The Petrucci Project
1:00 PM Thursday, June 5
ST. MARY MAGDALEN CHURCH – 2005 Berryman Street
A shuttle will be provided to St. Mary Magdalen from Trinity Chapel, departing at 12:15pm and 12:45pm.
Tickets available at the door. Prices: $20 General Admission; $15 students, seniors, and SFEMS members.
In 1501, Venetian printer Ottaviano Petrucci published the first volume of commercially printed music, The Odhecaton A, a collection of instrumental arrangements of popular songs from late 1400s by the leading composers of the Franco-Flemish School. Petrucci’s first volume coincided with a resurgence of Italian popular music, which had been dormant for more than half a century, and was followed by 56 more, including 11-books of the exciting new popular Italian song form, the Frottole. San Francisco Pro Musica Antiqua is pleased to celebrate this delightful music performed by some of the Bay Area’s most engaging and respected musicians. Come join us for an afternoon of lovely chansons, lively dances, and lusty, tuneful Frottola, all drawn from Signor Petrucci’s oeuvre,and penned by such Renaissance ‘rock stars’ as van Weerbeke, Ghizeghem, Tromboncino, Cara, Josquin and others.
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About the Artists
Rita Lilly, soprano
Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano
Corey Head, tenor
Donald Ziff, bass
Adam Cockerham, lute
Andy Canepa, positiv
Joyce Johnson-Hamilton, cornetto
Hallie Pridham, viols
Andy Canepa, Music Director
Michael O’Rourke, Artistic Director
Adam Cockerham
An aficionado of both new and early music, classical guitarist and lutenist, Adam Cockerham received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, with Secondary Emphasis in Historical Plucked Strings, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2013. While at the conservatory, he studied guitar with Sérgio Assad, David Tanenbaum, and Lawrence Ferrara, and theorbo, lute, and baroque guitar with Richard Savino. As a finalist in the 2011 Carmel Music Society Instrumental Competition, his performance was extolled by Peninsula (Monterey) Reviews as being “beautifully and effortlessly executed” In 2013, Mr. Cockerham won the San Francisco Conservatory Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition, performing Vivaldi’s D Major Lute Concerto with the Conservatory Baroque Orchestra. Furthering his explorations in early music, Adam has performed in master classes with well-known early music plucked string masters Nigel North, Hopkinson Smith, and Pascal Valois, and in 2012, he became the first lutenist to attend the prestigious American Bach Soloist Academy for historically informed performance practice, and was re-invited to attend in again in 2013. In 2011, he and mezzo soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah formed the voice, lute and guitar duo, Jarring Sounds, which is enjoying increasing popularity and acclaim throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. We are pleased to have him on our boards.
Andy Canepa
Bay Area trained early musician Andrew Canepa works within an exciting early music community in the Bay Area, performing music from the medieval to the classical period as a conductor, harpsichordist, organist, percussionist and pianist. Graduating at at the top of his class from the University of Colorado in Boulder with Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees in piano performance, Maestro Canepa soon after moved to San Francisco to further his studies in keyboard technique, and to begin studies in conducting with Charlene Archibeque at San Jose State, and Marika Kuzma at University of California, Berkeley; at the same time, he began studying vocal technique with Susan Gundunas. It was in the Bay Area that he discovered the fascinating world of early music and began acquiring knowledge of the period with medieval and renaissance percussionist Peter Maund. Ever eager to expand his store of knowledge, he continues to explore the intricacies of the period, especially early keyboard techniques, under the tutelage of harpsichord and organ Maestra, Hanneke Van Proosdij, and is becoming an expert in the Taubman keyboard technique, studying with both Marc Steiner and John Bloomfield.
Keen to utilize this vast body of accumulated knowledge, M. Canepa enthusiastically conducts a wide variety of talented Bay Area musicians, and performs harpsichord and organ continuo in a number of early music ensembles. In addition to his peripatetic performing schedule, Msto. Canepa holds a full time position as Director of Music Ministry at St Mary Magdalen Church, where over the last ten years he has built a vibrant and exciting sacred early music program to the delight of congregates and staff alike. In addition to performing, Msto. Canepa continues his vocal studies with vocal teacher Amisano, is building an exciting studio of piano students, and coaches singers and chamber ensembles from throughout Bay Area. SFPMA is delighted and grateful to have Andy as our music director.
Corey Head
Since coming to San Francisco, Corey Head has built a successful teaching and performing career appearing with many of the Bay Area’s most prestigious organizations, including San Francisco Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Marin Symphony, and the Stanford University Chorus, and enjoys an ongoing association with these and other groups as featured soloist. In addition to his local performances, he has appeared nationally in a wide variety of oratorio and opera roles. An alumnus of the University of Colorado School of Music, Mr. Head specializes in Early Music with a special affinity for J.S. Bach. His solo concert performances have included Bach’s Magnificat, the Christmas Oratorio, the Mass in B-Minor and numerous cantatas. Other oratorio roles include Ahasuereus in Handel’s Esther, “The Evening” in Telemann’s Die Tageszeiten, and tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Mr. Head especially enjoys working with newly discovered and neglected works. In May 2011, he debuted the virtuoso aria Dominus a Dextris Tuis from the recently discovered Dixit Dominus by Vivaldi with Viva la Musica, and most recently re-imagined the role of Mordechai in Cristiano Lidarti’s long neglected oratorio Esther —in Hebrew— with SF Renaissance Voices. A teacher with nearly 20 years experience, Mr. Head maintains a private studio in downtown San Francisco, teaching and coaching singers from the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, S.F. Opera Chorus, and many other choral, musical theater and performing groups. We are very glad that he has lent his prodigious talents to our cause.
Hallie Pridham
Hailing from from Sparks, Nevada, Hallie Pridham began playing the cello at the age of ten under the auspices of her public school’s string program. She spent her high school years at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Southern California, where she was principal cellist and winner of the Interlochen Academy of the Arts Concerto Competition. Ms. Pridham attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied modern cello with Jean-Michel Fonteneau and baroque cello and viola da gamba with Elisabeth Reed, graduating with a Bachelor of Music Degree in 2010. During her tenure at SFCM, Hallie was chosen to play a Vivaldi Cello Sonata for a broadcast concert at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as part of a Conservatory Concert Series, and in 2010 was declared the winner of the Conservatory’s Baroque Concerto Competition. Hallie has performed at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and regularly performs with American Bach Soloists, San Francisco Bach Choir, the Vinaccesi Ensemble, and is a founding member of the early music ensemble Liaison. We are very pleased that she has joined us for this debut concert.
Joyce Johnson Hamilton
Well known virtuoso trumpet player Joyce Johnson Hamilton is a an accomplished specialist in Renaissance and Baroque brass instruments as well as recorders. In 2011, after a tenure of 30 years, she stepped down from the podium at the Diablo Symphony where she held the title of both Conductor and Music Director, one of 41 women out of the thousand strong League of American Orchestras to hold the dual post. During her tenure at the Symphony, Ms. Johnson Hamilton continued to teach and perform nationally and internationally, and served as assistant conductor of the Oakland Symphony, San Jose State University Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul (Korea) Philharmonic, the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, and the Napa Symphony, among others. Retirement notwithstanding, Ms. Johnson-Hamilton continues to be active as a performer, concert organizer, teacher, composer and arranger, and serves on the the faculty at Stanford University. We are honored to have her with us today.
Rita Lilly
Since coming to the Bay Area in 2000, soprano Rita Lilly has become familiar to Bay Area audiences as a champion of baroque and early music. Lauded by the New York Times as “possessing a voice of strength, clarity, and virtuosity” she has delighted audiences in performances with the Albany Consort, American Bach Soloists, AVE, Bay Choral Guild, Berkeley Early Music Festival, California Bach Society, Chora Nova, Les Graces, Magnificat Baroque Ensemble, Music Sources, New Music Works in Santa Cruz, Pacific Bach Project, S.F. Concert Chorale, S.F. Renaissance Voices, and Sacramento Baroque. Ms. Lilly is an alumna of the well known early music group the Waverly Consort, with which she toured throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her recordings include three with the Consort on EMI; Handel and Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus with the American Boychoir on Musical Heritage; Scarlatti’s St. Cecilia Mass on Newport Classic; Sowerby’s Medieval Poem on Naxos; a German Baroque Christmas with American Classical Orchestra on Musicmasters; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the S.F. Concert Chorale. Recently appointed Music director of the Lafayette Christian Church in Lafayette, Ca., Ms. Lilly also serves on the faculty of the SFEMS Baroque Summer Workshop at Sonoma State, and maintains an active vocal studio in the Bay Area. SFPMA is pleased to welcome her for our debut pesentation.
Michael O’Rourke
After an unhappy adventure with the violin during his small years, Michael O’Rourke was introduced to the recorder by his high school english teacher. Moving to Berkeley shortly after graduating high school, he met, studied, and performed with the generous and inspiring Laurette Goldberg, who would later found Music Sources and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. During this time he discovered the lute and it’s music and became fascinated with the instrument. A brief flirtation with Flamenco led him to Las Cuevas de Los Flamencos (The flamenco Show) at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco’s North Beach, where he met the supremely talented autodidact Ron Chinn who was also exploring the lute. In 1966 he and Chinn formed ‘The Renaissance Fun and Games Show’ playing lutes and recorders during the intermissions at the show. The duet also toured with the Flamencos on the Lyceum circuit, played private parties, and any coffee house or bar that would let them through the door. The act was successful, but it was an act. Wanting to pursue a deeper understanding of the instrument and its music, Mr. O’Rourke went east in 1968 to an early music seminar where he met his teacher, Paul Gerrits, head of the guitar department at L’Universite Laval, Ecole de Musique in Quebec P.Q. He invited Mr. O’Rourke to Quebec to study, and offered him a position as a teaching assistant. Whilst at the University, he taught guitar to lower division students, at local grammar and high schools, produced and directed early music concerts, participated in university sponsored faculty/student concerts, and recorded for broadcast over Radio Canada (CBC).He also developed the lower division lute curriculum for the school. After three years at Laval, Mr. O’Rourke suffered something of a ‘crise d’esprit’, abandoned music and went to work on the railroad. Go figure. After an hiatus of 35-years, he took up the lute once again, and somehow made it to the church this morning.
Kindra Scharich
Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman for her “noble, vocally assured singing, stately grace and deep rooted pathos” in her role as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Having sung over 25 roles in the lyric mezzo repertoire, including Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Cherobino in Le Nozze de Figaro, Mercedes in Carmen, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, and Isabella in Italiana in Algieri, she most recently reprised the role of Zerlina with a bravura performance in San Jose Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. A versatile musician at home on both the opera and concert stage, Ms. Scharich has presented recitals for the American Composer’s Forum in Los Angeles, Lieder Alive, the Northern California Chapter of the Wagner Society, and the Yehudi Menuhin Seminar in San Francisco. A devotee of German Lieder, she collaborates frequently with San Diego pianist George Fee, having developed numerous programs under the banner Life in Lieder, designed to bring to audiences throughout Northern and Southern California a greater awareness of this magnificent under-represented and oft neglected genre. An avid supporter of new music by living composers, in the spring of 2014 she presented a new trio by Bay Area composer Kurt Erikson, and is currently collaborating with composer Janis Mattox on her Spanish Chamber opera Suenos de Midianoche (Midnight Dreams). Ms. Scharich studied voice and piano at Eastman School of Music, earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in vocal performance at the University of Michigan, and completed her post-graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. We are delighted that she has graced our stage with her wonderful talent, and are grateful for her support.
Donald Ziff
Donald Ziff’s elegant baritone has enriched many Bay Area choirs and choruses, including the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus,Volti, AVE and the Pacific Collegium. He has performed solo work with numerous church choirs, including St. Mary Magdalen’s Schola Cantorum. His turns on the opera stage include , Darius the Mede in the 12th century Play of Daniel, L’Ours in Darius Milhaud’s 1926 opera, Les Malheurs d’Orphée, as well as choruses chorus work with SF Lamplighters and West Bay Opera. We are very glad he has joined us for this concert.
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