Pleasures : The Italian Influence in London and Beyond .”
According to information from the Baroque Music Festival , this year ’ s Festival focuses on music by a wide range of Baroque-era English composers , juxtaposed with pieces by their continental European predecessors and contemporaries .
Specialist musicians present five concerts over eight days at venues in Corona del Mar and Newport Beach .
Esteemed Baroque violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock directs the season , curating and leading all but one ( the Monday recital ) of the performances . Blumenstock maintains a busy international schedule performing on the 17th-century Guarneri violin on loan by the Philharmonia Baroque Period Instrument Trust .
“ The Guarneri violin is very much a 17th century style , with a highly arched
belly , a carved back , not a flat smooth shaping instrument ,” she said . “ It ’ s very beautiful and possess a generally bright , clear , sweet sound , with a fair resonance , not as much as some , so it ’ s a little dependent on the environment . It ’ s designed to be played in churches .”
Many of the Baroque Music Festival concerts do indeed take place in local churches .
Blumenstock serves as a concertmaster and soloist of Baroque orchestras nationwide and in Germany , and was named artistic director of the Baroque Music Festival in 2011 . Her carefully curated selections of Baroque masterpieces for the 2024 Festival is as eclectic and entertaining as ever , ranging from Italian violin duos to a grand Handel choral work .
BAROQUE MUSICAL FESTIVAL PROGRAM This year ’ s Festival is anchored by two Sunday afternoon concerts at St . Mark Presbyterian Church with the Festival Orchestra , joined for the Finale by the Festival Chorus .
For the opener , dubbed “ London Fog , Italian Sunshine ,” soloists from
Baroque Music Festival concert inside a church in Newport Beach
the ensemble bring out the southern sun — the influence of Italian music on London-based composers .
Chamber ensembles and soloists give three evening concerts between the larger-scale Sunday events .
Monday evening ’ s intimate “ Time Stands Still : English Lute Songs ” recital highlights the superb acoustics of St . Michael & All Angels Church in Corona
del Mar .
Then , the Festival presents two concerts within the lush rounds of Corona del Mar ’ s Sherman Library & Gardens , a beloved venue since the first series in 1981 . This year , musicians gather there on Wednesday evening , June 19 for Nightingales in the Gardens
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