April 19, 2016
‘Shakespeare, Music, and Memory’ April 29 is colloquium, concert
Performers in UW Collegium Musicum rehearse for their concert April 29 concluding the colloquium “Shakespeare, Music, and Memory.” From left are Linda Tsatsanis and Emerald Lessley, sopranos; John Lenti on baroque guitar and lute and Nathan Whittaker on baroque cello.JoAnn Taricani
A daylong colloquium, “Shakespeare, Music and Memory” will bring scholars and musicians to the University of Washington campus April 29 for lectures ending with a concert of Shakespeare-themed songs by the School of Music’s Collegium Musicum ensemble.
The free events were organized by JoAnn Taricani, associate professor and chair of the School of Music‘s Division of Music History, are timed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare‘s death in April of 1616.
Scholars from several universities will give presentations on the conference theme. The last of these will be “Shakespeare and/or Music” by Stephen Orgel of Stanford University, who will be introduced by Jeffrey Todd Knight, UW associate professor of English.
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At 5 p.m. in Brechemin Auditorium the Collegium Musicum and guests will perform songs from “The Jubilee,” a play and pageant created for an extravagant 1769 celebration of the Bard by renowned actor David Garrick and performed in Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, and in London’s Drury Lane Theatre. The piece includes such songs as “Sweet Willie O!” and “All This for a Poet.” Performers will include UW visiting scholar Linda Tstasanis, doctoral student Emerald Lessley and lutenist John Lenti, among others.
Taricani said that event contributed greatly to the idea of remembering and revering Shakespeare and his work, and even marked the start of a movement known as bardolatry. The performance is a recreation of the music from Garrick’s “Jubilee” play, in a new edition by Taricani, heard for the first time in almost 250 years.
“The songs are entertaining as well as sentimental, not serious,” Taricani said, “and we have many images from this celebration that we will display in the concert.”
The three-day jubilee in 1769 in Stratford-upon-Avon was flooded by the River Avon and beset by logistical problems. “So Garrick transformed the event into a play that satirized the flooded jubilee, and the play had an excellent run of performances in London later that year,” Taricani said.
The colloquium and concert, open to the public, are sponsored by the Simpson Center for the Humanities and the School of Music.
Find a full schedule online at https://shakespearesmusic.com/.
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To learn more, contact Taricani at taricani@uw.edu.
Tag(s): Andrew Tsao • College of Arts & Sciences • Collegium Musicum • JoAnne Taricani • School of Drama • School of Music • Simpson Center for the Humanities
