Carte Blanche &Reginald Mobley - Seattle Baroque Orchestra - Early Music Seattle
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Reginald Mobley
Seattle Baroque Orchestra
Music of the Ages
Carte Blanche
January 23 | 2pm | Town Hall Seattle, Seattle
Welcome!
Early Music Seattle presents
Live Concerts 2022
Music of the Ages
Convent and Cloister: Hidden Genius
SEATTLE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & BYRD ENSEMBLE
Saturday, February 19, 2022 | 8pm | Saint James Cathedral
Sunday, February 20, 2022 | 2pm | Town Hall Seattle
Music of the Ages
Tous les Matins du Monde
JORDI SAVALL
Sunday, March 6, 2022 | 7:30pm | Town Hall Seattle
Special Concert
All-Bach on the Flentrop Organ
ALEXANDER WEIMANN
Friday, May 13, 2022 | 7:30pm | Saint Mark’s Cathedral
Music of the Ages
The Six Brandenburg Concerti
SEATTLE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Saturday May 21, 2022 | 7:30pm | Bastyr University Chapel
Sunday, May 22, 2022 | 7:30pm | Town Hall Seattle
Global Connections
For All Our Sisters
SEATTLE BAROQUE ORCHESTRA & GUESTS
Sunday June 12, 2022 | 2pm | Town Hall Seattle
Bring a vaccinated friend.
TICKETS: earlymusicseattle.org or call 206.325.7066
Early Music Seattle
STAFF
Gus Denhard
Executive Director
Ann Stickney
Operations Director
Amy R. Tullis
Marketing Director
Betsy Brick
Major Gifts Officer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Aly Gardner-Shelby
President Rachell Ellen Wong and Alexander Weimann performing at Washington Park Aboretum
Britt East August 2021
Vice President
MISSION
Harry Reinert
To present outstanding early music, use early music to enrich
Secretary
cultural heritage via education and outreach, and engage new
Richard Ginnis audiences through inclusivity and openness.
Treasurer
VISION
Jim Hessler
Early Music Seattle leads in enriching cultural life in the Pacific North-
Nick Ketter west.
Laura Payne
VALUES
Mauricio Roman
Artistic Excellence
Lindsey Strand-Polyak Compelling, historically informed performances by great artists.
Sarah Thomson Education
Paul Veilleux Greater awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of early music.
ADVISORY BOARD Community Outreach
Inclusivity and equity for audiences and performers.
Diana Carey
Theodore Deacon HISTORY
Fernando Esteban Formed in 1977 as Early Music Guild, Early Music Seattle is now the
area’s largest presenter of early music, including the Music for the
Antonio Gómez Ages Series, Global Connections, and Seattle Baroque Orchestra,
Mary Ann Hagan and related educational programs serving 2,400 students in Seattle
Public Schools annually and more than 100 amateur musicians.
Naomi Shiff
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
CONTACT INFORMATION Early Music Seattle has begun a process of research and consultation
to develop an acknowledgement of the organization’s use of regional
P.O. Box 25893 Indigenous land and resources. We will make a complete statement
Seattle, WA 98165 later this year.
206.325.7066
website: earlymusicseattle.org
3
Program
Carte Blanche
/kärt ‘blänSH/
noun
complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best.
"we were given carte blanche"
Reginald Mobley • Alexander Weimann • Seattle Baroque Orchestra
Widerstehe doch der Sünde (Just resist sin) (BWV 54) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Suite in G Minor No. 6 Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714)
Ouverture
Air Entrée
Air Gavotte
Air Minuet que se joue alternativement avec la Trio – Air Trio
Air la Plainte
Air Entrée
Air Gigue
Air Chaconne
Bekennen will ich seinen Namen (I shall acknowledge His name) (BWV 200) J S Bach
(Bach’s arrangement of Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel's passion-oratorio Die leidende und am Kreuz
sterbende Liebe)
Paduana à 5 in G Minor Dietrich Becker (1623-1679)
Trocknet euch ihr heissen Zähren (Dry yourself, ye hot tears) Erlebach
Mi palpita il cor (HWV 132c) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Concerto for Oboe in D Minor Alessandro Marcello (1684-1750)
Andante e spiccato
Adagio
Presto
Curtis Foster, Baroque oboe soloist
Yet, can I hear that dulcet lay (from Hercules, HWV69) Handel
It’s not that easy bein’ green Joe Raposo (1937-1989)
Arranged by Alexander Weimann
4Translations/Text
Widerstehe doch der Sünde (Just resist sin) (BWV 54) Johann Sebastien Bach (1685-1750)
Stand firm against sin,
otherwise its poison seizes hold of you.
Do not let Satan blind you
for to desecrate the honor of God
meets with a curse, which leads to death.
The nature of loathsome sins
is indeed from outside very beautiful;
but you must
afterwards with sorrow and frustration
experience much hardship.
From outside it is gold
but if you want to look more closely
it is shown to be only an empty shadow
and whitewashed tomb.
It is like the apples of Sodom
and those who join with it
do not reach God's kingdom.
It is like a sharp sword
that goes through our body and soul.
Who commits sins is of the devil,
for it is he who has produced them.
but if against its despicable mobs
with true devotion you stand firm,
sin has at once fled away.
Bekennen will ich seinen Namen (I shall acknowledge His name) (BWV 200) J S Bach
I will confess his name,
he is the Lord, he is the Christ,
by whom the seed of all peoples
is blessed and redeemed.
No death can rob me of assurance:
the Lord is light of my life.
Trocknet euch ihr heissen Zähren (Dry yourself, ye hot tears) Erlebach
Dry yourself, ye hot tears,
Eyes, try to become clear.
Sighs, no longer rise aloft!
For the sun has broken through!
What has hitherto oppressed me Fear and pain
Will now be overcome.
Everything has passed by.
Innocence suffers much prosecution,
hatred and envy.
(O, how it’s smoke stings!)
But heavens protect us also.
Only he of serene mind,
who contemplates and remains silent,
And has a heart full of hope,
this one will win the field.
5Righteous deeds and good conscience
make a soft pillow on which
innocence may lie.
Happy is he who is granted this.
For them he may laugh with joy.
Though envy with the falseness of
these times pulls a wry face at him.
Still yourselves, ye hot tears,
Eyes, try to become clear.
Sighs, what still moves you?
For heaven does indeed love me.
I have myself entrusted to heaven,
Heaven keeps watch, and therefore in darkest
night my heart may gird itself with courage.
Mi palpita il cor (HWV 132c) Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Arioso e Recitativo:
I feel my heart beating
for reasons I do not know,
I feel my soul in turmoil
but ask myself for what.
Anguish and jealousy,
fury, grief and pain,
what is it you demand?
If you want me to love, I will be loving:
but, oh God, do not kill me,
since my aching heart
no longer can abide its chains.
Aria:
My worries are so plentiful
that I can no longer discern,
which of them are worst.
I sense that in me
dwells a cruel and bitter pain,
and that I will die.
Recitativo:
Clori, I complain about you
and also about you, oh God,
son of Cythereia*),
you, who have wounded my heart,
for another, who is ignorant
of love;
yet, should you strike her heart
with that same arrow,
then I shall complain no more;
and bowing in front of your image
kneeling on the floor, humble and faithful,
I will worship the god,
that has filled me with joy
and rewarded my yearning.
6Aria:
If my cruel beloved should ever take to loving me,
then my heart will be blithe.
And my soul will know no longer
the dread of pain and anguish.
Cythereia is also known as Aphrodite (Greek) or Venus (Roman). Her son is Eros (Greek) or Amor or
Cupido (Roman).
Yet, can I hear that dulcet lay (from Hercules, HWV69) Handel
Yet can I hear that dulcet Iay,
As sweet as flows the honey dew?
Can I those wilds of joy survey,
Nor wish to share the bliss I view?
It’s not that easy bein’ green Joe Raposo (1937-1989)
It's not that easy bein' green Arranged by Alexander Weimann
Having to spend each day
The color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer
Bein' red or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that
It's not easy bein' green
It seems you blend in
With so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over
Cause you're not standing out
Like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky
But green's the color of spring
And green can be cool and friendlylike
And green can be big like an ocean
Or important like a mountain
Or tall like a tree
When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why
But, why wonder? Why wonder?
I'm green and it'll do fine
It's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be
7The Artists
Reginald Mobley - countertenor
Seattle Baroque Orchestra
Alexander Weimann - Music Director, organ and harpsichord
Rachell Ellen Wong - Concertmaster
Christine Wilkinson Beckman - Principal second violin
Lindsey Strand-Polyak - Principal viola
Joanna Hood - viola
Annabeth Shirley - Principal cello and viola da gamba
Todd Larson - bass
Curtis Foster - Principal oboe and recorder
Anna Marsh - bassoon
Artists’ Biographies
Reginald Mobley
Particularly noted for his “shimmering voice, a voice which also allows
lucid and pure levels” (BachTrack), countertenor Reginald Mobley is
highly sought after for baroque, classical and modern repertoire, and
performs extensively for many prolific orchestras worldwide.
In March 2020, he became the first ever programming consultant for
the Handel and Haydn Society following several years of leading H+H
in his community engaging Every Voice concerts. Past performances
of note include an extensive tour of sixteen concerts around Europe
singing Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with the Monteverdi Choir & English
Baroque Soloists led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra and Purcell’s King Arthur with the Academy of Ancient Music in London.
Other recent and forthcoming highlights include his recital debut at the Musée d'Orsay, a
European tour with the Monteverdi Choir of the St John Passion (2021), Ottone Poppea with
the Budapest Festival Orchestra (2021), performances of Mozart’s Requiem with Orkiestra
Historyczna in Poland, Handel’s Messiah with Boston Handel + Haydn society under
Masaaki Suzuki and tours of Germany and Belgium with Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensem-
ble and the Bach Society in Stuttgart.
8Alexander Weimann
Alexander Weimann has been Music Director of Seattle Baroque Orchestra
since 2015 and is one of the most sought-after ensemble directors, soloists,
and chamber music partners of his generation. After traveling the world with
ensembles like Tragicomedia, Cantus Cölln, the Freiburger Barockorchester,
the Gesualdo Consort and Tafelmusik, he now focuses on his activities as
Artistic Director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver, as frequent
guest conductor with Victoria Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Manitoba
Chamber Orchestra, Les Violons du Roi etc., and as teacher at the University of
British Columbia, for harpsichord, accompaniment, and performance practice.
Weimann can be heard on some 100 CDs. He made his North American re-
cording debut with the ensemble Tragicomedia on the CD Capritio (Harmonia Mundi USA), and won
worldwide acclaim from both the public and critics for his 2005 release of Volume 1 of his record-
ings of the complete keyboard works by Alessandro Scarlatti, nominated for an Opus Prize as the
best Canadian early music recording. He has also released an Opus Award-winning CD of Handel
oratorio arias with superstar soprano Karina Gauvin and his new Montreal-based ensemble Tempo
Rubato. He received several Juno nominations and one Juno award for his album with Arion ba-
roque Orchestra and Karina Gauvin.
Weimann was born in 1965 in Munich, where he studied the organ, church music, musicology (with
a summa cum laude thesis on Bach’s secco recitatives), theatre, medieval Latin, and jazz piano,
supported by a variety of federal scholarships for the highly talented. To ground himself further
in the roots of western music, he became intensely involved over the course of several years with
Gregorian chant. He taught music theory and improvisation at the Munich Hochschule für Musik
from 1990-95, has given countless masterclasses around the globe, and also taught harpsichord at
the McGill University, and worked as a vocal coach at the Université de Montréal.
Rachell Ellen Wong
Recipient of a prestigious 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant –
the first baroque artist in the respected program’s history –
and Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice
Barbash J.S. Bach Competition, violinist Rachell Ellen Wong
is a rising star on both the historical performance and mod-
ern violin stages. She has performed throughout the United
States and Canada, as well as Europe, South America, Asia,
and New Zealand. Her growing reputation as one of the top
historical performers of her generation has resulted in appearances with renowned early music
ensembles such as the American Bach Soloists and The Academy of Ancient Music, and tours
with Bach Collegium Japan, Les Arts Florissants, among others. Equally accomplished on the
modern violin, Ms. Wong made her first public appearance with the Philharmonia Northwest at
age 11 and has since peformed as a soloist with such orchestras as Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional
de Panamá and the Seattle Symphony. Rachell made her conductorial debut with the Seattle
Symphony last fall when she directed Vivaldi’s F our Seasonsfor the violin.
Her passion for chamber music led Rachell, along with acclaimed keyboardist David Belkovski,
to co-found Dioscuri in 2021, based in New York City. Their versatile ensemble performs music
spanning four centuries, and is already becoming known for their fresh and electric interpreta-
tions.
A recent graduate, Rachell holds a Masters in Music in Historical Performance from The
Juilliard School and a M.M. from Indiana University. Residing in Seattle, Washington, among
her awards and honors are a 2019 Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant and a 2017 Kovner
Fellowship from The Juilliard School and grand prizes in the 52nd Sorantin International String
Competition, the Heida Hermanns International Competition and the International
9Crescendo Music Awards. She performs on a baroque violin from the school of Joachim Tielke,
and on a modern violin by Carlo de March. When not performing, you can find Rachell hiking
around the Pacific Northwest, zooming around on her OneWheel hoverboard, or playing with
her two rabbits, Shoozie and Bobe.
Christine Wilkinson Beckman
Christine Wilkinson Beckman is a baroque violin specialist based in
Olympia, WA. She enjoys performing throughout her native Northwest
with early music ensembles large and small and appears regularly with
such groups as the Portland, Seattle, and Pacific Baroque Orchestras,
Bach Collegium San Diego, and Pacific MusicWorks. Christine began her
studies on baroque violin with Ingrid Matthews, and she graduated in
2013 with an MA from the Historical Performance Practices program at
Case Western Reserve University where she studied with Julie Andrijes-
ki. In addition to performing, Christine teaches Suzuki violin and viola
to a busy studio of young musicians in Olympia. When not performing,
teaching, or running after her two energetic young children, Christine enjoys baking, reading
about linguistics and the natural sciences, drinking tea with lots of milk and sugar, and listening
to the rain with her family.
Lindsey Strand-Polyak
Lindsey Strand-Polyak has loved Early Music ever since her first music
history teacher, the late George Shangrow, introduced her to Leonin
and Perotin— so much so that she earned a PhD//MM in musicology and
violin performance from UCLA. Since then, she has traveled widely as
a performer and educator. Dr. Strand-Polyak is Artistic Director of Los
Angeles Baroque and was Assistant Director of the UCLA Early Music
Ensemble from 2011-2015. Artist residencies include Michigan State
University, University of Richmond, Northwestern State University of
Louisiana, and University of Northern Colorado. A few of her favorite
music festivals have included the Oregon Bach Festival, Baroque Fes-
tival Corona del Mar, Twin Cities Early Music Festival, and the Fringe
of Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals; and some of her favorite
musicking moments have been playing with groups like Bach Collegium San Diego, Pacific Mu-
sicWorks, Musikanten Montana, American Bach Soloists and of course, Seattle Baroque. She
is currently Adjunct Professor of Violin and Viola at Claremont Graduate University. You’ll see
her on stage performing on a 1776 Richard Duke violin and a mid-18th century viola by Master
Anonymous, but on her days off you might catch her playing tenor viol in a consort.
Help Us Grow!
Bring a Vaccinated Friend to a Concert!
10Joanna Hood
A violist, Joanna is an avid chamber music player both in modern and
period styles, and has a passion for the music of our time. She is a
founding member of the historically-informed performance groups,
The Loma Mar Quartet, founded in 1997 and the DNA Quintet
formed in 2008, both based in New York. With these two groups she
recorded two CD’s of the newly discovered chamber works of Dome-
nico Dragonetti. The first recording won the prestigious, Classical
Recording Foundation Award for 2009.
She has been the principal violist with the Seattle Baroque Orches-
tra, and performs with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Victoria Baroque Players, and has
performed with Pacific Music Works, Oregon Bach Festival, and The Serenade Orchestra, and
Opera Lafayette.
Hood studied at the San Francisco Conservatory with Isadore Tinkleman, and at Indiana Uni-
versity, where she was an Associate Instructor, with Abraham Skernick and baroque violinist
Stanley Ritchie.
Joanna is Associate Professor, with the Lafayette Quartet, at the University of Victoria where
she teaches viola and chamber music. She plays on a viola labeled Johan Samuel Fritsche, dated
Leipzig, 1805, and a viola by Edmond Aireton, 1754.
Joanna has recorded for the EMI, Tzadik, Dorian, CBC, Adlar, and Vervue labels.
Annabeth Shirley
Cellist Annabeth Shirley, a native Oregonian, performs regularly with
ensembles throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle Baroque
Orchestra, Vancouver Early Music, the Oregon Bach Festival, Baroque
Music Montana, and Portland Baroque Orchestra, where she is honored
to hold the Ruth K. Pointdexter Chair. Past performances in Europe
include concerts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the
Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and Le Concert d’Apollon, as well as mul-
tiple appearances in the Utrecht Early Music Festival. She teaches in
workshops including the Seattle Baroque Flute Summer Workshop and
Baroque Music Montana’s Period Performance Workshop. Annabeth
holds a bachelors and masters degree in Baroque Cello from the Royal Conservatory of The
Hague, and bachelors degrees in Cello Performance and Biology from the University of Michi-
gan. She plays a cello of anonymous origin from approximately 1830, and she currently resides
in Salem, OR, with her husband, bassoonist Nate Helgeson.
Todd Larsen
Todd Larsen is a long time member of the NW music scene. Perform-
ing with numerous ensembles including Portland Baroque Orchestra,
Seattle Baroque, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival,
Pacific Baroque Festival, NW Bach Festival and Whidbey Island Music
Festival, Mr. Larsen is also the principal bass of the Pacific NW Ballet
and NW Sinfonietta and has a lengthy history with modern groups
throughout the region, such as Seattle Symphony, Spokane Symphony,
Portland Opera, and many others.
11Curtis Foster
Curtis Foster, Baroque oboe and recorder, whose playing has been
praised for its “brilliantly introverted charm” (Seattle Times), has
appeared with many of North America’s most respected early mu-
sic ensembles, including Handel & Haydn Society, Portland Baroque
Orchestra, Les Boréades de Montréal, the Seattle and Pacific Baroque
Orchestras, and Victoria Baroque Players. He has also performed
with American Bach Soloists, Arion, and Mercury. In the summer, he
can typically be found performing or teaching at various festivals,
including the Oregon Bach Festival, Vancouver Bach Festival, Victoria
Baroque Instrumental Academy, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, and the Whid-
bey Island Music Festival.
An enthusiastic advocate for music of our own time, Curtis regularly commissions and presents
new works by contemporary composers for old instruments. An equally dedicated pedagogue,
Mr. Foster teaches Baroque oboe as part of the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme at
the University of British Columbia, and is regularly invited to present workshops and
masterclasses around the US and Canada. He can be heard on recordings from ATMA
Classique, Naxos, Cedille Records, and IU Press.
Originally hailing from Wichita, Kansas, Curtis now makes his home in Seattle, Washington. He
is a graduate of Wichita State University and Indiana University’s Early Music Institute.
Anna Marsh
Anna Marsh is a Baroque wind specialist, who is also fluent in Medie-
val, Renaissance, Classical, and Modern instruments. Her interests lie
principally in the double reed family, though she also performs on the
Renaissance and Baroque recorder.
Originally from Tacoma, WA, Anna appears regularly with Opera Lafay-
ette (DC), Tempesta di Mare (Philadelphia), Ensemble Caprice (Mon-
treal), Opera Atelier (Toronto), Tafelmusik (Toronto), Washington Bach
Consort (DC), and Pacific MusicWorks (Seattle), among others. She has
been the featured soloist with the Foundling Orchestra with Marion
Verbruggen, Arion Orchestre Baroque, The Buxtehude Consort, The
Dryden Ensemble, the Boulder Bach Festival, New York State Baroque, the Indiana University
Baroque Orchestra and others. She co-directs Ensemble Lipzodes and has taught both private-
ly and at festivals and master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Los Angeles Music and
Art School, the Amherst Early Music, and Hawaii Performing Arts Festivals, San Francisco Early
Music Society, Rocky Ridge Music Center, and Western Double Reed Workshop. She tours in-
ternationally, mostly in Europe and South America, and has been heard on Performance Today,
Harmonia and CBC Radio and has recorded for Chandos, Analekta, Centaur, Naxos, the Super
Bowl, Avie, and Musica Omnia. Marsh studied music and German studies at Mt. Holyoke Col-
lege, The Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and holds a Doctor
of Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
12
12Keep the Music Alive!
With your help we can.
We are committed to bringing you the finest early music
from Europe, the Americas, and the wider world.
Live Concerts • Virtual Performances
Creative Conversations• Deep Roots, New Branches
Educational Programs • Inclusion & Diversity Projects
Community Outreach
ONLINE
IT’S EASY
www.earlymusicseattle.org
PHONE
206.325.7066
MAIL
Send a check to
P.O. Box 25893 | Seattle, WA 98165
If you are age 70 and a half or older it is worth noting that you can make
a tax-free donation through your annual IRA distribution.
We also welcome gifts of stock!
For more information, contact
ann@earlymusicseattle.org
132022 Classical Concerts IMANI WINDS & CATALYST QUARTET · January 26 A bold combination of chamber music for winds and strings SIMONE DINNERSTEIN · January 27 Inventive pianist performs Grammy-nominated An American Mosaic WU HAN, PHILIP SETZER & DAVID FINCKEL · February 16 Dynamic chamber music by trio of esteemed virtuosos GEORGE LI · February 18 Pianist of effortless grace and brilliant technique SHARON ISBIN · March 18 Spanish works for solo guitar performed with extraordinary lyricism EMERSON STRING QUARTET · April 1 Revered ensemble’s farewell tour features Haydn, Schubert, Walker JEREMY DENK · April 12 One of America’s foremost pianists blends Beethoven, Schubert with American-inspired works JOYCE YANG · May 3 Pianist’s vibrant musical personality shines in Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky JERUSALEM QUARTET · May 4 String quartet explores jewels of the repertoire by Haydn, Beethoven and Shostakovich M E A N YC E N T E R .O RG | 2 0 6 - 5 4 3 - 4 8 8 0
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