Musica Angelica Opens 2009 Baroque Chamber Music Series January 10

The Baroque ensemble, Musica Angelica, hailed as a "world class Baroque orchestra" by KUSC FM Classical Radio, will celebrate the New Year by presenting its first chamber series performance of the 2008-2009 season – "Delirio Amoroso" – on January 10 at 8 p.m. at Pasadena Presbyterian Church in Pasadena and on January 11 at 4 p.m. at Santa Monica First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica.

Guest artists at the intimate performance of Baroque sonatas and cantatas include young French soprano Celine Ricci – described after her appearance last season in Musica Angelica´s multi-media project, Seduction and Despair, with actor John Malkovich, as "a sensation, vital on stage and a dazzling coloratura" by the LA Times. Ricci will perform George Frideric Handel´s Mi Palpita il Cor and Médée by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault.

Joining Ricci are oboist Gonzalo Ruiz, one of the North America's most critically acclaimed and sought-after historical woodwind soloists; cellist David Morris, who has performed worldwide with such ensembles as Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, and the Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle Baroque Orchestras; and keyboardist Ian Pritchard, First Prize winner in the 2001 Broadwood Harpsichord Competition.

In addition to the two works by Handel and Clérambault, "Delirio Amoroso" will present Antonio Vivaldi´s "Damnation" Sonata in c minor and Premier Concert Royal by Francois Couperin.

"This concert illustrates how our mission at Musica Angelica is twofold: to program works by well known composers like Handel and Vivaldi, as well as to introduce composers and great compositions that may be new to Baroque music lovers in Southern California," explains General Manager Laura Spino. "I have no doubt that, after this performance, those who were perhaps unfamiliar with music by Clérambault will understand why he is considered the ´master´ of the ´French cantata.´"

Handel´s cantatas, Spino adds, were written primarily to showcase the talents of the singer performing them. "Handel wrote for the most acclaimed singers of the age," Spino says. "I look forward to hearing what is sure to be a technically dazzling and musically moving performance by Celine and her friends from Musica Angelica."

After her performance in Delirio Amoroso for Musica Angelica, Ricci will appear in Purcell´s Dido and Aeneas with France´s Baroque emsemble, Les Arts Florissants, noted for its productions of Baroque operas. She is also taking part this season in a worldwide tour with the Folies Francaises, celebrating the anniversary of French Baroque composer, Jean-Baptiste de Lully.

Gonzalo Ruiz, Musica Angelica´s Baroque oboist, has also performed as principal oboist and concerto soloist with leading period instrument groups worldwide, under an impressive roster of conductors that includes Christopher Hogwood, Nicholas McGegan, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Reinhard Goebbel and Mark Minkowski. Equally accomplished on the modern oboe, Ruiz was principal of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the New Century Chamber Orchestra and was awarded the 2000 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming for his work with American Baroque. A prizewinner at the Brugges competition, Ruiz is an acknowledged expert in historical reedmaking techniques; over two dozen of his pieces are on permanent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Los Angeles native Ian Pritchard has been playing the harpsichord since he was thirteen years old. In 2000 he moved to London to study with the late John Toll at the Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated with distinction and earned the prestigious DipRAM prize for an exceptional final recital. Since then, Pritchard has performed worldwide with such groups as Florilegium, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. He has also appeared frequently on BBC Radio 3 and on the BBC 2 production Vivaldi Unmasked. Currently Pritchard is a PhD candidate in Historical Musicology at USC, where he plans to write his dissertation on Italian keyboard music, notation, and performance practice in the 16th century.

Cellist David Morris – a member of Musica Angelica, Musica Pacifica, The King¹s Noyse, and the Sex Chordae Consort of Viols – has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, New Albion, Dorian and New World Records, as well as for a special broadcast on NPR's St. Paul Sunday with The King's Noyse. He is also the founder and musical director of the Bay Area baroque opera ensemble Teatro Bacchino and has produced operas for the Berkeley Early Music Festival and the San Francisco Early Music Society. When not performing on baroque cello, viola da gamba, bass violin or lirone, Morris plays modern cello with the ensemble "Parlor Tango."

Tickets for "Delirio Amoroso", which are available online at www.MusicaAngelica.org or by calling (310) 458-4504, are $39/person for general seating. Pasadena Presbyterian Church is located at 585 Colorado Blvd in Pasadena; Santa Monica First Presbyterian Church is located at 1220 Second Street in Santa Monica.