Musicians of Old Post Road bring 'Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas' to Worcester

Musicians of the Old Post Road's journey in its 35th anniversary season keeps leading to new discoveries of musical gems that were written long ago and far away, but which are now finally being performed here.

The Boston area ensemble comes to First Unitarian Church of Worcester at 4 p.m. Dec. 9 with a program titled "Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas," which it describes as "a holiday concert of celestial works from Spain and New Spain." The concert will also be available to watch online.

"We're featuring music from Spain, Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala," said Suzanne Stumpf, Musicians of the Old Post Road co-founder and co-artistic director with her husband, Daniel Ryan. Stumpf also plays the flute/traverso (baroque flute) in the ensemble while Ryan is the cellist.

'New to audiences'

The concert has a "wide variety (of music) from the sublime to the spicy," Stumpf said. So although the music is described by the ensemble as celestial, "we think this will have a secular appeal," she added.

"Almost all of the composers will be new to audiences," said Ryan, with the music featuring "wonderful, exciting new discoveries."

More than a performance of different works, Musician of the Old Post Road's concerts have focused on a topic or exploring a cultural window. Stumpf and Ryan spend considerable time researching and rediscovering pieces, some of which have been lost to audiences for centuries. Every season, the group includes regional historic premieres as part of its subscription series, and all of the group’s seven commercially-produced CDs include previously unrecorded works.

The program for "Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas" includes 16th and 17th century Baroque music for voices and instruments by Spanish composers Juan Francés de Iribarren (1699-1767) and Joaquín García de Antonio (1710-79), Guatemalan composer Rafael Antonio Castellanos (1644-1712), Cuban composer Esteban Salas y Castro (1725-1803), and Mexican composers Antonio de Salazar (1650-1715) and Manuel de Zumaya (1678-1755), who was the first Mexican Classical composer of Indigenous descent. Instrumental works include trio sonatas by the Catalan brothers Juan (1720-73) and José Pla (1728-62), and the Spanish composers Antonio Rodriguez de Hita (1724-87), Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), and Antonio Martín y Coll (1650-1734).

Also featured will be the world premiere reconstruction of a "Pastorela" by an anonymous composer associated with the Puebla Cathedral in Mexico (consecrated in 1649).

"When we looked at the manuscript it was clear it was not complete," Ryan said. So Stumpf and Ryan completed it themselves. "We felt we could," Stumpf said.

'Did a little more digging'

Baroque music of Spain and New Spain is an area that the ensemble has "explored somewhat in the past," Stumpf said.

In 2007, for example, the group presented "Feliz Navidad: Christmas from Spain and New Spain," which featured Baroque works from Spain, Catalonia and Mexico. The program was later released as a CD.

But Musicians of the Old Post Road "did a little more digging" and "explored other pieces that haven't yet made it to the stage," Stumpf said.

They didn't travel to Mexico to uncover some of the the works, however, even though a lot of manuscripts are not online. Instead they were able to study microfilm from the University of Mexico thanks to a close relationship the institution has with Boston University .

Instrumental guest artists María Diez-Canedo, traverso, and guitarist Eloy Cruz are traveling from Mexico for the concert. They are founding members of the Mexican period instrument ensemble La Fontegara, faculty members at the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, and avid researchers. Guest vocal soloists will be Adriana Ruiz, soprano, and Hilary Anne Walker, mezzo-soprano. "They are wonderful," Stumpf said. The ensemble members performing are Stumpf, traverso; Sarah Darling and Jesse Irons, violins; Ryan, cello; and Benjamin Katz, harpsichord.

'Innovative programming'

Musicians of the Old Post Road specializes in period instrument performances of music from the Baroque, Classical and early Romantic periods. The historic Old Post Road was the primary route for travel and commerce between Boston and New York from the late 1680s through 1849. Stumpf and Ryan got the idea for a traveling concert series that would play in historic buildings along the road while traveling down some highways and byways in Europe. Other area stops for their concerts have included Shrewsbury, Sudbury and Wayland.

The ensemble’s mission is to "broaden the availability of period instrument chamber performances to diverse audiences and to stimulate audiences with innovative programming."

The group first came to Worcester to perform on Sept. 24, 1989, at the Salisbury Mansion with a program titled "Music of the Bach Family." Since then they have visited Worcester continuously, usually presenting two concerts a year.

In April, Musicians of the Old Post Road presented "Into The Light: Unearthed Treasures by Christoph Graupner" at the Worcester Historical Museum. This program paid homage to Graupner (1683-1760), a German composer and harpsichordist who had descended into obscurity until relatively recently and is now receiving attention thanks to Stumpf and Ryan's meticulous research and concert showcasing. The ensemble performed the same program at Early Music America’s first annual Summit, which took place in Boston on Oct. 24. Plans are underway for a CD recording of the repertoire in 2024.

On Nov. 11, Stumpf and Ryan received the 2023 Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society at its annual conference in Denver. Established to recognize and foster outstanding contributions to historical performance practice, the award is named after the late conductor and musicologist Noah Greenberg, who is credited with contributing to the revival of interest in early music. Stumpf’s and Ryan’s work to bring attention to Graupner was the impetus for this year's award.

This is the second time that the research and performance work of Stumpf and Ryan have been recognized with the Noah Greenberg Award. In 1998, Musicians of the Old Post Road was selected for the prize for its premiere recording project of Scottish Folk Song Settings by J. N. Hummel.

"It's wonderful to have our work recognized," Stumpf said. "We're very grateful," said Ryan.

Exploring the 'Elements'

The Musicians of the Old Post Road's 35th anniversary season is titled "Elements," with programing inspired by the four classical elements of water, air, fire and earth for four concerts "spanning the Baroque to the Classical, from the Old World to the New World."

The season began with "Water: Cascading Baroque Passion" with performances in Sudbury and Boston. Besides the Dec. 9 concert at First Unitarian Church of Worcester and online, "Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas" will be presented at 4 p.m. Dec. 10 in Church of the Covent in Boston. "Fire" Blazing Italian Baroque" will have concerts March 9 in First Parish, Wayland, and March 10 in Old South, Boston. "Earth: Rustic Classical" will be performed April 19 in Old South, Boston, with the ensemble returning to Worcester April 21 for a performance at the Worcester Historical Museum. The concert will feature "rollicking chamber music with a Bohemian flair for flute and strings," the ensemble says.

"It's s been great. We're off to a good start," Ryan said of how the season has been going so far. "We really had a great first concert," he said. Then came the award.

Musicians of the Old Post Road remain as committed to coming to Worcester as ever, Stumpf said. "Absolutely. We always enjoy our audiences in Worcester and we'll be there twice a usual."

There's no end point in mind on the ensemble's overall ongoing journey. "I don't think we imagined a stopping point," Stumpf said. "We keep doing what we love and bring these discoveries that they (audiences) seem to enjoy us bringing to them."

Ryan noted that there remain many compositions dating back centuries that are unknown today. Maybe they're awaiting a deserved rediscovery. "There's a lot of repertoire. There's still much more out there," he said.

'Air: Heavenly Baroque Christmas" — Musicians of the Old Post Road

When: 4 p.m. Dec. 9

Where: First Unitarian Church of Worcester, 90 Main St., Worcester. And virtual.

How much: $55; seniors, $50; under 35, $35; children 17 and under with adult, free. Virtual single ticket, $35; virtual family ticket, $70; virtual student ticket, $10. oldpostroad.org

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Musicians of Old Post Road 35th season has Heavenly Baroque Christmas