Baroque music is alive and well! So much so that living composers are not only writing in the style of Bach but also doing so with consummate mastery. We present two 21st-century compositions that you’ll think were composed by Bach and his most accomplished colleagues. The trio sonatas by Ericsson Hatfield (b. 1995) and Nicola Canzano (b. 1991), composed in 2025 and 2024, respectively, will take you back to previous centuries when the craft and intricacy of composition were so palpably evident. You'll be truly impressed by these new works that inspired this concert's title, "Old is New."
Both works will be performed by our three 2026 Drake Fellows, who are, in our opinion, the best of the best of the next generation of early music specialists. Between the two pieces, they'll perform Henry Purcell's "Golden Sonata."
The true highlight of the program is the quintessential Trio Sonata from Bach’s “Musical Offering,” based on a musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great. The music is a rhapsodic conflation of both the cerebral and elegant aspects of Bach’s genius. In the hands of Bethanne Walker, Toma Iliev, Gretchen Claassen, and Corey Jamason, Bach's masterwork will be superbly performed.
And a bravura composition for violin and basso continuo by Tartini titled "Didone abbandonata," named after the tragic character of Dido from Virgil's Aeneid, will be performed by Tatiana Chulochnikova, Joseph Howe, and Gabriel Benton. While Tartini is known for the fiery aspects of his music, this sonata reveals the emotional qualities of Dido's tragic story of love and loss.
Presented in the splendid Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, you'll enjoy beautiful music in a beautiful setting.