Salish Sea Early Music Festival to Celebrate 250 Years of Telemann

Sunday, March 12, 1 p.m., Orcas Adventist Fellowship Church

— from Jeffrey Cohan —

Two internationally renowned German period instrument soloists return to Seattle to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the lifetime of Georg Philipp Telemann, the 18th century’s most prolific composer, with flutist Jeffrey Cohan in Telemann Celebration: 250 Years on Sunday afternoon, March 12 at 1 p.m. at the Orcas Adventist Fellowship Church at 107 Enchanted Forest Road in Eastsound.

Harpsichordist Bernward Lohr, director of Hanover’s Musica Alta Ripa, one of Germany’s most active period instrument ensembles, and baroque violinist Anne Roehrig, leader of the Hannoversche Hofkapelle, one of Europe’s premier baroque orchestras, join baroque flutist Jeffrey Cohan for a contrasting and colorful sampling of Telemann’s numerous solos, duos and trios for flute, violin and harpsichord. This fourth of seven 2017 programs presented by the Salish Sea Early Music Festival on Orcas Island celebrates Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), easily the most famous musician in Germany during his lifetime who garnered a salary about three times that of the younger Johann Sebastian Bach, born four years later. Telemann’s self-confident, effusive and humorous nature and extraordinarily productivity won him the universal respect of his contemporaries.

Bernward Lohr and Anne Röhrig are both professors at music conservatories in Hanover and also in Nuremburg, Germany. Their more than 30 recordings have garnered awards including the Diapason Dòr, the Cannes Classical Award, the German Recording Critics’ Prize, and several times the coveted Echo Klassik Award. Both were awarded the 2002 Music Award of Lower Saxony.

Complete San Juan Islands performance schedule for Celebrating Telemann:

• San Juan Island: Saturday evening, March 11 at 7 p.m., Brickworks, 150 Nichols Street in Friday Harbor
• Orcas Island: Sunday afternoon, March 12 at 1 p.m., Orcas Adventist Fellowship Church · 107 Enchanted Forest Road in Eastsound · (360) 378-6632
• Lopez Island: Sunday evening, March 12 at 7 p.m., Grace Church · 70 Sunset Lane · (360) 468-3477

The 2017 Salish Sea Early Music Festival, for the seventh year featuring some of the finest period instrument specialists from the North America and Europe, presents seven contrasting performances of chamber music from the Renaissance through the time of Beethoven on period instruments in Eastsound, this year with three musicians from Germany, one from Montreal and others from around the USA and the Pacific Northwest. The festival has presented countless first performances in modern times of period instrument renditions of early works. Additional information is available at www.salishseafestival.org/orcas.