It’s back, and it’s bigger than ever. The third annual Denman Island Baroque Festival takes place May 4-12, with several exciting events scheduled.
The centrepiece of the festival is the workshop (now completely full) for singers, instrumentalists, actors and dancers – a week of rehearsals in preparation for the full production of this year’s opera, The Fairy Queen. More accurately described as a musical masque of airs and dances, the work was composed by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) to accompany a 1692 production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Fairy Queen will be performed Saturday, May 11 at 2:30 p.m.
Other events during the Baroque Festival week include a concert at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, by internationally renowned workshop instructors Marco Vitale, Enrique Gomez-Cabrero Fernandez and Romeo Ciuffa.
Maestro Vitale will present a harpsichord recital the evening of May 6, as well as a brief lecture on May 7.
The big community concert, featuring baroque-related pieces by workshop participants and local musicians, will take place Thursday evening, May 9 at 7 p.m.
This promises to be an enjoyable evening of instrumental, vocal, spoken word and choral works.
All events will be at the Denman Island Community Hall.
The festival is run by Denman Early Music, a part of Arts Denman. Please check our frequently updated website www.denmanbaroque.com for further details.