On November 17 at 3 p.m., professional ensemble Third Coast Bourque (TCB) will come to Wentz Concert Hall and perform their concert series, “The French Connection: An Exquisite Exploration.” While displaying the aesthetic of Baroque music, TCB will offer much more to their audience in this experience.
Founded in 2016, Third Coast Bourque is a professional ensemble that specializes in music from the 17th and 18th centuries. Their work is done in a historically informed performance. TCB Executive Director Angela Young Smucker explains this as performing “music in a way that we think it was likely performed in the 17th and 18th centuries.”
TCB aims to be faithful to the style of their musical era. This is why they perform on period instruments. These instruments tend to be smaller and come in a lot of different shapes. The most distinctive portion of these instruments is the strings. The strings are from animal guts instead of metal strings. The purpose of animal guts is the sound they produce.
“It is a really beautiful and distinct sound,” said Smucker.
There is more to TCB than just making beautiful music. The goal for TCB is to dive into the context of their music.
“We look at what was the circumstances that it was composed. What was the composer doing at the time? What were the social circumstances at the time? What contributed to the elements of the music,” said Smucker.
This is achieved by commentary done throughout the concert. For this concert, TCB Artistic Director Rubén Dubrovsky will be doing commentary. Dubrovsky will explore the characteristics that make French Baroque music unique while displaying the relevance it has in today’s age.
Along with commentary, this concert series will feature French-Tunisian visual artist WERIEM (Meriem Bahri). She will be creating original images on the screen based on her interpretation of this collection of music. In addition, she is going to be curating existing images throughout the show.
“(WERIEM’s images) will be projected in Wentz (Concert) Hall above the instrumentals on stage,” said Smucker. “People will be able to be fully engaged with watching the concert and also having the accompanying image … all in one spot.”
Also, this concert series will also showcase two special guests. The first being professional oboe player Kathryn Montoya. Montoya is a regular among top period ensembles. Some of the ensembles she has worked with are Apollo’s Fire, Pacific Musicworks and Tafelmusik.
“She is one of the best Baroque oboe players in the country,” said Smucker.
The other guest is professional flute player Charles Brink. Brink’s appearance is special as it is the first cross-collaboration between Third Coast Bourque and its sibling ensemble, Bach Consort Wien. Along with being a long-time member of Bach Consort Wien, Brink has quite the experience in French Baroque music. Brink has recorded multiple French Baroque pieces.
“(Brink) is really quite an expert in this particular repertoire,” said Smucker. “We’re really excited to have him share his expertise in this program.”
Any North Central faculty, staff and student can come to watch “The French Connection: An Exquisite Exploration” for free. They must have their school ID present.
