The Aston Magna Music Festival presents a series of virtual concerts of music from the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods this summer, which will be produced and recorded from beautiful Berkshire stages.
The free, pre-recorded video events will roll out on six weekends in June and July, and will feature the music of Monteverdi, Marais, Leclair, Mozart, Beethoven, and others.
Concerts will be recorded at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, which is co-presenting our first two concerts, and Saint James Place. The schedule for video releases, accessed at astonmagna.org, is:
From the Mahaiwe, Co-Presenter
“Early Duos for Fortepiano and Violin,” begins the summer season on Sunday, June 13 at 7 p.m., with the music of Mozart, CPE Bach, Joseph Boulogne and Beethoven, performed by Sylvia Berry, fortepiano, and Daniel Stepner, violin.
“Mozart: The String Trios” will be offered Sunday, June 27 at 7 p.m., with Daniel Stepner, violin; Marcus Thompson, viola, and Jacques Lee Wood, cello.
The June 13 and June 27 events will be recorded at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center; the remaining events will be recorded at Saint James Place, Great Barrington.
From Saint James Place
On Saturday, July 3 at 7 p.m., Aston Magna presents “Three French Masters,” with the music of Marais, Leclair and Forqueray, with Edson Scheid and Daniel Stepner, baroque violins; Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba; Catherine Liddell, theorbo; and Michael Sponseller, harpsichord.
On Saturday, July 10 at 7 p.m., “An Evening of Monteverdi” is performed with vocalists Aaron Sheehan and Jason McStoots, tenors; Adam Pearl, harpsichord; Cameron Welke, theorbo; Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba; Scott Metcalfe and Daniel Stepner, baroque violins.
“Songs and Sonatas of Henry Purcell” takes place Saturday, July 17 at 7 p.m., with Kristen Watson, soprano; David McFerrin, baritone; Daniel Stepner and Julie Leven, baroque violins; Laura Jeppesen, viola da gamba, and Catherine Liddell, theorbo.
And finally, as 2020’s festival season was canceled due to Covid-19, Aston Magna will celebrate Beethoven’s
250th birthday a year late with “Celebrating Beethoven’s 251st Birthday” on Saturday, July 24 at 7 p.m. Musicians are Daniel Stepner and Julie Leven, violins; Jason Fisher, viola, and Jacques Lee Wood, cello. The quartet will offer Beethoven’s “Eyeglass Duo,” a string trio in C Minor, and selected quartet movements, including the Grosse Fuge.
How to watch
Concert attendees will be able to view the events by logging on to mahaiwe.org on June 13 and 27, and astonmagna.org, for the July dates, shortly before “curtain time” for each event. Videos will also go live on YouTube at “curtain time.”
Although the events are free, donations to help underwrite the recordings are welcome for this virtual season.