The program to be performed is Christina, Sweden's Queen of the Arts.
Chatham Baroque Principal Artists
Andrew Fouts, violin
Andrew Fouts is co-artistic director of Chatham Baroque since 2008. His playing with the ensemble has been praised for its “mellifluous sound and sensitive style” (The Washington Post), and “superb technique and spirit” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). In addition to Chatham Baroque he performs with Apollo’s Fire, Ars Lyrica, and American Bach Soloists. Since 2010 he has served as concertmaster for Washington Bach Consort, where he is regularly featured as soloist or in recital. In 2008 Fouts won first prize at the American Bach Soloists’ International Baroque Violin Competition. He has taught at the Madison Early Music Festival and the Oficina de Música de Curitiba, Brazil, and can be heard on recordings with Chatham Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, Musik Ekklesia, and Alarm Will Sound. He plays a violin by Karl Dennis (2013), after Guarneri del Gesu (1735), a short bow by David Hawthorne, Cambridge, MA, after a late 17th century English model, and a long bow by H.F. Grabenstein, Williston, VT, after an early 18th century English model. Fouts lives in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh’s North Side, where he is restoring an 1880’s row house. He is a gushing cat-dad and community cat fosterer and maintains a devoted hot yoga practice.
Patricia Halverson, viola da gamba
Patricia Halverson is a founding member of Chatham Baroque. As a musician with the ensemble, she has enjoyed a career of more than 30 years of performances in Pittsburgh and across the country as well as concerts and festivals in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Halverson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Early Music Performance Practice from Stanford University. At Stanford, she studied viol with Martha McGaughey, and following the completion of her degree, continued viol studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. Among other collaborations, she has performed as a soloist in Bach passion performances on numerous occasions including with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Halverson is a frequent faculty member at viol and recorder workshops, including the Mideast Early Music Workshop, Viol Sphere 2, Bloom Early Music Workshop, and the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s annual conclave. She plays viols by Karl Dennis (Rhode Island) and Judith Kraft (Paris, France).
Scott Pauley, theorbo and archlute
Scott Pauley is co-artistic director of Chatham Baroque. Over a career spanning more than 25 years, he has become one of the leading American collaborative players on early plucked stringed instruments. Specializing in theorbo, baroque guitar, and lute, he has performed in 26 states and at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Library of Congress, and Wigmore Hall, and has performed in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. He has created numerous compelling programs for Chatham Baroque, ranging from music of Spain and Latin America to music of England, Scotland, and French Canada, often with an interest in demonstrating the connections between baroque music and popular styles. He holds a doctoral degree in Early Music Performance Practice from Stanford University and studied with Nigel North at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. While in London as a young artist, Pauley was a prize winner at early music competitions in Bruges and Amsterdam. Pauley also performs with Four Nations Ensemble in New York and Opera Lafayette in Washington D.C. and has performed as a soloist in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion with the Atlanta and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. He is married to French Canadian soprano Pascale Beaudin. With their Labrador Retriever, Ruby, they live in Pittsburgh’s Northside neighborhood.
Guest Artists
Pascale Beaudin, soprano
Pascale Beaudin is celebrated for her crystalline diction, expressive musicality, and elegant stage presence. She has performed operatic and concert repertoire across North America and Europe, with companies such as Opéra de Montréal, Opéra de Marseille, and Quantum Theatre. A passionate interpreter of Baroque and Classical music, she appears regularly with renowned ensembles and festivals, including Opera Lafayette, Chatham Baroque, and the Oregon Bach Festival. She is featured on several world premiere recordings and is a member of the Four Nations Ensemble. Beaudin makes her home in Pittsburgh with her husband Scott and their dog, Ruby.
Carmen Johnson Pájaro, violin
Carmen Lavada Johnson-Pájaro is a violinist based in New York City. Raised in a family of music lovers, Carmen began her musical studies with jam sessions in the living room and eventually found her way to her musical home in historical performance. She’s worked with renowned early music figures including Masaaki Suzuki, William Christie, Raphaël Pichon, Jonathan Cohen, Rachel Podger, among others. Carmen’s season includes performances with Twelfth Night, Arcangelo, the Handel & Haydn Society, Chatham Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, and more. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and the Eastman School of Music.
Anna O’Connell, Italian triple harp
Anna O’Connell is a soprano and harpist specializing in folk, medieval, renaissance, and baroque harps. A visit to Ireland at a young age cemented her love of Celtic music and lifelong fascination with the harp. Her research interests include seventeenth-century Italian women composers as well as medieval chant: later this year she will release her debut album of German medieval Marian song entitled “The Open Gate.” She is a core member of Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra where she sings, plays various harps, and directs the youth choir. She’s sung and played with Baroque Music Montana, the Cleveland Chamber Choir and more. O’Connell is currently Secretary for the Historical Harp Society, and loves to introduce new audiences to historical harps of all kinds.