Then and Now; Two Friends in Concert
11-12:00 PM Thursday June 9
BERKELEY PIANO CLUB
2724 Haste St., Berkeley, CA 94704
Tickets available at the door. Price: $15
Then and Now Two friends in concert Ruth Cunningham voice and recorder Maria Walsh Caswell vielle and violin In 1975 a freshman violinist (and amateur recorder player) met a transferring sophomore recorder and baroque flute player at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. Upon discovering their mutual interest in renaissance and medieval music, it was not long before the two were fast friends. Ruth Cunningham inspired in Maria Walsh a passion for early music. By the time of graduation, Maria was a committed baroque violinist. Ruth and Maria kept in touch through the years on different sides of the continent, but only recently have started performing together again. Then and Now will be their first chamber recital together. Then and Now highlights the music that Ruth and Maria explored together in college, and have explored since on their own. The repertoire of Then and Now spans the Medieval, through the Baroque, to the historically inspired contemporary, and reflects in many ways the artists’ friendship Then and Now. Composers include Anonymous, Balshar, Telemann, Handel and Holst, and Ruth’s improvisational pieces will be featured.
Ruth Cunningham, voice, harp, and recorder, was a founding member of Anonymous 4. With them she 
performed in concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East, and made thirteen recordings. She specializes in singing early music and improvisational music in both liturgical and and concert settings. In addition to recordings with Anonymous 4, Ruth has two solo cds: Light and Shadow: Chants, Prayers and Improvisations and Harpmodes: Journey for Voice and Harp. Ruth’s other releases include two recordings of multi-faith chants with colleague Ana Hernandez: Blessed by Light and HARC: Inside Chants. Her website is ruthcunningham.com.
Maria Walsh Caswell, baroque violin and vielle, is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied violin with Masuko Ushioda. At the same time she started exploring the baroque violin and vielle. Upon returning to San Francisco, she became a founding member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. She has also played with Voices of Music, American Bach Soloists, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, Jubilate, and Magnificat. In addition she plays with the Alphabet Baroque Club, a lighthearted but serious eclectic broken consort with harpsichord. Ms. Caswell lives in Sonoma County with her husband, two cats, and two goats (not in the house).
Originally from Colorado, Phebe Craig, harpsichord spent her student years in Berlin, Brussels, and San Francisco. She has earned a reputation as a versatile chamber musician and recitalist and has performed and recorded with many early music ensembles. As a specialist in basso continuo realization, she has accompanied many prominent early music soloists, both in concerts and recordings. She has appeared in concert throughout the United States and at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik, New York State Baroque and the Berkeley Early Music Festival.
She has co-produced a series of Early Music play-along recordings for treble instruments (The DiscContinuo series) and co-authored a Guide to Baroque Dance for Musicians (Dance-at-a-Glance). She has been on the faculty of numerous Baroque workshops and was the director of the San Francisco Baroque Music and Dance Workshop for many years.
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