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Musica Pacifica

St. Mary Magdalen Church

1600 was an important time for music. Revolutionary thinking insisted that we were done with the cerebral and ready to reinvent expression. A time to return to roots, a time for drama. The new music was a hit, but the old music wasn’t going away any time soon. This program looks at how these ideas played out with four works: Rebel‘s Le Cahos (beginning with the oddest chord in our repertoire), two Purcell pieces (a six part In Nomine firmly rooted in the old style and a Chaconne in the new), Bach‘s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto (acknowledging the newly developed concerto model, plus the harpsichord promoted to the front line), and Muffat‘s Passacaglia (the composer’s attempt at peace between nations by effortlessly merging German, French and Italian styles.

The Albany Consort: From Chaos to the Sublime

Quaver returns with a trove of music that will upend your expectation of what a viol consort can sound like.  They’ll juxtapose the bread and butter of consort music – imitative polyphony and dances from the Renaissance and Baroque – with Pop melodies, Romantic harmonies, and tango rhythms.  Not everything will be a fugue, but they guarantee to open your ear holes. Many more details to come! Stay tuned.

Quaver: The Viol Consort of the Future Past

Hillside Swedenborgian Community Church

William Lawes and John Jenkins both had the unusual experience of working for the court of Charles I, a man with great wealth and power who loved the viol and its music. However, Lawes died at the age of 42 at the Battle of Chester during the Civil War, whereas Jenkins lived on even after the king was executed, survived that ill-fated experiment in a sort of democracy (the “Commonwealth”) as a resident musician in the house of a wealthy Catholic, and was then pointlessly employed by the court again after the restoration of the monarchy, by a king who had no interest in viol music.

The Consort Music Wars: Jenkins v. Lawes

Saint Mary Magdalen Church

Immerse yourself in the Halloween season with the eerie and spooky sounds of the harpsichord.  Spine-chilling chords and cackling runs bring alive a concert of things that go bump in the night, with black cats, monsters, and even compositions written by spirits. Featuring works by J.S. Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Jean-Phillip Rameau, Francois Couperin, and many more, almost entirely deceased, composers.



Faythe Vollrath, The Halloween Harpsichord

We are delighted to kick off Barefoot’s 2023-2024 season with local legends The New Esterházy Quartet (Lisa Weiss and Kati Kyme, violins; Anthony Martin, viola; and William Skeen, violoncello) playing“Other Mozarts”: String Quartets by L Mozart & FX Mozart, Mysliveček, Bologne, Kraus, Arriaga, (and WA Mozart).

The New  Esterházy Quartet

Hillside Swedenborgian Church

This program is simply the cream of French viol music. Marais wrote 5 books of music for the viol (around 550 pieces in total), and was in charge of the court’s chamber music. Couperin wrote mostly for keyboard, but very late in his long life, he created 2 exquisite suites for viol and contino, as well as 2 of his “Concerts Royaux” for 2 viols. Viol players Hallifax & Jeffrey are joined by local star Andy Canepa to bring the best of this repertoire to you.

Music by Couperin and Marais

Parish Hall of St. Mary Magdalen

Transcription for Two Violas da Gamba by Ludwig Christian Hesse

Harmonia Felice

Just as historical musicians crossed borders and languages to share musical influences, French star and Kuijken disciple Jérôme Hantaï (viol) and the prodigious Berkeley-born Paris-transplant Lillian Gordis (harpsichord) join forces with Bay Area star and co-Kuijken disciple Lynn Tetenbaum (viol) in a trans-Atlantic dialogue. A delightful program of German and French music will highlight the Dutch, French and American early music connections with this collaboration. Works of J.S. Bach, Schenck, Forqueray, Ste. Colombe, and Marais.

Chamber Concert with Lillian Gordis

Some things just get better. The Wildcat Viols have been around for a bit, and know what they are doing with those instruments. The program will include music by Purcell, Locke and Legrenzi, precise details tba, but you know it’ll be good.

Wildcat Viols

Gorgeous French Music by Louis XV’s chamber music czar and main viol man, Marin Marais. A viol and a theorbo, the perfect recipe.  This is the concert that we had to postpone in March of 2020 (remember that time?), and it’s just got better since then.

Music by Marin Marais

Music by Quantz, Hotteterre, Marais, Forqueray, and James Oswald. This elegant and unusual program has it all: from early French to late German baroque flute sonatas and even some of the rarely heard Scots flower pieces by James Oswald. Bach and Forqueray also make special appearances. To the delight of all, Janet See returns to the Bay Area with a program of intimate chamber music. Catch it while it’s hot!

Old Friends The Music That Stood the Test of Time

John Jenkins had the unusual experience of working for the court of Charles I until that employer was executed, surviving the Commonwealth as a resident musician in the house of a wealthy Catholic, and being employed by the court again after the restoration. However, since the new monarch, Charles II , had no taste for counterpoint (he liked a good tune, but had difficulty with the complications of more complex music), most of Jenkins’ later music was composed for private employers.
This concert is the sixth of what has become an annual series of one-composer viol consort concerts, and we recommend reserving seats, as this concert has been extremely popular in the past.

The Barefoot ALL-STARS

Local heroes Ensemble Vermillian are back on Barefoot with a program of 17th and 18th century music from France, Italy, Germany, and England, for recorder, violin, cello and harpsichord. The Bay Area-based group has been mining this repertoire for years now, and finally have found the perfect program. We can’t wait to hear it.

Ensemble Vermillian

The Legendary Barefoot Allstars play The Complete 6 part Setts of William Lawes

Barefoot Concerts at the Berkeley Festival 3

Barefoot Concerts at the Berkeley Festival 2

Bach Sonatas for Harpsichord and Viola da Gamba

Barefoot Concerts at the Berkeley Festival 1

Saint Mark's Episcopal Church

Finally, but most gloriously, the 21-22 post-pandemic regular season will conclude on April 22 with Lynn Tetenbaum (viola da gamba), and John Lenti (theorbo), who will delight the hearts of viol players and other people of good taste by playing an entire concert of French Music for viol and theorbo. What more could you possibly want?

French Music for Viol and Theorbo

March 11th sees the return of local and national harpsichord star Janine Johnson, who will play a concert of music by “the Orpheus of Amsterdam” (this was before Amsterdam was the weed capital of Europe), Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.  This concert will feature Janine’s fabulous new(ish) harpsichord, a copy of a German short-octave 17th century instrument by (of course) John Phillips.

Janine Johnson, Harpsichord, plays music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

On February 4 we continue mining the seam of English masterpieces; the Barefoot House Band, Hallifax & Jeffrey, with fabulous guest keyboard wiz Andy Canepa, will bring you a concert of English music for 2 bass viols and keyboards by Hume, Simpson, Locke, and other English 17th century stars.  This concert has been heard in a garage setting (for passing dog-walkers) for some time during the pandemic, and is now finally ready to be played in a civilized (and warm) environment, without (we hope) masks. Music from before and after the (English) Civil War.

Barefoot Chamber Concerts

Apr 5, 2024

Musica Pacifica

Feb 9, 2024

The Albany Consort: From Chaos to the Sublime

Jan 19, 2024

Quaver: The Viol Consort of the Future Past

Jan 5, 2024

The Consort Music Wars: Jenkins v. Lawes

Oct 27, 2023

Faythe Vollrath, The Halloween Harpsichord

Barefoot Chamber Concerts

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