Midtown Concerts: Ben Katz & Friends

Ben Katz ~ harpsichord
Dani Zanuttini-Frank ~ theorbo
Amanda Beranek ~ Baroque harp
Jackie Hager & Nathan Francisco ~ violoncellos

Conceived as a musical hymn to Apollo, the ancient Greek god of music and light, this program explores the notion of light and shade (chiaroscuro) translated to sound. Through sharp contrasts, rhapsodic vs. rhythmic dances, lamentation vs. celebration, and inner monologue vs. lively dialogue, we search out a magical middle ground, where time stops for a moment and ancient flames flicker once more.

Harpsichordist has appeared in venues including London’s Fenton House, ISSUE Project Room and Roulette in New York, and Boston’s Gardner Museum. He has performed as a soloist, and with ensembles The Knights, A Far Cry, Palaver Strings and Night Music. Ben maintains a deep engagement with the scholarly and performance community currently investigating historical improvisation in music from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern era. In 2013–14, a grant from Boston’s Beebe Foundation took him to London where he studied Bernardo Pasquini’s autographed partimenti (compositions notated as figured basses) in the British Library. He has since presented original research on partimenti at the Stile Galante International Porpora Conference and Historical Keyboard Society of North America, and conducted workshops at Stony Brook University, and for the Harvard Organ Society.

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