Savannah Baroque returns after two-year hiatus with concert of female classical composers

If you do a Google search for “Baroque composers,” of course, Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Monteverdi and Telemann come up first. Scrolling further down those result rankings are a variety of Baroque composer top 10 lists, largely the same and nearly all, lacking women.

But women were composing, publishing, and performing music during this era, and some of these compositions can be heard in Savannah for the first time since before the early 1800s.

On Sunday, Savannah Baroque reunites for their first performance in two years, presenting “Into the Light,” a celebration of the works of seven Baroque women composers at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Savannah.

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Early music specialist and harpsichordist, Anne Acker, leads the ensemble. Growing up in Michigan and Wisconsin, Acker took to all-things keyboard at a young age and trained as concert pianist. Mathematics and computer science, though, would rule her professional world when she earned a National Science Foundation Fellowship to Stanford for doctoral research.

But keys continued to hold their sway.

Acker learned how to repair, restore, and build historic keyboards, establishing a world-renown reputation for her work. She is currently the only woman in the western hemisphere recognized for her highly specific expertise. Acker made her way to Savannah from Miami when her youngest child began studying at SCAD, and in 2016, she began working with the players of Savannah Baroque.

“It’s been two years since we’ve all performed publicly together, and we’re really looking forward to it,” emphasized Acker.

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“Especially since one of the works we’re presenting has only been available in the last six months. Women were writing during the Baroque period and were successful, famous even, but in the 19th and into the 20th century, women’s contributions were written out of the canon of classical music.”

Acker describes how women’s compositions from the Baroque era have been found throughout Europe in recent years tucked in church attic boxes, library archives, and in the homes of distant descendants. Between 1730 and 1740, Wilhelmine von Bayreuth composed one such piece, which is featured Sunday, and its performance may be the first since its re-discovery less than a year ago.

Jeana Melilli plays baroque flute in the ensemble. When she isn’t with Savannah Baroque, Melilli plays flute and piccolo for a number of symphony orchestras in the Southeast, including Savannah Philharmonic, while also in the midst of a musicology doctorate at University of Florida. Melilli is looking forward to performing this selection of music.

“When Anne puts together a program, she insists on no famous composers, she goes straight to the obscure, and it’s great, every time,” said Melilli. “I like that we’re playing music that’s 300- and 400-years-old and how for most people it will be the first time they’ve heard anything like it. The performance of these pieces shines a light and new perspective on music of this era. ”

Baroque Savannah is an ensemble of seven musicians who play period-specific instruments. In addition to Acker on harpsichord and Melilli on baroque flute, Marcy Brenner plays viola de gamba; Erika Skye Andres, baroque flute; Ann Cafferty, baroque violin; Tina Zenker Williams, soprano vocals; Kyle Siddons, baritone.

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Because Baroque music was written for small ensembles and for instruments tonally unique from their modern orchestra cousins, the performance will sound different from a Sunday afternoon at the philharmonic. Also unlike modern orchestra music, baroque was often written for others to play together and share socially. Which is another element appealing to Melilli.

“Trio sonatas are really fun to play, and they are great for friends gathering to play music, which is something that happened often during this time,” said Melilli. “These trio pieces, whether written by men or women, were often dismissed because they were too easy to play, but this music was popular in part because people could play it together. We’ll be bringing some of this to life on Sunday”

In 1640, an evening among merchants and nobility could have gone something like this: visiting an Italian shipping friend at his French chateau, and after dinner guests adjourn for brandy, tobacco and playing Francesca Caccini’s latest trio sonata — essentially, gathering together for a fancy, Baroque jam session.

The performance at St. Paul’s features works by Isabella Leonarda, Anna Bon, Francesca Caccini, Maria Hester Park, Mary Harvey, Wilhelmine von Bayeuth, and Mary Young Barthelemon.

“I am blessed to have this group of people in my life that I love playing with,” said Acker.

“We have big city, like New York or Vienna, talent living here in Savannah, and I’m blessed to make music with them and share some of that passion for Baroque with Savannah.”

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah GA events: Savannah Baroque plays early 1800s music