The Kingsbury Ensemble, a group specializing in music of the Baroque and Classical periods, will present a concert titled Fête Galante: Love & Nature at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9, in Washington University’s Holmes Lounge.
The performance is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences. Holmes Lounge is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brooking and Hoyt drives. For more information, call (314) 935-4841.
The St. Louis-based Kingsbury Ensemble employs historically accurate practices and instruments and performs in acoustically appropriate settings. Members are drawn from some of the finest early music groups in the United States and directed by harpsichordist Maryse Carlin, instructor in the Department of Music.
Fête Galante recreates the atmosphere of galant entertainments (with their singing, dancing and theatrical courting) held in the 18th century French countryside. The program includes vocal and instrumental music by François Couperin, Jean-Joseph Mouret and Jean-Philippe Rameau, as well as period dances — menuets, gavottes and tambourins — choreographed by visiting artist Carlos Fittante of New York City.
In addition to Carlin, the concert features soprano Christine Johnson and tenor James Harr, both recent master’s degree recipients from the Department of Music; and More Fools Than Wise, the Washington University student madrigal ensemble. Dances are performed by students selected from the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences’ Dance Program, who will reprise the works in December as part of the annual Washington University Dance Theatre concert.