Music of the Loyalists

This year, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding. But while the Sons of Liberty stirred unrest in Boston, there was another group desperately hoping things would return to normal: British Loyalists. Some Loyalists wanted a return to the pre-Seven Years’ War status quo, but others hoped that Britain and the colonists could work out a more equitable compromise to move forward. Taxation was indeed too high, and representation of the colonies could improve. But even so, Loyalists argued, they were proud to be British citizens.

Boston University Professor Emeritus Mark Kroll and College of the Holy Cross Professor Emeritus Carol Lieberman will take attendees through a litany of songs popularized by those loyal to the Crown. Selections include “Loyal Song - Say Lovely Peace that grac’d our Isle,” “General Wolfe,” and “The Military Glory of Great Britain,” among others. Hearing these pieces among the Georgian architecture of Shirley Place, on an historic pianoforte, allows a rare glimpse into what Loyalists heard, saw, and perhaps even thought as revolutionary ideas percolated in Boston.

Tickets are $30 per person. Both corporate and individual sponsorships are available. Click here to learn more about the benefits of sponsorship.

About our performers:

Mark Kroll is an award-winning performer, scholar, and teacher. He has performed world-wide as a harpsichordist and fortepianist, in both solo recital and as a collaborative chamber musician. In the United States he has performed in every state, and at a multitude of festivals. Kroll has been one of the few harpsichordists to devote a significant part of his career to the contemporary literature for the instrument. He has commissioned and premiered a large number of works, and released several recordings of this repertoire. A dedicated editor, Kroll has served with distinction on the faculties of the University of California, Santa Cruz; Emerson College; Boston University; Northeastern University; and Brandeis University. At Boston University he not only founded and served as chair of the Department of Harpsichord and the Department of Historical Performance, but also instituted groundbreaking courses in the general curriculum, such as a required harpsichord course for all keyboard majors, and a required Baroque chamber music course for all vocalists and instrumentalists. He has received extensive recognition both for his performances and scholarly contributions to the field.

Carol Lieberman has been one of the leading exponents of Baroque violin performance for three decades, and is equally well known for her performances of 19th and 20th century violin repertoire. She has concertized throughout Europe and North and South America, and frequently performs for radio and television, including Radio Nacional Espana, Belgian Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and National Public Radio. Ms. Lieberman performs as violinist of the Lieberman-Kroll Duo, the Early Music Ensemble of Boston, and is first violinist and founder of the Quartetto Tomasini, a period instrument string quartet. Ms. Lieberman received her DMA degree from Yale University, and her awards include a Fellowship at the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College. She has been head of the string department at the University of Maine at Orono, and is currently Associate Professor of Music at the College of the Holy Cross where she is Director of the Holy Cross Chamber Players. She also served on the faculty of the Boston University Department of Historical Performance from 1978-2003, where she taught “modern” violin, Baroque violin and chamber music.

Our cover image is The Music Party by Philip Mercier (1733). Courtesy the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Shirley-Eustis House