Thu 6/8 @ 7:30 PM
Fri 6/9-Sat 6/10 @ 8PM
Sun 6/11 @ 3PM & 7:30PM
Tue 6/13 @ 7:30PM
It’s that time of year when Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s baroque orchestra, loosens up and heads out to the country for its crossover “Countryside Concerts” at the Baroque Barn in Hunting Valley.
They’ll do so this year with a brand-new program titled “Mediterranean Roots: Dances & Romances in the Ancient World.” The program, which is co-guest directed by two Apollo’s Fire veterans, soprano Amanda Powell and oud & guitar player and vocalist Brian Kay, explores the music, dances and stories carried by traders between the crossroads of Spain, Italy, Greece, North Africa and the Middle East.
Featured performers include familiar AF faces Susanna Perry Gilmore on fiddle, Rex Benincasa on exotic percussion, and Tina Bergmann on hammered. The program also welcomes a pair of newcomers to the ensemble: Israeli early wind instrument specialist Daphna Mor and bass player Dave Morgan, who comes from a jazz and world music background.
“I think there’s a deep desire today to understand the traditions of Middle Eastern culture and its relationship to our own (Western) culture and traditions,” says Apollo’s Fire artistic director Jeannette Sorrell. “In exploring the music of medieval and renaissance Italy, Spain, North Africa and the Arabian peninsula — both the popular folk traditions and the art music — we discover that there was much more commonality and cross-influence than we would have imagined.”
The ensemble performs at the Baroque Barn Thursday-Saturday; at Avon Lake’s United Church of Christ Sunday afternoon; at the Geauga Lyric Theatre in Chardon Sunday evening; and at the Bath United Church of Chris on Tuesday.
Tickets are $20-$55.