The Long Island Baroque Ensemble will present its 50th annual Holiday Season concerts on Dec. 7 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Smithtown at 8:30 p.m. and at Christ Church in Oyster Bay on Dec. 8 at 3:00 p.m. Titled “Silver and Gold,” the program will feature voices, winds, and viols performing works of early composers and cultures from around the world.
The group was founded by Ms. Sonia Gezairlian Grib, a musicologist, harpsichordist and professor of music at Hofstra University. While many concert-goers are familiar with the works of J. S. Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, these programs range farther to encompass composers from medieval times to the 17th and 18th centuries.
The ensemble comprises a large group of professional musicians with particular skills on instruments common in early music, such as lute, viol, recorder, cittern, viola da gamba and an array of percussions. Each of the five pairs of concerts during the season draws on a differing group of performers, blending a variety of sounds and harmonies that audiences might have heard when attending musical events in churches, castles, or other social venues three or four centuries ago.
Tickets for either concert are available at the door. St. Andrews Lutheran Church can be found at 30 Brooksite Drive in Smithtown. Christ Church is located at 61 East Main St., Oyster Bay NY 11771. General admission is $35 for the public, $30 for seniors and $10 for students. Children ten years of age or younger get in for free. Tickets can also be ordered online at www.libaroque.org.
Submitted by Long Island Baroque Ensemble
