2018 marks 350 years since the birth of the French composer Francois Couperin (1668-1733). Chetham\u2019s School of Music are delighted to team up with the Early Music Shop\u00a0for the fourth consecutive year, along with Windstruments and Powell-Buffett-Crampon, to mark this occasion with a project of dynamic\u00a0music from the French Baroque.<\/p>\n
Chetham’s students give regular baroque recitals in the medieval Baronial Hall, introducing young musicians to period music and instruments and inviting audiences to enjoy ancient music in this unique historic setting. Since 2014, the baroque programme has been enhanced through a collaboration with the Early Music Shop, which has seen performances take place at Greenwich Early Music Festival, in Manchester and Saltaire, alongside outreach work in neighbouring schools.<\/p>\n
The French baroque project planned for 2018 will see Dr Martyn Shaw, together with Christopher Orton and Helen Francis, direct Chetham\u2019s students through works by some of the French-Baroque masters including Couperin,\u00a0Rameau, Marais and\u00a0Hotteterre. Highlights will\u00a0include a\u00a0concert at the University of\u00a0Huddersfield on Tuesday 6 March 2018, in which the audience will be treated to a performance of\u00a0the celebrated\u00a0chamber version of\u00a0Rameau’s Pieces de Clavecin, and Charpentier’s\u00a0Te Deum<\/em>. \u00a0Chetham’s musicians will also perform a programme of French chamber and cantata works\u00a0in the school’s\u00a0historic Baronial Hall on Wednesday 7 March. \u00a0Alongside\u00a0recitals, project members will learn to\u00a0engage with period instruments, develop a stylistic awareness\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0genre, and share this knowledge with\u00a0local school children\u00a0through Chetham’s flourishing outreach department.<\/p>\n