Baroque & Folk: Purcell to Poland - Tafelmusik : Tafelmusik

Diverse musical traditions collide and re-emerge to create something of rare beauty

Slovakian violinist Miloš Valent is renowned for his deep curiosity about the intersections between baroque and folk music traditions. He believes that “music is the unique and universal language of humankind, and music-making is enriched as it reaches beyond tribe and clan. When musicians meet at the crossroads, unexpected new creativity is unleashed, rewarding not only the performers, but those who listen and partake.”

For his Tafelmusik debut, Valent joins multi-instrumental virtuoso Jan Rokyta, percussionist Naghmeh Farahmand, and the orchestra to explore the ways in which baroque composers such as Telemann, Purcell, and Vivaldi were influenced by folk music from the Ashkenazy, Polish, Roma, Scottish, and Turkish traditions. Cross-cultural pollination yields luscious fruit as the sounds of Tafelmusik’s baroque strings, winds, and continuo intermingle with the sonorities of the hammered dulcimer, the Armenian duduk, folk recorders, and percussion.

Guest Artists

Performers & Program

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Running Time

2 hours

Style of Music

Baroque orchestral

Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre

Guest artists

Miloš Valent

Guest director & violin soloist

Slovakian violinist Miloš Valent has performed with early music ensembles Musica aeterna, Tragicomedia, Teatro Lírico orchestra, Tirami Su, Fiori Musicali, and others. In 1995 he founded his own ensemble, Solamente Naturali, the name “Simply natural” synonymous with Miloš’ artistic credo, reviving early scores with spontaneity, naturalness, and intuition within the context of a search for broader associations of music from the past with the present. His many recordings with Solamente Naturali include those of unknown music from Slovak archives.

Miloš versatility as a musician, with roots in the folk tradition and skilled in improvisation, has led to numerous crossover projects, notably with Norwegian Jazz musician Jon Balke. He also enjoys a longtime partnership with American lutenist Stephen Stubbs. He has taught at KUG Graz, Musik Högskolan in Malmö, Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, and Týn School in Prague.

Jan Rokyta

Multi-instrumental soloist

Czech musician Jan Rokyta studied cimbalom at the Conservatory of Music in Bratislava, Slovakia, and recorder at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. He has played with, among others, the Cimbalom band Technik in Ostrava (Czech Republic), which was founded in 1958 by his father, Jan Rokyta Sr. He has been a regular guest of the OĽUN Radio Bratislava and Brno Radio Orchestra of folk instruments (BROLN). Together with his panflutist Liselotte Rokyta, he explores the folk music of Eastern Europe.

In the field of contemporary classical music Jan Rokyta has collaborated with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio Bratislava, and in the Netherlands with ASKO-Schönberg Ensemble, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Het Nieuw Ensemble, Concertgebouworkest, and Radio Chamber Philharmonic. He is also a frequent guest of orchestras in Germany and Austria. Jan has collaborated with Miloš Valent in concerts and recordings with Solamenti Naturali and Holland Baroque, among others.

Jan Rokyta is also an award-winning wine taster and viticulturist.

Performers

Directed by Miloš Valent
Jan Rokyta multi-instrumentalist
Naghmeh Farahmand percussion
Tafelmusik Orchestra

Program

Baroque music inspired by folk music & traditional folk music of the time

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