I am a musicologist and scholar-performer specializing in historical performance practices of classical music from the 14th through early19th centuries, as well as vernacular music in the American Southwest and the Louisiana Territory/Lower Mississippi Valley. For more details about my work as a musicologist and performer, please visit my website.
The Scholar-Performer
“What do you need to know to play this music?”
I ask myself this question every time I put a piece of music on my stand. The gateway into the realm of historical performance is filled with many layers. Those layers (and primary sources) are seemingly never-ending and paradoxical. The skills used for conducting musicological and ethnomusicological research are invaluable for my work. The scholar-performer needs to be aware that each primary source is merely a snapshot of a particular place and time. The mission of the scholar-performer, should you decide to accept it, is to survey the available information for each situation, and then try to use it in the context of a modern performance. A challenging task, to be sure, and not without obstacles. It is also filled with musical and intellectual rewards.
Photo by Marika Pineda
We attended your concert on June 11 at the Library in Santa Fe and enjoyed it thoroughly. Between Albuquerque and Taos there is a plethora of practitioners of early music and period performance. We hope you will find a welcoming home here and that we can look forward to more concerts in the future.
Tom and Carlyn Jervis, Santa Fe
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Thank you so much for your kind words and for attending the concert. The early music community has been very welcoming to me. Looking forward to seeing you at future concerts.
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