About Misshapen Pearl with Colorado Chamber Players

The CCP proudly presents music of the 17th and 18th centuries,  with music of three historically excluded women composers.  Baroque, which comes from the Portuguese word for misshapen pearl, barroco, was first used as a derogatory term by 19th century critics who found Baroque art to be old fashioned.  Today, we joyfully celebrate the music of the baroque, and ask the question: where did women composers fit into the Baroque era?  Were women composers the actual Misshapen Pearls?

Program:

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729): G minor trio sonata, arr. For two violas d’amore, gamba and archlute  


Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704): Sonata duodecima, arr. For viola d’amore, gamba and archlute  


Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana (1623) : Domine, arr. For 2 violas d’amore, gamba and archlute


Georg Phillip Telemann (1681-1767): Fantasia No. 7 in E-Flat Major for Solo Viola, TWV 40:20   


Heinrich Biber (1644-1704): Partita IV from the Harmonia Artificiosa, for scordatura violin, scordatura viola, gamba and archlute
 

Performers:

Dan Urbanowicz, baroque violin and viola d’amore

Barbara Hamilton, baroque viola and viola d’amore

Sarah Biber, viola da gamba

Peter Schimpf, archlute

Colorado Chamber Players

Named one of the top five chamber groups in Colorado by the Denver Post, the Colorado Chamber Players celebrates its 27th Season in 2020-2021. The CCP’s  28th Season will be presented in both a live and virtual format.

The ensemble has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Chamber Music America Residency Awards (2000 and 2008). The CCP has received awards from the Argosy Foundation, Denver Mayor's Fund, Colorado Creative Industries, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Energize Colorado Gap Fund, Xcel Energy Foundation, DreamSpring, and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).

The CCP has a core of string quartet, double bass, piano, harp, clarinet and flute.  Favorite guest artists have included cellists Lynn Harrell and David Geber, clarinetist Derek Bermel, guitarist Sharon Isbin, violists Jesse Levine, Patricia McCarty and Roger Tapping, and pianist Jeffrey Kahane. 

Critic Marc Shulgold wrote of a performance with Lynn Harrell in 2018 (from thescen3.org):

"From the hushed opening chords, growing majestically out of silence, the ensemble played as if with a single voice, the two cellos and then two violins soaring exquisitely through the First Movement’s unforgettable theme. The gorgeous Adagio unfolded with a wisely chosen tempo – not too fast, but just slow enough to maintain momentum and keep our focus on the subtly emerging melody. The final two movements bubbled with confidence, each of the numerous transitions managed with solid control. No surprise that the audience, clearly engaged in Schubert’s heavenly music, barely made a peep during the performance."