Actors Paul Hecht and Roberta Maxwell
(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Dryden Ensemble presents “Swan Songs” on Sunday, April 16 at Seminary Chapel, located on the campus of the Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ. This concert celebrates nearly 29 years of creative programming by the ensemble’s artistic director, Jane McKinley. Designed as a theatrical entertainment, the program is divided into two acts: French and English, reflecting two of the ensemble’s passions. The concert will begin at 3:00pm.
Actors Roberta Maxwell and Paul Hecht will offer dramatic readings from 17th-century letters and diaries by Élisabeth Charlotte (sister-in-law to Louis XIV), courtier Saint-Simon, Moliére, Samuel Pepys, John Evelyn, Mary Burwell, and others. Julianne Baird, soprano extraordinaire, will sing airs by Lully and Purcell, and a Baroque band of oboes, bassoon, strings, lute, and harpsichord will play music from John Dryden’s lifetime. Featured composers are Lully, Louis and François Couperin, Purcell, and others. Grand movements from Lully’s opera Armide and Purcell’s Fairy Queen will open and close each half.
Tickets prices are $25 for general admission, $40 for patrons, and free for students with an ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at https://drydenensemble.org.
Julianne Baird, soprano, has been hailed as "one of the most extraordinary voices in the service of early music that this generation has produced. She possesses a natural musicianship which engenders singing of supreme expressive beauty." She maintains a busy concert schedule of solo recitals and performances of baroque opera and oratorio. Dr. Baird is a distinguished professor at Rutgers University.
The Dryden Ensemble plans to continue performing small chamber music concerts, which they hope to present free to the public if they can raise sufficient funding. Jane McKinley, artistic and executive director, was recently awarded a 2023 Poetry Fellowship by the State of New Jersey and intends to devote more time to writing.
The Dryden Ensemble includes Jane McKinley and Julie Brye, oboes; Benjamin Matus, bassoon; Edmond Chan and Nancy Wilson, violins; Amy Leonard, viola; Lisa Terry, cello; Daniel Swenberg, lute and theorbo: and Webb Wiggins, harpsichord.
Named in honor of John Dryden, the English poet laureate whose words inspired Baroque composers including Purcell and Handel, the Dryden Ensemble specializes in performing music of the 17th and 18th centuries on period instruments. A line from Dryden's Song to St. Cecilia captures the essence of baroque music and the ensemble's philosophy: "What Passion cannot Musick raise and quell!"
The Dryden Ensemble is a not-for-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and a registered charity in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
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