Salish Sea Early Music Festival features Telemann

Published 1:30 am Sunday, April 19, 2026

Submitted by the Salish Sea Early Music Festival.

The Salish Sea Early Music Festival performs “Paris Quartets!” April 25 at 12:30 p.m, at St. David’s Episcopal Church.

Telemann composed and published the first set of his remarkable “Paris Quartets” in 1730 after having been invited to Paris by the most prominent French instrumentalists. He finally left Hamburg for Paris seven years later, where all 12 of his new quartets, in part, were greatly tailored to the French style and were performed, almost surely with Telemann himself playing harpsichord. The second set of quartets was published in 1738 during this eight-month stay. Two years later, Telemann related his experience in Paris:

“The admirable performances of these quartets by Messrs Blavet (transverse flute), Guignon (violin), the younger Forcroy [i.e. Forqueray] (viola da gamba) and Edouard (cello) would be worth describing were it possible for words to be found to do them justice. In short, they won the attention of the ears of the court and the town, and procured for me in a very little time an almost universal renown and increased esteem.”

Our 2026 program consists of new selections, including three quartets from his 1730 set titled “Quadri a violino, flauto traversiere, viola da gamba o violoncello, e fondamento,” and one from the 1738 publication titled “Nouveaux quatuors en six suites.”

Harpsichordist Elisabeth Wright has taught for almost four decades at Indiana University School of Music and, as one of North America’s most highly respected harpsichordists, has collaborated with numerous artists of international renown. Viola da gambist Susie Napper is co-founder and director emeritus of the Montreal Baroque Festival and teaches at McGill University, the University of Montreal and the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen. She was awarded the Prix Opus 2002 for Personality of the Year by the Conseil québécois de la musique, was named Woman of Merit for the Arts in Montreal in 2011 and is in demand for performances throughout the world. Baroque violinist David Greenberg has performed in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East as a Baroque violinist and Cape Breton fiddler and has performed with many of North America’s most well-known period instrument orchestras and ensembles, including a recent duo tour with Irish flutist Chris Norman. Baroque flutist Jeffrey Cohan is artistic director of the Salish Sea Early Music Festival and has performed in 25 countries on all flutes from the Renaissance through the present.

A suggested donation is $20-$30 (a free-will offering, pay as you wish). Those 18 and under are free.

For more information, visit www.salishseafestival.org/sanjuan.