Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, founded in 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia, is the first and oldest professional orchestra in the Southeastern United States of America dedicated to historically informed performance
, (also called "authentic performance practice") of music from the Baroque era
on period instruments. The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (ABO) gave its premiere concert in January, 1998. The first Director of the ABO was lute
and theorbo
player Dr. Lyle Nordstrom, who departed in 2003. As several guest directors were brought in for concerts, Dr. John Hsu, noted performer on the viola da gamba and baryton
, took the title of Artistic Advisor, becoming Artistic Director in July 2004; he continued through the 2008-2009 season. From 2004 through 2011, the Resident Director has been founding member Dr. Daniel Pyle, harpsichordist and organist, and also Instructor of Music at Clayton State University
and Organist and Choir Director at the Anglican Church of Our Saviour in Atlanta. Violinist, dancer and choreographer Dr. Julie Andrijeski became Artistic Director in February, 2011.
The ABO usually performs four to six concerts per year, concentrating on orchestral works and concerti
, but often featuring chamber pieces
, vocal cantatas
, and other works with vocal soloists. The range of works performed by the ABO stretches back to the beginnings of Baroque style around the year 1600, while their core repertoire is centered in music from many composers who worked in the "Middle Baroque" era of Pachelbel and Corelli (the late 1600s) and the "High Baroque" era of Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and Telemann (up through 1750). They have also performed the music of Mozart and Haydn, and the string symphonies of Mendelssohn from the 1820s.
Several concerts have featured the orchestra accompanying Baroque dance
rs. Most performers with the ABO are university instructors and professors with advanced degrees, and all are specialists in authentic performance practice, playing replicas of the actual instruments used in the Baroque era. Such an ensemble produces a sound that is quite different from that of ensembles that use modern orchestral instruments. Baroque violin
s, violas and cellos use strings of sheep gut and bows of an earlier design, rather than the louder string instruments strung with steel strings played by conventional orchestras. Likewise, the Baroque flute is made of wood and does not have keys, while the Baroque horn (often called the natural horn
) has no valves. Other instruments featured in a Baroque orchestra include the harpsichord
and lautenwerk, viola da gamba and bass viol, recorder
, Baroque bassoon
, lute
and theorbo
.
Because of the relatively small number of musicians who specialize in playing Baroque-era instruments, the ABO consists of a smaller core of regular musicians who live in the Atlanta, Georgia area, supplemented for each concert by performers and featured soloists brought in from throughout the United States of America and occasionally from overseas.
Guest artists and directors have included leading Baroque and Classical-period performers: violinists Stanley Ritchie, Monica Huggett
, Sergiu Luca
, and Dana Maiben; Paul O’Dette
, lute; Aldo Abreu
, recorder; soprano Julianne Baird
; Stephen Rickards, countertenor; oboist Matthew Peaceman; and Baroque dance
rs Paige Whitley-Bauguess and Thomas Baird.
Signatory concerts of the ABO include the first performances in Atlanta on period instruments of:
and a year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart in 2006. In 2009, they devoted concerts to the symphonies of Haydn, celebrating the 300th anniversary of his birth.
In addition to its own concerts, the orchestra has performed in collaboration with other organizations throughout the Southeast, including at conferences of the National Flute Convention, the American Musicological Society
, and the Southeast Historical Keyboard Society. The ABO has performed on the campuses of Emory University
, the University of Georgia
, Florida State University
, Kennesaw State University
, Clayton College and State University, Oglethorpe University
, and Valdosta State University
. The ABO has performed in venues in Birmingham, Alabama
, Pensacola, Florida
, Rome, Georgia
, and Conyers, Georgia
. The orchestra has also partnered with choral organizations including the Emory Concert Choir, Atlanta Choral Artists, the Schola Cantorum of Atlanta, Clayton State Collegiate Chorale, Clayton Camerata, Dekalb Choral Guild, the Westminster Choir, Chandler Choraliers, and choirs from Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Intown Community Church in Atlanta, and Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama.
To date the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra has not released any recordings.
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
, (also called "authentic performance practice") of music from the Baroque era
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
on period instruments. The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra (ABO) gave its premiere concert in January, 1998. The first Director of the ABO was lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
and theorbo
Theorbo
A theorbo is a plucked string instrument. As a name, theorbo signifies a number of long-necked lutes with second pegboxes, such as the liuto attiorbato, the French théorbe des pièces, the English theorbo, the archlute, the German baroque lute, the angélique or angelica. The etymology of the name...
player Dr. Lyle Nordstrom, who departed in 2003. As several guest directors were brought in for concerts, Dr. John Hsu, noted performer on the viola da gamba and baryton
Baryton
The baryton is a bowed string instrument in the viol family, in regular use in Europe up until the end of the 18th century. In London a performance at Marylebone Gardens was announced in 1744, when Mr Ferrand was to perform on "the Pariton, an instrument never played on in publick before." It most...
, took the title of Artistic Advisor, becoming Artistic Director in July 2004; he continued through the 2008-2009 season. From 2004 through 2011, the Resident Director has been founding member Dr. Daniel Pyle, harpsichordist and organist, and also Instructor of Music at Clayton State University
Clayton State University
Clayton State University is a public university in Morrow, Georgia, with 6,785 students. Clayton State University is a part of the University System of Georgia....
and Organist and Choir Director at the Anglican Church of Our Saviour in Atlanta. Violinist, dancer and choreographer Dr. Julie Andrijeski became Artistic Director in February, 2011.
The ABO usually performs four to six concerts per year, concentrating on orchestral works and concerti
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
, but often featuring chamber pieces
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, vocal cantatas
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, and other works with vocal soloists. The range of works performed by the ABO stretches back to the beginnings of Baroque style around the year 1600, while their core repertoire is centered in music from many composers who worked in the "Middle Baroque" era of Pachelbel and Corelli (the late 1600s) and the "High Baroque" era of Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and Telemann (up through 1750). They have also performed the music of Mozart and Haydn, and the string symphonies of Mendelssohn from the 1820s.
Several concerts have featured the orchestra accompanying Baroque dance
Baroque dance
Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era , closely linked with Baroque music, theatre and opera.- English country dance :...
rs. Most performers with the ABO are university instructors and professors with advanced degrees, and all are specialists in authentic performance practice, playing replicas of the actual instruments used in the Baroque era. Such an ensemble produces a sound that is quite different from that of ensembles that use modern orchestral instruments. Baroque violin
Baroque violin
A baroque violin is, in common usage, any violin whose neck, fingerboard, bridge, and tailpiece are of the type used during the baroque period. Such an instrument may be an original built during the baroque and never changed to modern form; or a modern replica built as a baroque violin; or an...
s, violas and cellos use strings of sheep gut and bows of an earlier design, rather than the louder string instruments strung with steel strings played by conventional orchestras. Likewise, the Baroque flute is made of wood and does not have keys, while the Baroque horn (often called the natural horn
Natural horn
The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the ancestor of the modern-day horn, and is differentiated by its lack of valves. It consists of a mouthpiece, some long coiled tubing, and a large flared bell. Pitch changes are made through a few different techniques:* Modulating the lip tension as...
) has no valves. Other instruments featured in a Baroque orchestra include the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and lautenwerk, viola da gamba and bass viol, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, Baroque bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
, lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
and theorbo
Theorbo
A theorbo is a plucked string instrument. As a name, theorbo signifies a number of long-necked lutes with second pegboxes, such as the liuto attiorbato, the French théorbe des pièces, the English theorbo, the archlute, the German baroque lute, the angélique or angelica. The etymology of the name...
.
Because of the relatively small number of musicians who specialize in playing Baroque-era instruments, the ABO consists of a smaller core of regular musicians who live in the Atlanta, Georgia area, supplemented for each concert by performers and featured soloists brought in from throughout the United States of America and occasionally from overseas.
Guest artists and directors have included leading Baroque and Classical-period performers: violinists Stanley Ritchie, Monica Huggett
Monica Huggett
Monica Huggett is a British conductor and leading baroque violinist.-Biography:At the age of 16, Huggett started studying at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Manoug Parikian and Kato Havas, baroque violin with Sigiswald Kuijken.She co-founded and served as leader of the Amsterdam Baroque...
, Sergiu Luca
Sergiu Luca
Sergiu Luca was a Romanian-born American violinist, renowned as an early music pioneer who first introduced playing J. S...
, and Dana Maiben; Paul O’Dette
Paul O'Dette
Paul R. O'Dette is an American lutenist, conductor, and music researcher specializing in early music.O'Dette began playing classical guitar, and while in high school also played electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up...
, lute; Aldo Abreu
Aldo Abreu
Aldo Abreu is a distinguished Venezuelan recorder player who is the First Prize Winner of the 1992 "Concert Artists Guild Competition" , as well as a laureate of the "Concours Musica Antiqua" and the "Premio Flauto Dolce" ....
, recorder; soprano Julianne Baird
Julianne Baird
Julianne Baird is an American soprano best known for her singing in Baroque works, in both opera and sacred music. She has nearly 100 recordings to her credit and is a well-traveled recitalist and soloist with major symphony orchestras...
; Stephen Rickards, countertenor; oboist Matthew Peaceman; and Baroque dance
Baroque dance
Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era , closely linked with Baroque music, theatre and opera.- English country dance :...
rs Paige Whitley-Bauguess and Thomas Baird.
Signatory concerts of the ABO include the first performances in Atlanta on period instruments of:
- Vivaldi's The Four Seasons on September 27, 1998 at Clayton State UniversityClayton State UniversityClayton State University is a public university in Morrow, Georgia, with 6,785 students. Clayton State University is a part of the University System of Georgia....
's Spivey HallSpivey HallSpivey Hall was built in 1991 on the campus of Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, not far from Atlanta, Georgia. Its seating capacity is 392 . It presents jazz and classical music to the metro Atlanta area....
. - J. S. Bach's Passion according to St. John on November 11, 2000 at Emory UniversityEmory UniversityEmory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
- HandelHANDELHANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Messiah on November 23, 2002 - Marc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
's Te Deum on November 16, 2001, using a new orchestration completed by musicologist Charles Brewer
and a year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart in 2006. In 2009, they devoted concerts to the symphonies of Haydn, celebrating the 300th anniversary of his birth.
In addition to its own concerts, the orchestra has performed in collaboration with other organizations throughout the Southeast, including at conferences of the National Flute Convention, the American Musicological Society
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society is a membership-based musicological organization founded in 1934 to advance scholarly research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship; it grew out of a small contingent of the Music Teachers National Association and, more directly,...
, and the Southeast Historical Keyboard Society. The ABO has performed on the campuses of Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
, Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
, Clayton College and State University, Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta. It was chartered in 1835 and named after James Edward Oglethorpe, the state's founder.-History:...
, and Valdosta State University
Valdosta State University
Valdosta State University, also referred to as VSU, or Valdosta State, is an American public university and is one of the two regional universities in the University System of Georgia. Valdosta State is located on a campus at the heart of the city of Valdosta...
. The ABO has performed in venues in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, Rome, Georgia
Rome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
, and Conyers, Georgia
Conyers, Georgia
Conyers is the only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, USA. It is twenty-four miles east of Atlanta. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,689. Census estimates of 2005 indicate a population of 12,205. The city is the county seat of Rockdale County. By 2009, the reported population was...
. The orchestra has also partnered with choral organizations including the Emory Concert Choir, Atlanta Choral Artists, the Schola Cantorum of Atlanta, Clayton State Collegiate Chorale, Clayton Camerata, Dekalb Choral Guild, the Westminster Choir, Chandler Choraliers, and choirs from Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Intown Community Church in Atlanta, and Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama.
To date the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra has not released any recordings.