Early Music San Antonio
The audience-based information site
for San Antonio's Early Music scene
Next Events
Featured Event
November 7th, 2021, 3:00PM
Austin Baroque Orchestra
Though little-known today, Ferdinand VI was Spain's most musical monarch. At their palaces at Aranjuez and Madrid, Ferdinand and his Portuguese-born wife Maria Bárbara de Bragança employed an army of Spanish and Italian musicians and artists that easily rivaled those at the equally music-obsessed courts of Louis XV or Frederick the Great. Among the king's musical entourage was Farinelli, the famed castrato who had originally come to Spain to assuage Ferdinand's father's melancholy with his voice, and Domenico Scarlatti, who had been the Queen's harpsichord tutor since the age of ten. This program, our first live performance since February 2020, will offer a glimpse into the public and private musical life of the royal couple, with operatic and orchestral music by Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian composers including Scarlatti, José de Nebra, Carlos de Seixas, Nicola Conforto, Luigi Boccherini, and others, presented by a full orchestra and featuring sopranos Julianna Emanski and Shari Wilson.
Featured Composer
William Byrd
1537-1623 Known as the “Father of British Music”, William Byrd in 1563 was appointed organist and choirmaster of Lincoln Cathedral, later moving to London to become co-organist with Thomas Tallis at the Chapel Royal.
Featured Instrument
Crumhorn
A capped reed in the woodwind family, developed in the Renaissance period. Its name means "bent horn."
