Kansas City ensemble will fill the summer with some of the best 18th century music
It’s hard for a classical music ensemble to make it in this cold, cruel world, especially when it specializes in a rarefied genre like early music. So special kudos are in order for Kansas City Baroque Consortium as it marks its 15th anniversary.
To celebrate, the group is presenting “Pearls of the Baroque,” three concerts of some of the best music from the 18th century, taking place in June, July and August.
Kansas City Baroque Consortium was founded by cellist Trilla Ray-Carter, who is still its artistic director. She moved to Kansas City in 1993, and for many years taught at William Jewell College while serving as principal cellist for the Liberty Symphony and performing with other community orchestras as a section leader.
Then she caught the baroque bug.
“I heard a recording of Phoebe Carrai, who is a wonderful baroque cellist, playing the Bach suites, and I thought I want what she’s having,” Ray-Carter said. “She was offering a summer intensive program in Cambridge, so I did the summer intensive for two years, and when I came back after the second summer, I realized I had drunk the Kool-Aid.”
After returning to Kansas City, Ray-Carter discovered that several of her colleagues also had a secret love of period baroque. Unfortunately, there weren’t any opportunities to express it.
“So very quickly we formed a small group, and it grew, and in 2009 we had our inaugural concert as Kansas City Baroque Consortium,” Ray-Carter said.
For the past couple of seasons, the ensemble has explored music by lesser-known composers of the early baroque. Ray-Carter says she wanted “Pearls of the Baroque” to focus on great works by the most popular composers of the high baroque.
The first concert, June 28 at St. John’s United Methodist Church, will feature countertenor Jay Carter, one of Ray-Carter’s early fellow travelers.
“Jay and I were co-directors of the Jewell Early Music Festival, which ran from 2009 to 2012, and he’s continued to perform often with us over the years,” she said. “So in this 15th anniversary year, I wanted to honor those earliest days when we planted the seed for creating an early music ensemble in Kansas City.”
A countertenor is a male voice who can sing in a female’s alto range or even a soprano range. Carter is a local singer but has been recognized nationally as one the country’s finest.
“The countertenor is a beautiful, high voice that can be quite dramatic,” Ray-Carter said. “I love Jay’s singing. I love playing for him because it’s very inspiring.”
Carter, who is no relation to Ray-Carter, will be the soloist in cantatas by Caldara and Vivaldi, and the ensemble will also perform works by Geminiani and Corelli.
The second concert July 19 at Country Club United Methodist Church features another performer who was part of the consortium’s early years. Lyric soprano Hannah De Priest grew up in St. Joseph and attended William Jewell College, where she participated in the Jewell Early Music Festival as a student. She would go on to get degrees in early music and win several competitions. The Boston Globe raved about De Priest’s performance at the Boston Early Music Festival, dubbing her a “breakout artist.”
“Hannah just competed in the Handel Aria Competition in London, and was a finalist,” Ray-Carter said. “I watched the video of her performance, and she was by far the most dramatic in her stage presence and in her telling of the story. So, of course, she’ll be doing some Handel for us.”
De Priest will also star in a Vivaldi cantata, with the group also performing works by Telemann and Bach.
Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann also figure prominently on the last program of the season Aug. 16 at Visitation Catholic Church. Recorder player Trevor Stewart will be highlighted in a concerto gross by Vivaldi and a sonata by Telemann. Stewart, a versatile wind player, is currently the interim principal clarinetist for the Kansas City Symphony
While the other concerts in the series will use a pared down version of the ensemble, Ray-Carter says that all 15 members of the consortium will take part in the season’s grand finale.
“We’re going to do some Irish tunes and airs, and we’ll end the concert with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4,” she said. “It is a celebration. I listen to it, and to me it’s everything, everything I feel about having made it to this point in our career as an early music ensemble in Kansas City.”
7:30 p.m. June 28: Music of Vivaldi, Corelli, Caldara and Geminiani. Jay Carter, countertenor. St. John’s United Methodist Church, 6900 Ward Parkway.
7:30 p.m. July 19: Music of Handel and Vivaldi. Hannah De Priest, lyric soprano. Country Club United Methodist Church, 815 E. Meyer Blvd.
7:30 p.m. Aug. 16: Music of Vivaldi, Telemann and Bach. David Lee, violin, and Trevor Stewart, recorder. Visitation Catholic Church, 5141 Main St.
Season tickets: $71-$120. Individual tickets: $28-$45. kcbaroque.org.
You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.