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2026 Capitol Hill
Chamber Music Festival
~
Period Instrument chamber music from six centuries ~
THE
QUALITY OF MERCY
September
20 - October 9, 2026
~
Please click the appropriate concert location to the
left for specific dates ~
Please
join our MAILING
LIST for updated schedule announcements
(please specify Baltimore, Annapolis or Washington,
DC)
~ by emailing chcmf@aol.com ~
2026
#1 • WAR AND PEACE •
•
September 20-24, 2026
•
DATES
TO BE ANNOUNCED VERY SOON
Susie
Napper
~
viola da gamba ~
Elisabeth
Wright
~
harpsichord
~
Jeffrey
Cohan
Suites entitled "La Paix"
(Peace) and "Le Guerre"
(War) by Monteclair, in
addition to Couperin's "La
Paix de Parnasse" and "A
Sad Pavan for these
Distracted Times" by
Thomas Tomkins reflect the
18th-century composer's
aspiration to lift us up
in our quest to resolve
issues of enmity between
us and are to be included
among other works by
Couperin, Johann Sebastian
Bach, Élisabeth Jacquet de
La Guerre and Louis
Couperin.
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2026
#2 • A CHACONNE FOR PEACE •
•
September 25-27, 2026
•
DATES
TO BE ANNOUNCED VERY SOON
~
pardessus de viole
~
Susie
Napper
~
viola da gamba ~
Elisabeth
Wright
~
harpsichord
~
Jeffrey
Cohan
Les
Voix humaines, the widely
celebrated prize-winning duo of
viols from Montreal, joins us in a
program illuminating the role of the
chaconne as the ultimate expression
and culmination statement of operas
by Jean Baptiste Lully at the court
of Louis XIV (above). In "Phaeton"
(1683), warring nations are unified
in global harmony. In "Persée"
(1682) divine intervention brings a
celebration of peace for the people
of Ethiopia. Chaconnes from these
operas, transcribed for a small
ensemble in 1713 by Louis XIV's
court librarian Philidor l'Ainé,
will join others by Marin Marais,
Arcangelo Corelli, and from Lully's
"Ballet du Temple de la Paix".
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2026 #3
SHAKESPEARE
IN VENICE 1600
• THE QUALITY
OF MERCY •
•
October 6-11, 2026
•
DATES
TO BE ANNOUNCED VERY SOON
Marlisa
del Cid Woods
~
baroque violin
~
Anna
Marsh
~
dulcian/renaissance bassoon
~
William
Simms
~
baroque guitar and theorbo
~
Jeffrey
Cohan
Around the time of Shakespeare's
assertion (around 1600) in "The
Merchant of Venice" that "The quality
of mercy is not strain'd", the Italian
chamber music to be included in this
program was imbued with humanism's
late 16th and early 17th century
perspective that brought human emotion
and individualism ever more poignantly
into the public consciousness through
music and art. Music, emanating
especially from Venice, embraced
greater chromaticism and emotional
depth, and shaped the unfolding of
what we think of today as baroque
style. Works by Cima, Buonamente,
Merulo, Frescobaldi and Merula
(pictured below), and
others.
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~
Earlier concerts last 2025 season
~
1 • The
18th-CENTURY HARPSICHORD IN SPAIN •
•
August 1-3, 2025
•
Irene
Roldàn
~
solo harpsichord
~
 Sebastián
de Albero (1722-1756)
Recercata
prima – Fuga prima
–
Sonata primae
Antonio
Soler (1729 - 1783)
Preludio
IV in F minor
Preludio
I in D minor
Preludio III in C Major
Carlos
Seixas (Portugal, 1704
– 1742)
Sonata
in F minor – Moderato
Minuet in F major
Sonata in F minor–
Allegro
José
de Nebra (1702 – 1768)
Sinfonia
II in E minor
Sinfonia
VIII in C
Major-minor
Félix
Máximo López
(1742 - 1821)
Variaciones
del Fandango
espanol
The
listener will step into the heart of
18th-century Iberia, where the vibrant
court of Madrid stood as a focal point
for the flourishing of rich keyboard
music. Domenico Scarlatti, with his
masterful keyboard sonatas, cast a
considerable shadow over contemporaneous
composers unfairly labeled as mere
imitators. Sebastian de Albero, Jose de
Nebra, and the Portuguese Carlos Seixas
forged unique voices while incorporating
a wide range of influences into their
work, from the Spanish Golden Age and
Iberian folklore to Italian virtuosity.
Hidden gems, like Nebra's symphonies,
await discovery. As Scarlatti's sonatas
remain iconic, the listener will delve
into the overlooked brilliance of these
composers, poised for a deserved
spotlight in the keyboard repertoire.
Award-winning
harpsichordist Irene Roldán
(www.ireneroldan.com)
was born in southern Spain in 1997.
Described by the press as one of the
most prominent Spanish harpsichordists
on the international scene (ABC
Sevilla), Irene currently lives and
works in Basel, Switzerland. She gained
international recognition in 2021, when
she won first prize, never previously
awarded in this competition, as well as
the audience prize at the III.
International Harpsichord Competition
«Città di Milano». In the same year, her
ensemble Flor Galante secured the first
prize at the IV. International Bach
Competition in Berlin. One year later,
Irene was honored with the prestigious
Bach Prize and an additional special
award at the XXXIII. International Bach
Competition held in Leipzig, Germany.
★ ★
★
• Friday
evening, August 1 in Washington
at 7:00 PM •
• Saturday
evening, August 2 in Annapolis
at 7:30 PM •
• Sunday
afternoon, August 3 in Baltimore
at 2:00 PM
•
★ ★
★
Irene
Roldàn’s participation in these
performances has been made possible
with help from the Honorary
Consulate of Spain in Seattle and
from to the Programme for the
Internationalisation of Spanish
Culture (PICE) of Acción Cultural
Española (AC/E), which seeks to
promote Spanish culture through the
inclusion of Spanish artists and
creators residing in Spain in the
programming of cultural events
outside of Spain.
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2 •
BAROQUE IN TRANSITION II •
•
August 5, 6 & 10, 2025
•
~
harpsichord
~
Marlisa
del Cid Woods
~
violin ~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
renaissance and baroque traverse
flutes
~
The canzona, having
appeared in the 1570's
as a more vocally
inspired instrumental
form following the
earlier ricercare,
evolved into the
familiar sonata as it
became ever more
instrumentally
idiosyncratic and
virtuosic. The
17th
century saw the
development of wildly
new instrumental colors
alongside intense
discussion and
disagreement between
proponents of the
diverging Italian and
French styles.
In
a continuation of last
year's exploration, early
17th-century works for
violin with Renaissance
transverse flute, violin and
harpsichord
illuminate a period
of transition between
Renaissance and Baroque
styles, and contrast with
early 18th-century trios for
these instruments.
★
★ ★
• Sunday,
August 10 in Annapolis
at 7:30 PM •
★
★ ★
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Irene
Roldàn
~
harpsichord
~
Jeffrey
Cohan
Irene
Roldàn and Jeffrey interpret the
phenomenal music by Johann Sebastian
Bach for flute and harpsichord
alongside four sonatas by Domenico
Scarlatti for solo harpsichord and one
with flute.
★
★ ★
•
Thursday
evening, August 7
in Annapolis
at 7:30 PM •
• Friday
evening, August 8 in Washington
at 7:00 PM •
• Sunday
afternoon, August 10 in Baltimore
at 2:00 PM
•
★
★ ★
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The
Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival has
since 2000 presented chamber music by
familiar as well as little-known composers
from the Renaissance through the present on
Capitol Hill in period instrument
performances which shed new light upon early
performance practice and contemporary works.
Unpublished works from the Library of
Congress are given particular attention, and
many have received their modern day
premieres during these concerts, in addition
to premieres of works by Slovenian
composers. The Capitol Hill Chamber Music
Festival is a nonprofit corporation in the
District of Columbia and an affiliate
organization of Early Music America.
Please sign up for our E-Mailing List!
~ updated August 15,
2026 ~
Do you receive our email
announcements and flyers?!
Please sign up for our Mailing List!
for additional concert information via email
and occasionally by snail mail.
please specify DC, Annapolis or Baltimore and
write to:
CHCMF@aol.com ~
thank you!
SSEMF
banner: detail from "Indeterminate
Landscape" by James C. Holl.
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