Ars Lyrica Offers Second All-Bach Program This Season

Ars Lyrica Houston is offering its second all-Bach program this season with a Sunday afternoon virtual performance on November 15. The concert features renowned Baroque violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock and Ars Lyrica founder Matthew Dirst performing two of the beloved "duet" sonatas for harpsichord and violin. The pair will also take solo turns with music Bach composed for the other instrument in transcriptions that reveal new ways of hearing familiar repertoire. The program, presented jointly with Music at St Philip, benefits both organizations.

Ars Lyrica's Side by Side season, reimagined only a few months ago, includes a thoughtful blend of larger scale works and chamber concerts. Intimate performances intended for smaller audiences include venues like Rienzi, the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts, the Holocaust Museum Houston, and St Philip Presbyterian Church, which is the home of Music at St Philip concert series.

Bach 2 Bach highlights the new John Phillips harpsichord that made its debut on the Ars Lyrica season opener, Musical Duels, as well as a longstanding collaboration between artists. "This will be the chamber highlight of our 2020/21 season," says Dirst.

St Philip Presbyterian Church, the home for Ars Lyrica's offices as well as Music at St Philip concert series, provides excellent acoustics, inviting architecture, and a warm environment for music of the highest quality that engages, enriches, and educates both their family of faith and the greater Houston community. King Ferguson, the organization's Executive Director shares that, "We are eternally grateful to St Philip for their generous donation of rehearsal, recording, and office spaces, which allows us to thrive during this transformational time and continue to serve Houstonians with diverse virtual and in-person offerings. It's more important now than ever to have a supportive home venue and a collaborative community where we can all work and make music together safely."

Ticketing information: https://www.arslyricahouston.org/subscriptionsandtickets

Season subscription: $150 all-inclusive
Concert broadcast subscription: $80 or $10/per concert

Bach 2 Bach

J.S. Bach, Sonata in B Minor for Violin & Harpsichord, BWV 1014
J.S. Bach, Excerpts from the "Goldberg" Variations, BWV 988 (on solo violin)
J.S. Bach, Adagio & Fugue for Unaccompanied Violin, BWV 1001 (on harpsichord
J.S. Bach, Sonata in A Major for Violin & Harpsichord, BWV 1015

Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston presents a diverse array of music in its original context while creating connections to contemporary life. Intelligent programming features neglected gems alongside familiar masterworks, and extracts the dramatic potential, emotional resonance, and expressive power of music. Its local subscription series, according to the Houston Chronicle, "sets the agenda" for early music in Houston. Ars Lyrica appears regularly at international festivals and concert series because of its distinctive focus, and its pioneering efforts in the field of authentic performance have won international acclaim.

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