The Dryden Ensemble Announces Its 2018-19 Season

The Dryden Ensemble announces its upcoming season, including an autumn benefit, a three-concert series and organ recital at Miller Chapel on the Theological Seminary campus, 64 Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey, and three concerts at Trinity Episcopal Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, Pennsylvania. General admission tickets are $25 per concert and student tickets are free with a valid ID.

On Saturday, September 15, the ensemble's autumn benefit will be held at Westland Mansion, the former home of President Grover Cleveland in Princeton. A celebration of the Italian music, food, and wine, the event includes an intimate house concert, sumptuous buffet dinner, and silent auction. Reservations are required. To receive an invitation call 609-466-8541 or e-mail drydenensemble@gmail.com. Tickets may also be purchased online at http://drydenensemble.org.

The series opens on October 20 and 21 with a Bach Cantata Fest featuring two masterful cantatas and selected arias for voices, oboes, strings, and chamber organ. The soloists, all Baroque specialists, are mezzo-soprano Kristen Dubenion-Smith, tenor Jason McStoots, and baritone William Sharp. Bach's music will again be the feature on Saturday, November 10, when organist Jacob Street performs an all-Bach program on the magnificent Joe R. Engle organ in Miller Chapel.

On January 19 and 20 the focus shifts to Queen Christina, the Swedish monarch who gave up her throne for music, art, and religion in Rome. The program includes dramatic readings by actors Roberta Maxwell and Paul Hecht and chamber music following the queen's route as she makes her way on horseback from Sweden to Rome. The season closes on April 6 and 7 with Musica Stravagante, a concert of glorious music for oboe and strings by German and Italian masters of the Baroque, including Castello, Vivaldi, Albinoni, Biber, and Bach.

For tickets and more information, visit drydenensemble.org or call 609.466.8541.

Named in honor of John Dryden, the English poet laureate whose words inspired Baroque composers including Purcell and Handel, the Dryden Ensemble specializes in performing music of the 17th and 18th centuries on period instruments. A line from Dryden's Song to St. Cecilia captures the essence of baroque music and the ensemble's philosophy: "What Passion cannot Musick raise and quell!"

The Dryden Ensemble is a not-for-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and a registered charity in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.