Intimate Voices—Seventeenth-Century Italian Motets with Trombones
The exact specification of instruments in vocal/instrumental music begins in the final decades of the sixteenth century in Italy and gains momentum in the early decades of the seventeenth, including in church music. Trombones, in particular, are increasingly specified and were often used interchangeably with voices. The polyphonic motets on this program are some of the first music to include explicit, idiomatic instrumental parts. These exquisite works will be contrasted with virtuosic, Italian instrumental music. Voices, cornetto, recorder, violins, sackbuts, theorbo and organ offer a feast for the ears and soul.
¡SACABUCHE!: Rita Lilly, soprano; Vicki St. Pierre, contralto; Steven Rickards, countertenor; Sumner Thompson, tenor; Peter Becker, bass; John Lenti, theorbo; Peter Sykes, organ; Martha Perry, James Andrewes, baroque violins; Matt Jennejohn, cornetto/recorder; Christopher Canapa, Catherine Motuz, sackbuts; Linda Pearse, bass sackbut
June 5, 2016 – 4:00pm
BAMPFA (Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive)
2155 Center St, Berkeley
Buy Tickets: $42, $15 students under age 30 with ID
¡Sacabuche! is an early brass, string, and vocal ensemble that was founded by Canadian artistic director Linda Pearse in August 2007. ¡Sacabuche! is noted for a dedication to creative and engaging interpretations of early Baroque and late Renaissance masterpieces and a willingness to explore multi-genre works. ¡Sacabuche! recorded a full-length CD of Seventeenth-Century Italian Motets released on the ATMA label (Sept 2015). The recording breathes life into works published in a critical edition with A-R Editions by artistic director Linda Pearse — works that were previously unknown and unpublished. It is this exciting project that brings ¡Sacabuche! to the main stage of the Berkeley Festival and exhibition in June 2016.
¡Sacabuche! tours internationally and domestically with music-only programs and interdisciplinary projects. With the multi-disciplinary program Matteo Ricci: His Map and Music, ¡Sacabuche has toured twice to China including performances at China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. Additional touring includes multiple performance on Canada’s East (2012 and 2013) and West Coast (2011 and 2013), as well as performances in Hong Kong, Macau, Berkeley, Beijing, Indianapolis, Bloomington, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Dallas, Kansas City (MO), and Madison (WI). We launched our second “map” project, Venetia 1500 in September of 2013.
Recent touring includes three performances in Minneapolis (May 2014), two performances with the Houston Chamber Choir (Sept 2014), and performances in New Brunswick (February 2015). ¡Sacabuche! engaged in a workshop with Turkish musicians from Istanbul specializing in Ottoman music (October 2015) as part of their third interdisicplinary work “Hadji Ahmed: Encounters, Collisions and exchanges in the Early Modern World” (premiere planned for Istanbul, Spring 2017). ¡Sacabuche! will perform the “Matteo Ricci: His Map and Music” project in San Francisco as part of a collaboration between the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and the Ricci Institute at San Francisco University (April 2016).