Bach for Strings February 23, 2013

The Baroque Festival presents an evening of works by the great Johann Sebastian Bach and some Mozart, performed by a quartet of strings with harp! The Galax Quartet is modeled after an early version of the string quartet and consists of two violins, cello, and viola da gamba, a configuration developed by 18th-century composer and gamba virtuoso Carl Friedrich Abel. Galax is joined by acclaimed historic and folk harpist Cheryl Ann Fulton.

Bach's famous Toccata in D minor will open the first half of the show, played on triple harp (Cheryl Ann Fulton). It is followed by the odd-numbered fugues of the 'Art of Fugue', played by the Galax Quartet with some harp continuo. As says the group's director, Roy Whelon: "Performing the Art of the Fugue in any setting --- whether touching down on a few representative fugues and canons in a classroom situation or performing the whole thing in concert (all fifteen fugues along with the four massive canons) --- is always exciting, cleansing and salutary." The second half will begin with fugues from Bach's Well-Tempered-Clavier as arranged by Mozart half a century later, and the program concludes with some of Wheldon's own 'loose canons'.

Under it's 40th season theme 'Homecoming' the Baroque Festival is presenting five concerts of classical music this spring that bring back a selection of favorite artists and ensembles from past festival years. Galax made its Santa Cruz debut in 2009 with 'Cosmos: The Art of Fugue,' a performance of Bach's final work alongside slides of galactic views. Cheryl Ann Fulton is well-respected in the harp community. In 2010 her harp ensemble charmed the Baroque Festival's audience with a 'Holiday in Wales.'

Official Website: http://www.scbaroque.org