Program Offerings
L'Ensemble Portique presents both baroque and contemporary music, and in its signature performances, offers a unique blend of both. The programs listed below represent just a sample of what L'Ensemble Portique has to offer. For more programs from current and past seasons, please visit this year's performance schedule and archived past seasons, respectively. For programming requests and proposals, please contact Lisette. Programs are subject to change.
Baroque Programs
JS Bach: Obbligato Sonatas
recorder/flute and harpsichord/organ
The music of JS Bach has been described often, as intricate and complex; sometimes, as light and playful; and always, as beautiful and marvelously composed. In this duo recital, both musicians are soloists as they highlight the obbligato sonatas of the baroque master. Selections are chosen from his organ trio sonatas and flute and violin sonatas and are featured on L'Ensemble Portique's fourth recording.
The Suite Sonata: the Intellect, the Abstract & the Fanciful
recorder, cello, harpsichord (organ optional)
Exploring the form, development and inspiration of the baroque sonata, this program presents it in all its manifestations: the one-movement sonata of the early Baroque, the "standard" church sonata, the French-influenced dance suite and the ever-popular trio sonata. Music by Frescobaldi, Vivaldi, Telemann, Boismortier, Corelli and JS Bach.
Tête-À-Tête...Plus One: Dialogues for Recorder, Cello and Harpsichord
recorder, cello, harpsichord
Tête-À-Tête...Plus One offers musical dialogues in several tantalizing combinations with distinct colors and textures. The program includes two canons from the Art of Fugue for recorder and cello, Bach's Sonata BWV 1030 transcribed for recorder and harpsichord obbligato, Vivaldi sonata for cello and harpsichord, as well as Trio Sonatas by Boismortier, Merula and Telemann.
Contemporary Programs
Based on Principle: A Contemporary Look at Melody, Harmony & Rhythm
flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, double bass, piano
In this all-contemporary program, L'Ensemble Portique presents 20th- and early 21st-century compositions with a specific look at their relationship to, or departure from, the elements of music with which we are familiar - melody, harmony and rhythm. The concert feature's Jens Joneleit's 20-minute epic ...di altri spazi... (...of other spaces...) (premiered by L'Ensemble Portique in 2003), VISIONS by Dan Maske, Impromptu for solo piano by Geoffrey Gordon, Deux Interludes by Jacques Ibert and duos by Morton Gould and Villa-Lobos.
Signature Programs (Baroque & Contemporary)*
Cantata Portique
recorder/flute, baroque/modern cello, harpsichord, piano
This program features Cantata Portique (premiered by L'Ensemble Portique in 2004) by Julie Niedziejko Brandenburg - a 45-minute journey celebrating the life of artist Madeleine Stanley-Jossem. The performance includes slides of her work and excerpts of her voice heard throughout. The first half of the program presents works by the famed JS Bach, Boismortier and Telemann.
Kindred Spirits: Folk Influences Past and Present
recorder/flute, baroque/modern violin, baroque cello/viola da gamba, harpsichord
Kindred Spirits explores composers' compositional treatment of folk idioms through their own inspiration and experiences. Selections include three Trio Sonatas by Georg Philipp Telemann, Sonata for flute, viola da gamba and harpsichord (2000) by Max H. Yount, and Assumptions (premiered by L'Ensemble Portique in 2005) by Michael Mayerfeld Bell, Rural Sociologist and Composer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
La Burrasca (The Storm)
recorder/flute, baroque/modern violin, cello/viola da gamba, harpsichord
Built around Simonetti's fiery trio sonata "La Burrasca," this program takes on the wild and stormy music of Vivaldi, Albinoni and Castello, as well as Martinu's Promenades for flute, violin and harpsichord and Microcast (premiered by L'Ensemble Portique in 2005) by David Drexler.
Holier Than Thou: Dances and the Divine
recorder/flute, baroque/modern cello, guitar
Holier Than Thou explores the worlds of sacred and secular music - from the glory of the baroque repertoire to the innovative sounds of contemporary chamber music. Featuring wrecked angels (premiered by L'Ensemble Portique in 2003) by Geoffrey Gordon, Histoire du Tango by Piazzolla and La Follia by Corelli.
Trios for 2 to 3 Players
recorder/flute, violin, harpsichord, piano
Trios for 2 to 3 Players challenges the conventional notion of a trio as performed by three people and implores a search for three musical voices when presented by only two, as in the selections for recorder and harpsichord obbligato by Boismortier, J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach. Three "veritable" trios for flute, violin and piano by Martinu and Luening are added to the program.
Benefit Program
Positive Music: Musical Responses to HIV/AIDS
baritone, flute, violin, cello, piano
Unlike other AIDS benefit concerts, which usually feature music that has little or no connection to the crisis, this unique event presents musical responses to HIV/AIDS. The program features selections from the AIDS Quilt Songbook as well as three pieces by Julie Niedziejko Brandenburg, Jens Joneleit and Dan Maske (all premiered by L'Ensemble Portique in 2004). The program includes a brief pre-concert lecture discussing how the AIDS crisis has affected music and musicians in the United States.
*Signature programs can be modified into all-baroque or all-contemporary programs.