Infusion Baroque Performs “Virtuosa” – Historical Women in Early Music

The prize-winning Montreal ensemble, Infusion Baroque, performs their signature program “Virtuosa” on the Hill and Hollow Music series Sunday, March 13 at the Saranac Methodist Church on Route 3 in Saranac. The program features music by women composers of the 17th and 18th centuries and will be performed on historical instruments: flute, violin, cello, and harpsichord. The quartet gives a pre-concert talk at 2:15 pm with the concert following at 3:00 pm. Audience members must be vaccinated and masked. Admission is a suggested donation at the door: $15 general, $12 seniors, $5 students, children under 12 attend free. Further info: telephone 518-293-7613, e-mail ambrown.hillholl@gmail.com or visit www.hillandhollowmusic.org.

Infusion Baroque’s performances have been described as “dynamic and alive” (Early Music America) with “polish, energy, and finely-honed style… merrily breaking established traditions” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Winners of the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the 2014 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, the ensemble beguiles audiences across North America with creative programming.

Infusion Baroque has appeared with early music presenters across North America, including the San Francisco Early Music Society, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), Columbus Early Music, Houston Early Music, and Indianapolis Early Music. In addition to their annual Montreal season, Infusion Baroque performs regularly in the greater Montreal area and has appeared in the Montreal Baroque Festival, Concerts Lachine, and with the Montreal Arts Council on Tour.

Their latest album, a world-premiere recording of quintets by Georg Anton Kreüsser, was nominated for an Opus Prize by the Conseil Québecois de la musique. Fanfare wrote, “the playing of these musicians … is superb. They play with a liveliness and unforced energy that seems to grow naturally out of the music… combining spontaneity and abandon with technical perfection.”

For several years Infusion Baroque has been exploring the lives of historical women in music. Fascinated by their discoveries through extensive research, they developed the Virtuosa Project around women who made significant musical contributions despite considerable barriers and stigma. Their March 13 concert highlights works by Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), Anna Bon (1738-1769), Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709-1758), Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen (1745-1818) and Élizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729).