MUSIC

It’s 1704 and England is at war with France. In England, Queen Anne’s orchestra is quickly running out of Arundo Donax, the French wood that is used to make reeds. Without more Arundo Donax, the orchestra’s Oboists and Bassoonists can’t play their instruments. Queen Anne dispatches her young subjects Frances and Edward on a journey across Europe to track down this important wood. From Venice to Versailles, Frances and Edward encounter the people and music that ruled Europe. Will they succeed in their mission? Will Queen Anne’s orchestra be able to perform? Find out in Mercury Baroque’s The Adventure of Baroque Music on Saturday, May 8 at 10:30am in the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater.

The Adventure of Baroque Music is Mercury Baroque’s first public concert geared towards families and children. This specially designed program is fun and engaging for all ages and similar performances have received rave reviews internationally.

“After several seasons presenting popular concerts for HISD students at the Wortham Center, this year we’re excited to open our performance to the general public,” says Antoine Plante, Artistic Director of Mercury Baroque. “While this is our first attempt at opening our children’s concert to the public,” says Plante, “our educational outreach and children’s programs have been important parts of our mission since the beginning.” Mercury Baroque has reached more than 10,000 children in the past 5 years alone through outreach programs and specially designed performances.

The Adventure of Baroque Music follows young Frances and Edward Purcell on their journey across Europe through music and narration. At each stop along the way the audience is treated to musical examples by local composers performed live by Mercury Baroque and led by Antoine Plante. Soprano and Mercury Baroque founding member Ana Treviño-Godfrey lends her enchanting voice for narration of the story and guides the audience on their musical adventure. The Adventure of Baroque Music is definitely the perfect performance to introduce your children to classical music.

Mercury Baroque has been a dynamic member of the Houston arts community since 2000. Founded as a chamber ensemble, the group has grown into a Baroque orchestra performing a full subscription season of concerts in downtown Houston and touring both domestically and internationally. The organization continues to pursue its goal of building a strong tradition of Baroque music performance in Houston, starting with its educational outreach programs designed to train the city’s future musicians and create the audience of the future.

Although Mercury is focused on bringing the best Baroque to Houston, the ensemble has toured to other countries as well, including two tours to Quito, Ecuador. In September, 2010, Mercury will revive its popular performance of Lully’s opera Armide in Paris.

The 2010-2011 Season will be Mercury’s important 10th Season.