Folger Consort Presents CHRISTMAS WITH THE FOLGER CONSORT: A VIRTUAL CONCERT

Folger Consort, the early music ensemble in residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, will make available a virtual holiday-themed concert for on-demand streaming via the Folger Shakespeare Library starting Friday, December 11, 2020 through Tuesday, January 5, 2021. The performance was filmed and recorded in the spacious and atmospheric St. Mark's Church on Capitol Hill, where the Consort's season was originally scheduled to take place prior to COVID-19.

A beloved annual tradition in Washington, DC, this year's holiday concert has as its centerpiece J.S. Bach's cantata BWV140, Wachet auf (Sleepers Wake). The same Advent text was set a century earlier by the composer Michael Praetorius, and his setting along with other German holiday favorites are paired with English and American Yuletide music from the early music tradition. Folger Consort-with programming by Artistic Directors Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall-will include guest artists making up a Baroque chamber ensemble supporting vocalists Crossley Hawn (soprano), Lucy McVeigh (alto), Robert Petillo (tenor), and Edmund Milly (bass).

Individual tickets can be purchased at price tiers ranging from $25 to $50 and may be purchased with the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077 or online at www.folger.edu/consort. Once purchased, the video will be available for streaming via the Folger Shakespeare Library website from December 11, 2020 through January 5, 2021. Discounts are available for Folger members and for subscribers to Folger Consort, Folger Theatre, and the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

In Christmas with the Folger Consort: A Virtual Concert, Folger Consort presents a program of early music holiday favorites filmed in the atmospheric nave of St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill. Two sections of the program are centered on the German text "Wachet auf" ("Sleepers Wake"), with a performance of J.S. Bach's cantata BWV140 and Michael Praetorius's setting of "Wachet auf" from a century earlier. One of Bach's most intimately scored cantatas, a socially distanced Baroque ensemble playing on historical instruments and solo vocalists bring the work to life. The program includes other holiday settings by Praetorius as well as joyful holiday music from the English and American traditions by such composers as William Billings and Thomas Ravenscroft.

More information online at: www.folger.edu/consort

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

VOCALISTS

Crossley Hawn, soprano

Lucy McVeigh, alto

Robert Petillo, tenor

Edmund Milly, bass

ENSEMBLE

Margaret Owens, oboe and recorder

Anna Marsh, bassoon

Paula Maust, organ

Risa Browder, violin

Nina Falk, viola

John Moran, cello

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