Going for Baroque

Young Chang

Like a flock of birds flying South for the winter, Baroque music

lovers will gravitate to Corona del Mar this week for the 21st annual

Baroque Music Festival, starting Sunday.

Organist Andrew Arthur flew in from London on Thursday. Vocal soloists

are expected from the East Coast. Orchestra members will travel from San

Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.

Of course, the festival’s singers are local, but the amount of travel

required for such events is typical and also a sign of the times, Arthur

said.

“It shows a sheer lack of Baroque musicians,” he said. “It’s rare in

the States, but more common in England.”

Through June 24, a good batch of them will gather at St. Michael and

All Angels Church and the Sherman Library & Gardens to celebrate the

sounds of period instruments -- such as violins stringed with sheep’s gut

instead of steel -- and the rare breed of contemporary yet Baroque

musicians.

The repertoire includes music from the 17th and 18th centuries from

Italy, France and Germany, as well as 20th century pieces inspired by

Bach, said Burton Karson, the artistic director, conductor and founder of

the festival.

Guest performers include bassoonist Michael O’Donovan, harpsichord

player Gabriel Arregui and baritone Christopher Lindbloom.

“I started it because nothing was happening in Corona del Mar and at

that time everyone was driving from Newport Beach to Los Angeles to hear

concerts, except for the few given in Santa Ana,” Karson said. “There was

nothing that grew out of this area and performed out of this area.”

The festival will open Sunday with Vivaldi’s concertos for strings and

orchestra and a Poulene concerto for organ, strings and timpani,

performed in part by Arthur.

He rehearsed in an empty St. Michael’s sanctuary for an hour and a

half Thursday to “sort out” what was new and familiar on the church’s

organ. The one he plays back home is a “four-manual,” about five or six

times bigger than the one in Newport Beach.

“It takes some getting used to,” the 26-year-old said. “But I think

[the festival] is fantastic.”

A Baroque music fan since the age of six, Arthur said it’s the style

he finds most interesting and “emotionally charged.”

He will also perform at a Baroque music festival at Carmel before he

heads back home.

“It’s nice to play in different places,” Arthur said.

Looking up at a sunny Southern California sky, he added, “and compared

to London, I’d rather be here any day of the year.”

Karson said the intimacy of Sherman Gardens and St. Michael’s adds to

the upcoming Baroque experience.

“We all go to the Performing Arts Center and we sit with 3,000 other

people and enjoy magnificent concerts,” he said. “But here, you sit with

200 people and enjoy a concert of a magnificent caliber. There’s a social

element here that one doesn’t experience normally in concerts.”

FYI

WHAT: The Baroque Music Festival opening concert

WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: St. Michael and All Angels Church, 3233 Pacific View Drive,

Corona del Mar

COST: $25

CALL: (949) 760-7887

CONCERT CALENDAR

WHAT: Organ recital

WHEN: 8 p.m. Monday

WHERE: St. Michael and All Angels Church, 3233 Pacific View Drive,

Corona del Mar

COST: $10

WHAT: Music in the Gardens I

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Sherman Library & Gardens, Central Patio Room, 2647 E. Coast

Highway, Corona del Mar

COST: $30

WHAT: Music in the Gardens II

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Sherman Library & Gardens, Central Patio Room, 2647 E. Coast

Highway, Corona del Mar

COST: $30

WHAT: Festival Finale

WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: St. Michael and All Angels Church, 3233 Pacific View Drive,

Corona del Mar

COST: $25