[BCMA] MEDIA RELEASE -- Before Gadgets: Music of 17th Century France

Tue Mar 31 19:09:43 PDT 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Early Music Studio presents

*Before Gadgets: Music of 17**th** Century France*

 *When:* Sunday April 19, 7:30 p.m.

*Where:* Mary Irwin Theatre at the Rotary Centre for the Arts

*Tickets:* 250-717-5304 *www.selectyourtickets.com*
<http://www.selectyourtickets.com/>

 *17th Century French court music for lute, theorbo, guitar and harpsichord
Couperin, Le Roux, d’Angelbert, de Visée and Dufaut, played by* *Clive
Titmuss and Susan Adams*

 KELOWNA, BC, April 1, 2015 – Most people think that cult figures in music
are a recent phenomenon, but near the end of the 1600’s in France, a group
of musicians rose to become the best-paid performers of their time. The
aristocrats of France had long before given up playing music themselves,
but had long evenings to fill, creating a market for a class of great
composers and players of solo music for the harpsichord, the lute and a new
toy – the guitar.

In upcoming concert by at the Mary Irwin Theatre, in the Rotary Centre for
the Arts, *Early Music Studio* gives this period new life. Professional
musicians Clive Titmuss and Susan Adams specialize in this virtuoso music,
created for wealthy patrons and their discriminating ears. The music
languished in obscurity for centuries until it was recently re-discovered.
According to Titmuss, “Very few people were privileged to hear these
extraordinary works when they were written, but anyone may enjoy them now.”

The harpsichord was the most important keyboard instrument – sophisticated
technology, full of resources, elegant and commanding. It inspired an
entire generation of composers to write works of art intended to highlight
its power. Just then, the French lute style reached its peak, just as the
guitar began to gain favour. The trends crossed over: Guitar tricks showed
up in lute music – and the elevated mood of the lute was heard in the best
guitar music. Flashy music for the harpsichord copied both instruments and
contributed new tricks of its own.

Audiences will be able to hear just how this brilliant cross-pollination
worked, when lute, theorbo, early guitar and harpsichord share the stage on
April 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Early Music Studio is a not-for-profit society, which has called Kelowna
home for 13 years, advancing the knowledge of 17th and 18th Century music
in the community. The musicians play live, make recordings, act as a
cultural bank and promote awareness of live music on period instruments,
having won national and international attention as performers, teachers and
scholars.

Tickets are available from the Rotary Centre Box Office or online at
*www.selectyourtickets.com* <http://www.selectyourtickets.com/>, by phone
at 250-717-5304. For more aditional information about visit *Early Music
Studio <http://earlymusicstudio.com/>* at www.earlymusicstudio.com or call
250-769-2884.

 - 30 –

*About Early Music Studios*

The Society of Friends of the Early Music Studio is a registered non-profit
organization dedicated to the performance of and education about music
written before 1800. Principals Susan Adams and Clive Titmuss, of Early
Music Studios, produce concerts and recordings on a variety of instruments
that display the beauty of this period music for audiences.

*Susan Adams *was born in Ottawa into a family that encouraged music study.
She began playing at the age of five, and started taking lessons when she
was six years old. Adams studied the piano privately in Ottawa with Jaromey
Anderson and then under Boris Roubakine at the University of Calgary. Later
she studied early keyboard instruments at the Schola Cantorum in Basel,
Switzerland, majoring in harpsichord with Jean-Claude Zehnder. Adams
studied early piano with Klaus Linder, and her travels to Holland offered
her the opporunity to receive coaching from Gustav Leonhardt. Returning to
Canada, Adams has continued to perform the works of Bach, Couperin, Rameau
and Scarlatti on harpsichord, and the music of Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart,
and J.C. Bach on the early piano.

*Clive Titmus**s* was born in London, England arriving in Canada in 1955.
He studied music history and guitar at the University of Calgary. Later
Titmus studied the lute in California and England, and finally at the
Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland with Eugen Dombois and Hopkinson
Smith. Titmuss began his studyof lutherie in 1980 and since then has
concentrated on building instruments from the 16th-19th centuries,
performing hundreds of recitals using instruments he has rafted. Musicians
from around the world play on instruments Titmus has made. As a scolar, he
has produced editions of early lute and guitar music, made freely available
on the web.

*For high-res images, to access previous recordings, or to arrange an
interview please contact:*

 *Media contact:*

Joshua Desnoyers

Phone: 250-863-5319

Email: joshdesnoyers at gmail.com

 *Performer contact:*

Clive Titmus and Susan Adams

Phone: 250-769-2884

Email: clivesu at uniserve.com
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