KEMP to perform: The Road to Kilkenny
The Knoxville Early Music Project (KEMP) will perform a concert titled “The Road to Kilkenny: Music from 17th Century England, Ireland, and Scotland,” on Oct. 8 at the Max Noah Recital Hall at 8:00 p.m.
“It is really delightful,” said Dr. Richard Greene, the chair of the department of music and theatre. “It is a special combination of popular and classical music.”
Arts Unlimited and the Music and Theater Department sponsor this concert, which will feature songs and instrumentals from the courts and country of the British Isles. It will include songs from England by Henry Purcell and instrumentals by Henry Playford. It will also feature works for voice and instrumentals by the last of the great Irish harpers, Turlough O’Carolan, and highlight the music of Ireland. From Scotland, they will play the works of James Oswald, as well as tell stories of past years.
“These are songs that a traveler would have heard in Europe at that time,” said Greene. “The songs are songs of longing and love, just like
the songs of today.”
The members of KEMP are Martha Bishop (viola da gamba and harp); Amy K. Porter (soprano); Ann Stierli (viola da gamba, traverso, recorder); and Thomas Tallant (theorbo, lute and guitar).
For a decade, KEMP has been performing the 16th, 17th, and 18th century music for audiences all over the world. KEMP concerts are filled with a blend of research, skilled musicianship and entertainment.
“The music written then is different from now, but today this kind of music is being rediscovered,” said Greene. “The popular music of the middle ages is similar to today; it features dance songs and the same feeling that you receive from popular music today.”
“It is more fun and more wide-ranging than classical music. The songs have meaning to us because we have a similar culture,” said Greene. “This music was written to last and to make a more serious statement about the world than music of today. It leaves you with thoughts of how people were then.”
“It is an entertaining experience to listen to them and their music,” said Greene.
General Admission for this concert is $10 and $6 for senior citizens, non-GC&SU students, GC&SU faculty and staff, and free for GC&SU students with a valid ID. KEMP will also teach a workshop on Monday, October 8, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Max Noah Recital Hall. This workshop is free and open to the public.
If you have any questions, please contact the Music and Theater Department at 445-4226.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 5 2001. Filed under Features.
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