Michael De Sapio, Baroque violin
Marc Bellassai, harpsichord
John Armato, theorbo and Baroque lute

Charm City Baroque explores the roots of Baroque solo violin music with sonatas by Fontana, Frescobaldi, Uccellini, Schmelzer, Walther, and Biber. The program culminates in Biber's outrageous Sonata.

Charm City Baroque is a chamber ensemble dedicated to the most glorious era of western music. CCB was formed in 2008 by several friends who met while studying at the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore. Solidified by true friendship and camaraderie among its players, CCB brings the music of the 17th and 18th centuries to vivid life through the use of period instruments and insight into historical performance practice. The group's core contingent consists of Baroque violin and harpsichord, with an addition of viola da gamba, lute/theorbo, and voice depending on the repertoire. CCB can be heard in a regular season of concerts at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Baltimore, and has performed at such other venues as Johns Hopkins University, the Basilica of the Assumption, St. Ignatius Church, the Walter's Art Museum, and An die Musik (all in Baltimore); the Kent County (MD) Friends of Chamber Music; Carlyle House (Alexandria, VA); the Singapore Embassy (Washington, D.C.); and the Boston Early Music Festival.

Tickets: $15 in advance/$18 at door/$10 full-time students with ID

Program:

Sonata no. 3 - Giovanni Battista Fontana (c. 1580-1630)

Toccata for spinet and violin - Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)

Toccata no. 6 – Corrente - Alessandro Piccinini (1566-c.1638)

Sonata no. 4 - Marco Uccellini (c. 1600-1680)

Aria variata in G minor (Hortulus Chelicus, 1688) - Johann Jakob Walther (1650-1717)

Variations on “Betrübet ist zu Dieser Frist” - Heinrich Scheidemann (c. 1595-1663)

Sonata representativa - Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704)

Sonata in D major - Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c. 1620-1680)