September 11 & 12
Maryland Renaissance Festival, Crownsville, Maryland

Groups scheduled to perform this weekend include The Renaissance Revelers.

September 17 at 7:30 PM
La Maison Française, Washington, DC

Italian Cantatas From the Time of Farinelli
Damien Guillon, counter-tenor
Claire Gratton, cello
Kevin Manent-Navratil, harpsichord

Nicola Porpora – D’amor la belle pace
Domenico Scarlatti – Sonata in F major, K 6
Domenico Scarlatti – Sonata in b minor, K 27
Antonio Vivaldi – Qual per ignoto calle, RV 677
Leonardo Leo – Dove Fuggo à che penso
Francesco Geminiani – Sonata for violoncello
Nicola Porpora – Dal povero mio cor

For more information, call (202) 944-6400.

September 18 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
All Souls Episcopal Church, Woodley Park, Washington, DC

Music of the Franco-Flemish Masters:
Josquin, Clemens, Crecquillon, Gombert, & Roger
A one-day choral workshop led by Philip Cave

With their rich, often densely-textured polyphony, the composers of the Franco-Flemish School form the bridge between the late medieval and renaissance styles. This is an astonishingly fertile period of musical creation, and the workshop provides a valuable opportunity to place later composers (such as Palestrina and Lassus) in their historical context.

As a further treat, members of the Washington early music ensemble The Suspicious Cheese Lords, well-known for their interpretations of Flemish repertoire, will present a selection of pieces during the workshop.

Pre-register at Chorworks.com.

September 18 at 8:00 PM at St. Mary Mother of God, Washington, DC
September 25 at 7:30 PM at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia

Chantry
Angel Music: Renaissance Music for and about Angels

The early music voices of Chantry, led by David Taylor, perform Taverner’s Missa O Michael, and motets celebrating angels by Handl, Gombert, Sweelinck, Isaac, Crecquillon, Dering, and Weelkes.

Angels, known as messengers of God in Jewish, Islamic, and Christian tradition, are celebrated in some of the greatest music of the Renaissance. Taverner’s stunning, seldom-performed Missa O Michael is dedicated to the Archangel Michael, leader of the heavenly host. Experience the beauty and joy of music for the angels who descended Jacob’s ladder, sang at the Nativity and the Resurrection, and defeated the dragon.

For more information, call (202) 625-2855.

September 19 at 4:00 PM
The National Presbyterian Church, Washington, DC

The Vivaldi Project
The Six String Sinfonias of C.P.E. Bach

The members of The Vivaldi Project are thrilled at the prospect of working with this extraordinary repertoire, performing it on the instruments for which it was written, and sharing it with a broad audience. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, in addition to being the leading keyboard player and teacher of his day, was also recognized as a composer with innovative and revolutionary ideas-the six sinfonias for strings, W. 182, containing some of the most audacious and dramatic material he wrote. Remaining true to our name, our series of programs will also include Vivaldi concerti to illustrate how the art of violin playing, as developed by Vivaldi, directly influenced orchestral violin writing, increasing the technical demands placed upon the players and raising the standard of their playing. It is difficult to imagine how Bach could have created his superb sinfonias without Vivaldi’s innovations.

September 23 at 7:30 PM
Strathmore Music in the Mansion North Bethesda, Maryland

Asteria

French music from the 14th and 15th centuries. Free post-concert discussion with the artists moderated by Robert Aubry Davis.

For more information, call (301) 581-5109.

September 26 at 3:00 PM
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Oak Grove, Virginia

Washington’s Camerata
Music of the German Baroque

Works by Bach, Kleinknecht, Quantz, and Telemann.

For more information, call (703) 362-0836.

September 27 at 8:00 PM
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater, Washington, DC

Jordi Savall with Tembembe Ensemble Continuo

For more information, call 800-444-1324.

September 29 at 6:00 PM
Elizabethan Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC

Folger Consort Early Music Seminar
Pastime with Good Company:
Music from the Court of Henry VIII

The 2010/11 Folger Consort season opens with an autumnal feast of music from the court of Henry VIII, the most musical of the Tudors. Learn more about Henry’s compositions, large collection of instruments, and the stunning liturgical music of his chapel singers, including Cornysh and Browne.

For more information, call (202) 675-0379.