BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The first Burlington Baroque music festival reaches its crescendo this weekend.
Eric Milnes, the founder and director of Baroque Burlington came to Vermont four years ago and filled what he called a hole in the culture.
“This is a part of that full array of cultural opportunities in Burlington that has been missing or not fully developed, and so we’re very happy to fill what I strongly believe to be a welcoming slot,” Milnes said.
His dream was interrupted by the pandemic. But four years later, with the help of a board of directors and volunteers, his dream came to life.
The festival, which kicked of Thursday and runs Sunday at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, consists of five performances featuring music written from 1600 to 1750. “That’s a crowd of great composers writing that music during that period from all across Europe,” Milnes said.
The works will be resurrected by a period instrument orchestra consisting of 18th-century violins, violas, cellos, and more. “They look quite different and sound quite different. For the listeners who are not used to hearing Baroque music played on period baroque instruments, it can be quite a revelation and really thrilling,” Milnes said.
“There are really different colors that the Baroque instruments produce, just different qualities of sound. You get a more articulated sound. It’s a little more complex in a way, kind of grittier,” said Scott Metcalfe, a violinist who is one of the 60 musicians and 24 singers from Vermont, Montreal, and beyond.
The full group came together for the first time Thursday afternoon to rehearse ahead of their first performance. “The music was written 100 years ago. It’s all being done here by living people, living singers who are breathing with us in the room. The emotional immediacy of that in-person — that’s why we do music, whatever the repertoire,” Metcalfe said.
After their final performance, Milnes says he will start planning for next’s years festival, taking what they’ve learned from their inaugural performance.