(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Dryden Ensemble returns with its artistic director, Daniel Swenberg, in a program entitled The Most Faithful Companion: Lute and Guitar Trios from the 17th Century on Friday, March 6, 2026 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Princeton. Admission is free, though donations will be gratefully accepted. Showtime is 7:30pm.
Daniel Swenberg will be joined by Adam Cockerham and Dušan Balarin, performing on Renaissance and Baroque lutes and Baroque guitars of various sizes and tunings. The trio will perform rarely heard ensembles by Dowland, Purcell, Piccinini, Cazzati, Corbetta, and Radolt.
The program opens with Renaissance lutes in a suite of trios by John Dowland, in observance of the 400th anniversary of his death. This is followed by a canzona by Piccinini, a brilliant example of a late contrapuntal work for three lutes in different sizes and tunings. Baroque lutes and guitar will be featured in Mauricio Cazzati’s Balletto Quarto and in a suite from Nicola Matteis’s False Consonances of Music a didactic work for the wildly fashionable baroque guitar. Also performed by lutes and guitar are tunes from Henry Purcell’s Dioclesian found in Princess Anne guitar book, including Purcell’s famed Two Parts on a Ground. Francesco Corbetta was an Italian guitar virtuoso who later lived in London and Paris, serving both Charles II and Louis XIV. His Sinfonia à 2 and an occasional piece entitled The Trumpets and Drums of the Siege of Maastricht will be performed by guitars.
The program continues with works for three Baroque lutes, including the North American premiere of Ludwig Von Radolt’s Concerto I in D Minor from his 1701 work, The Most Faithful Companion, an extraordinary collection of ensembles and concertos for the baroque lute. For years, this collection was thought to be incomplete. Only recently have the missing volumes been recovered. Concluding the concerts is Georg Muffat’s magnificent Passacaglia in G, utilizing Radolt’s ensemble, based on a late 17th-century setting for the first lute.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation is located at 50 Cherry Hill Road off Hwy. 206 in Princeton, New Jersey.
A versatile soloist and accompanist recognized for his eclectic artistry and vibrant interpretations, Peruvian-Croatian lutenist Dušan Balarin specializes in a wide range of historical lutes and guitars. His artistic curiosity has led him to collaborate with leading artists and ensembles across Early Music, Jazz, and Contemporary Arts, including Cécile McLorin Salvant, Les Arts Florissants, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular collaborator with major Early Music organizations such as The Newberry Consort, Opera Lafayette, Handel & Haydn Society, The Washington Bach Consort, and Ruckus Early Music, and is a core member of Sonnambula, ensemble-in-residence at the Frick Collection.
Early music artist Adam Cockerham specializes in theorbo, lute and baroque guitar. Beginning his performance career as a classical guitarist, he then gravitated toward historical plucked strings, preferring the collaborative opportunities of chamber music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. As an accompanist and continuo player, Cockerham has performed with numerous ensembles in North America. He founded the voice and plucked string duo Jarring Sounds with mezzo-soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah. Beyond chamber music, Cockerham concentrates on 17th-century Italian vocal music. He has been involved in numerous modern world premiere performances with companies such as the Academy of Sacred Drama, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and Ars Minerva. Cockerham received his doctorate from the Juilliard School and teaches at Rowan University.
Daniel Swenberg plays a wide variety of lutes and guitars: baroque, renaissance, classical/romantic--small, medium, and large. He has been a regular with the Dryden Ensemble for over 15 years. Daniel schleps instruments throughout North America and Europe to play with a wide range of ensembles: the Metropolitan Opera, Carmel Bach Festival, Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations, on Broadway with Mark Rylance in Farinelli and the King, Mr. Jones & the Engines of Destruction, Opera Atelier/Tafelmusik, The New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Catacoustic Ensemble, Handel & Haydn, and many others. He has also accompanied Renee Fleming and Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall. Daniel has been on faculty at Juilliard’s Historical Performance program since 2015. He received awards from the Belgian American Educational Foundation (2000) for a study of 18th century chamber music for the lute, and a Fulbright Scholarship (1997) to study at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Germany.
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.
