The Society for Seventeenth-Century Music

The Society for Seventeenth-Century Music

2017 Annual Meeting: President’s Welcome

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Il Seicento in Providence

Providence was founded in 1636 by religious dissenters from Massachusetts, and by the eighteenth century it had become a major east-coast trading center. My memories of the city do not go back that far, but from the time of my last visits in the early 1970s I remember it as a pleasant historic town with rivers, hills, curving streets, and old brick buildings. I very much look forward to revisiting, although I imagine it has changed more than a little since then.

Traces of its seventeenth-century origins will be hard to find, but for a few days in April the Seicento will invade its venerable Biltmore hotel. Scholars from the US, Canada, and several European cities will present their latest research on music from the period, and some of that music will be performed by several of its foremost specialists. On Thursday, following our Welcome Reception, you will hear the Italian ensemble Artemisia, probably familiar to many from their fabulous recordings of music from seventeenth-century convents. (There are some great videos of this group on YouTube!) The following evening will feature the celebrated countertenor Andreas Scholl, accompanied by our Society’s own Victor Coelho and David Dolata, as well as one of America’s finest gambists, Laura Jeppesen. Saturday afternoon will bring a lecture-recital by the prominent musician-scholar David Schulenberg, of the faculty of Juilliard and of Wagner College. After all these scholarly and musical treats, you will be ready for our traditional banquet, with special culinary treats prepared by the Biltmore’s chefs.

Check out the full program by clicking on the Conference Schedule link. You will see that this is a conference not to be missed! I hope to see you all there!!

– Lex Silbiger, President SSCM