APOLLO'S FIRE with Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, The Sebastians and More Set for Houston Early Music's 2014-15 Season

Join Houston Early Music for its expanded 2014-2015 Concert Season featuring six renowned early music ensembles. Dedicated to showcasing music from the Middle Ages through the 18th century, Houston Early Music presents concerts performed with historical instruments and styles true to the period. This season will encompass both masterworks and little-known gems with the goal of inspiring audiences to reimagine the past.

"Our artists breathe new life into the music from an earlier era, giving the audience an aural glimpse of how the music would have sounded in an earlier time," said Nancy Ellis, artistic director of Houston Early Music. "The emotions that the musical works evoke resonate with modern audiences just as they must have with listeners for hundreds of years."

Houston Early Music continues its commitment to its Emerging Artists Series and Hispanic Heritage Series this season. Five of the six performances also feature a discussion program with ensemble members prior to the performances, as part of Houston Early Music's educational outreach initiative.

APOLLO'S FIRE, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra - Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610

Monteverdi forged a vivid, new musical style with this choral masterpiece by evoking the struggle between the archaic and the revolutionary. Led by Jeannette Sorrell, award-winning harpsichordist, the Apollo's Fire period orchestra, chamber choir and seven solo vocalists bring this rich, magnificent work to one of Houston's most dramatic concert settings.

The concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, at Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. A pre-concert talk with Jeannette Sorrell starts at 6:45 p.m.

TAFELMUSIK - The Galileo Project

Explore a fusion of arts and science! Tafelmusik performs the music of Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel, enhanced by poetic narration and choreography, with a backdrop of high-definition images captured by the Hubble Telescope. This concert is offered in collaboration with Da Camera of Houston.

The program begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, at Cullen Theater at Wortham Center. Houston Early Music subscribers receive a discount on preferred seating for this concert. Single tickets will be available from Da Camera of Houston, 713-524-5050 or dacamera.com. Free admission for children does not apply to this performance.

Hispanic Heritage Series: EL MUNDO - Villancicos y Cantadas de Navidad

Houston audience favorite El Mundo returns with a celebration of holiday music from Italy, Spain and her colonies in the New World. Join director, Baroque guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino and the ensemble for a festive multicultural extravaganza that includes newly discovered vocal and instrumental works from the archives of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

The event is scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12, 2014, at Christ Church Cathedral. A preconcert talk with Richard Savino begins at 7:15 p.m.

CIARAMELLA - Make a Joyful Noise

Hear the joyful noise of shawms, recorders, bagpipes and sackbuts improvising florid polyphony over songs, dances and sacred chant. Praised for performing intricate 15th-century counterpoint "with the ease of jazz musicians improvising on a theme" (The Cleveland Plain Dealer), Ciaramella brings to life the music of the Burgundian Alta Capella ensembles that piped across Renaissance Europe. This is a main stage concert for the 2015 Houston Early Music Festival.

The performance begins at 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. A preconcert talk by Ciaramella artists begins at 2:15 p.m.

Emerging Artists Series: THE SEBASTIANS - Bach and Forth

Praised for their "well-thought-out articulation and phrasing" (Early Music Review) as well as being "everywhere sharp-edged and engaging" (The New York Times), The Sebastians took the Audience Prize at the 2012 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition. Daniel S. Lee and Alexander Woods (violins), Ezra Seltzer (cello) and Jeffrey Grossman (harpsichord) will present a concert of dynamic trio sonatas by J.S. Bach, Handel, Buxtehude, Rosenmuller, Erlebach and Telemann.

The event is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2015, at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church. The preconcert talk by The Sebastians at begins at 6:45 p.m.

QUICKSILVER - Stile Moderno, New Music from the 17th Century

Numbered among the cultural revolutions of the 17th century was music. Composers consciously created a stile moderno of dramatic oppositions and vivid emotions. "Revered like rock stars within the early music scene" (The New York Times), Quicksilver vibrantly explores this virtuosic, experimental and deeply moving "new music" by Castello, Fontana, Merula and Marini, performed on baroque violins, cello and harpsichord.

The event is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2015, at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church. A preconcert talk by Robert Mealy, Quicksilver co-director, begins at 6:45 p.m.

Full season subscriptions and individual tickets for the Houston Early Music 2014-2015 season are available now and can be purchased at HoustonEarlyMusic.org.

Until August 1, a discounted full-season subscription for all six concerts is $180 general admission and $155 senior admission. After August 1, full-season subscriptions may be purchased for $200 general admission and $175 senior admission.

A mini-pass option, which provides a selection of any three concerts, is also available for $110 general admission and $95 for seniors. Individual tickets are available for $40 general admission, $35 senior admission and $20 for students with a valid student ID card. Children under the age of 15 receive free admission. For more information, e-mail info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org or call 281-846-4222.

SEASON OVERVIEW:

Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

APOLLO'S FIRE, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra - Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610

Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

1701 San Jacinto St.

Houston, Texas 77002

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

TAFELMUSIK - The Galileo Project

Cullen Theater at Wortham Center

500 Texas Ave.

Houston, Texas 77002

Friday, Dec. 12, 2014, 8 p.m.

HISPANIC HERITAGE SERIES

EL MUNDO - Villancicos y Cantadas de Navidad

Christ Church Cathedral

1117 Texas Ave.

Houston, Texas 77002

Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, 3 p.m.

CIARAMELLA - Make a Joyful Noise

First Evangelical Lutheran Church

1311 Holman St.

Houston, Texas 77004

Friday, March 27, 2015, 7:30 p.m.

EMERGING ARTISTS SERIES

THE SEBASTIANS - Bach and Forth

First Evangelical Lutheran Church

1311 Holman St.

Houston, Texas 77004

Friday, April 10, 2015, 7:30 p.m.

QUICKSILVER - Stile Moderno, New Music from the 17th Century

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church

4930 West Bellfort St.

Houston, Texas 77035

ABOUT HOUSTON EARLY MUSIC - As the city's only organization dedicated to covering the large historical span of early music in all of its forms, Houston Early Music epitomizes a movement that has swept the world of classical music. Officially incorporated in 1969, the nonprofit provides performance opportunities for up-and-coming and major early music artists from around the world in an annual concert series. A successful educational outreach program introduces a future generation to a broad range of music. Houston Early Music is funded in part by grants from the Houston Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Pictured: Houston Early Music's 2014-2015 season includes its third annual Emerging Artists Series concert, featuring The Sebastians, an up-and-coming group specializing in the Baroque and Classical eras. Photo courtesy of Houston Early Music and The Sebastians.

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