The Portland Baroque Orchestra (PBO) will present “Mozart’s Clarinet and Grand Sextet” Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Richard and Lucille Ice Auditorium at Linfield College.
Sponsored by the Lacroute Arts Series, the performance will feature Eric Hoeprich, basset clarinet, and Monica Huggett, artistic director and violin, along with the chamber soloists of Portland Baroque Orchestra — Carla Moore, violin; Victoria Gunn, viola; Rob Diggins, viola; Tanya Tomkins, violoncello; and Michael Unterman, violoncello.
Hoeprich, the world’s foremost period clarinetist, joins the orchestra for one of Mozart’s most popular works, “Quintet in A major for clarinet and strings.” Huggett pairs this with a unique period arrangement for string sextet of Mozart’s concerto for violin and viola, “Grande Sestetto Concertante, after Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola.”
Hoeprich has specialized in performing on historical clarinets in music from the baroque to the late romantic periods. Educated at Harvard University and the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, he is currently on the faculties of the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, the Royal Academy of Music, and Indiana University, Bloomington. A founding member of Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the 18th Century, Hoeprich has performed frequently as a soloist with this orchestra, as well as many of the major early music ensembles and several modern orchestras.
Huggett has been PBO’s artistic director since 1995. She is considered one of the world’s premier baroque violinists. In 2008, she was appointed inaugural artistic director of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance Program, where she is now artistic advisor and artist in residence. She co-founded, with Ton Koopman, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra; founded her own London-based ensemble, Sonnerie; worked with Christopher Hogwood at the Academy of Ancient Music and Trevor Pinnock with the English Concert; toured the United States in concert with James Galway; and co-founded, in 2004, the Montana Baroque Festival. In addition to her position as artistic director of PBO, she is also the artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra.
Emerging in the early 1980s as a grassroots cooperative of musicians in the Pacific Northwest, the Portland Baroque Orchestra has matured as a polished, professional ensemble within the ranks of the best period-instrument orchestras in North America and Europe. Since 2009, PBO has been guest period ensemble and statewide touring ambassador for the Oregon Bach Festival. Portland Baroque Orchestra also collaborates regularly with Portland Opera and has been a featured guest ensemble at festivals and series throughout the Pacific Northwest region, including regular appearances in Seattle, Wash., and Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. The players of Portland Baroque Orchestra are among the most sought-after period specialists in North America, who also perform regularly as soloists and in acclaimed chamber ensembles.
Cost is $10 and Linfield students with a current ID are admitted free. Tickets are available at the door. The performance is sponsored by the Linfield Music Department and the Lacroute Arts Series, which contributes to the artistic life of students, faculty and community members by providing quality arts experiences featuring distinguished visiting artists. For more information, call the Linfield Department of Music at 503-883-2275 or visit linfield.edu/arts.