Singular Voices began with a desire to go deeper into a distinctly beautiful corner of the Baroque repertoire: solo unaccompanied works for violin, cello, and many other instruments. Most people think immediately of the monumental works by Bach in this genre, but a number of Bach’s predecessors and contemporaries also explored this musical territory.

Unaccompanied music for one player can draw us into new terrain emotionally, and achieve an intimacy that is distinctly different than chamber works involving two or more musicians. To delve deeper into this musical world, I invited three collaborating artists representing very different art forms to listen (with their own ears) to musical selections… and see where their imagination took them.

• Juan J. Morales was born in the U.S. to an Ecuadorian mother and a Puerto Rican father. He grew up in Colorado hearing family stories that inspired much of his first book of poetry. He is the Director of Creative Writing and an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University-Pueblo, and also teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. What especially attracted me to Juan’s poetry was the way he imbues the details of everyday life with a larger, mythical quality.

• Jessica Robblee refers to herself as a “theatre-maker,” which can include the creation of new theater pieces as writer, producer, and performer. She has appeared often with Buntport Theater and Stories on Stage, and is the recipient of the Westword Mastermind Award for Innovation in the Performing Arts. I am struck by Jessica’s ability to use humor as an opening to shed new and surprising light on our shared humanity.

• Joseph Gaines has a dual career as an operatic tenor and photographer, and is winner of the 2019 Historic Denver Photography award. I am captivated especially by Joe’s photographs of two very different subjects – Western landscapes and urban architecture, and his desire to “map the intersections of time and eternity” through his work.

I am excited to feature in this program the “singular voices” of Stacy Brady (violin), Sarah Biber (viola da gamba) and Linda Lunbeck (recorder). With three musicians from BCOC’s circle and three collaborating artists assembled, we embarked on a unique adventure! The music is selected from solo fantasias and sonatas by J.S. Bach, Telemann, and Abel.

Special thanks to Museo de las Americas for hosting us for this virtual concert. Their current exhibition in collaboration with the Denver Art Museum, “Rhythm and Ritual: Music of the Ancient Americas,” is available for viewing until October 17. It was an honor for us to be able to record our concert in the midst of this special exhibit, which connects us in the 21st century with the ancient roots of music-making in the Americas.

Singular Voices
Sign up to register to watch Singular Voices:  https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/czoUmMM.
After you register, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado will email you the link shortly before the concert, to watch the Premiere of Singular Voices on our new YouTube channel. The chat will be open when the concert begins at 7pm on Thursday, October 1, and will close at the end of the concert. The link will be available to access the video on-demand for one week.

Program:
Prelude

The Waves, or, Las Olas and The Dream of Acceptance
written and performed by Juan J. Morales
with Violin Fantasia no. 10 in D major and Recorder Fantasia in no. 8 in G minor,
by Georg Philipp Telemann

A Very Particular Lady Has an Evening at Home
written and performed by Jessica Robblee
with Violin Sonata no. 2 in A minor: Grave and Allegro, by Johann Sebastian Bach

Supernal Geography: photographs by Joseph Gaines
with Sonata in A minor for viola da gamba by Carl Friedrich Abel