ORANGE CITY – Step back to the 17th century to a European city. Enter a king’s court and be treated to chamber music written by the greats. Enjoy period instruments: a fortepiano, a viola, a classical clarinet, a natural horn.
The Dakota Baroque and Classic Company presents music written by and for people in the 17th and 18th centuries. The four-person ensemble comes to Orange City from the National Music Museum on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion, a museum which houses 14,000 American, European and non-Western instruments.
Their performance will be Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Northwestern College Christ Chapel.
The characteristic soft, clear sound of the period instruments gives a new perspective to the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Arian Sheets will perform on an historic viola. Susanne Skyrm, Deborah Check Reeves and Gary L. Reeves will perform on authentic copies of original instruments – fortepiano, classical clarinet, natural horn.
The concert will feature solo works, duos and trios, along with commentary about the instruments, composers and music… with explanations on the differences between early instruments and their modern counterparts.
Following the program, the audience will have the opportunity to view the instruments closely and ask questions.
Dakota Baroque has been featured on PBS nationally. Skyrm, professor of music at the University of South Dakota, has appeared as a recitalist in England, Scotland, Belgium, Italy and across the States. Her acclaimed CD features music recorded on the National Music Museum’s rare Portuguese fortepiano.
Deborah Reeves, curator of education at the National Music Museum, has taught in colleges and universities in Alabama, Oregon, Michigan, Utah and S.D. She is an active recitalist, chamber musician and soloist on the classical six-key clarinet.
Gary Reeves teaches at the University of South Dakota, and is principal horn of the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra and the South Dakota Brass, and participates each summer with the Page Five Woodwind Quintet in Marquette, MI.
Curator of stringed instruments at the National Music Museum, Sheets has played with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, Classical Arts Orchestra, Sioux City Symphony, Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra and the South Dakota Symphony.
The performance in Orange City is free, but donations will be received. Sponsors are the Orange City Arts Council and Northwestern College Music Department. Workshops demonstrating recorders through the years will be held in local schools.
For more information, contact the Orange City Arts Council: 712-707-4885 or OCArts@orangecityiowa.com.
Recorder workshops in five local schools & the OC library, thanks for Deborah Reeves from the National Music Museum.
