On Sunday, January 23rd, Steeple Concerts will present the internationally respected baroque cellist Shirley Hunt and keyboardist Sylvia Berry.
Internationally respected baroque cellist and violist da gamba Shirley Hunt brings fierce imagination and integrity to the music of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Contemporary eras. Praised by The Strad as “stylish and accomplished,” she embraces an eclectic musical life as a multi-instrumental soloist and collaborator. Ms. Hunt recently released her third album, which is part of an ambitious recording project featuring Bach’s complete Cello Suites and Sonatas for Viola da gamba and harpsichord performed on an array of period instruments. In high demand as viola da gamba soloist and continuo cellist for the Passions, Cantatas, and Concertos of J.S. Bach, Ms. Hunt performs and records extensively with the nation's leading period instrument ensembles. She is a founding member of the Cramer Quartet, a period instrument string quartet performing classical and early romantic repertoire. As a chamber musician, she has performed at the Morgan Library & Museum, the Library of Congress, Caramoor, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Philadelphia native Sylvia Berry has performed extensively at home and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician. Hailed by Early Music America as "a complete master of rhetoric, whether in driving passagework or [in] cantabile adagios,” she is known not only for her exciting performances, but for her engaging commentary about the music and the instruments she plays. Her disc of Haydn's London Sonatas - recorded for Acis on an 1806 Broadwood - garnered critical acclaim. A review in Fanfare enthused, “To say that Berry plays these works with vim, vigor, verve, and vitality, is actually a bit of an understatement.”
Ms. Berry is one of North America's leading exponents of the fortepiano, as well as other historical keyboard instruments, including the harpsichord, virginal, and clavichord. She dedicates herself to the performance practices of the 18th and early 19th centuries, with an avid interest in the sociological phenomena surrounding the music of that period. In addition to her performing activities, Ms. Berry is a respected scholar and has written and lectured widely on these topics.
The Steeple Concert season continues on Sunday, March 27, with a concert that showcases The Westerlies, a brass quartet based in New York with a program that will explore jazz, roots and chamber music influences.
The season concludes on Sunday, May 15, with the traditional Masterworks Concert featuring the choir of St. Paul’s Church with orchestra. The concert is always a highlight of the season and offers an opportunity to hear major works for chorus and orchestra in a live setting.
Tickets and information for all individual concerts are available on the Steeple Concerts website. Individual tickets to the first four concerts are $25 for adults and $10 for students, with tickets for the Masterworks Concert priced at $35 for adults and $15 for students.