Cosmopolitan Baroque performs old-world music at Kayenta
By Merrie Campbell-Lee
Have you ever heard a harpsichord, viola da gamba, or baroque traverso flute? Now is your chance to revel in the splendor of these old-world sounds as local supergroup Cosmopolitan Baroque performs at Kayenta March 29 at 7:30 p.m. The period instruments they play recreate the sound of instruments from hundreds of years ago, giving old music the sound the composers intended, bringing 16th through 18th Century sounds to life, transporting the audience to an elegant place and time.
Cosmopolitan Baroque comprises four musicians with a mastery of their period instruments: harpsichordist scholar Jonathan Rhodes Lee, traverso flute virtuoso Jennifer Grim, Baroque violinist Gregory Maldonado, and southern Utah’s own Ka-Wai Yu on the viola da gamba. The ensemble will perform a diverse program of chamber music: 16th century Spanish-composer Diego Ortiz’ pieces for viol in improvisatory style; Sonata III by Biagio Marini, who was a pioneer in solo violin technique; the delightful “Les Nations” by French composer François Couperin; Bohemian composer Franz Benda’s splendid E-minor Flute Sonata; Boismortier’s Trio Sonata Op. 50, No. 6 that features a delightful musical conversation between the violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord; a virtuoso harpsichord solo work by Handel; as well as J. S Bach’s magnificent “The Musical Offering.”
Cosmopolitan Baroque, a name Inspired by their collective diversity, was formed in 2017. The troupe resides in the geographical confine of the Mojave Desert, but they hail from all over the world, each with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and training at musical institutions on three continents. The European music they play is from composers like Bach and Telemann, who learned their art by blending north German influences with the latest musical trends from France and Italy. François Couperin dreamed of a perfect style that blended Italian virtuosity with French elegance, which he called the “gouts reunis” (united tastes). And Handel was a German composer who achieved immortality by writing Italianate music for audiences in his adopted England. Cosmopolitan Baroque hopes to continue this tradition by blending its musicians’ various backgrounds and approaches, keeping this music of the past fresh and relevant in the 21st century.
Tickets are $30 and $10 for students. Buy tickets at kayentaarts.com, or call (435) 674-2787. The Center for the Arts at Kayenta is located at 881 Coyote Gulch Ct. in Ivins.
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