RETURN TO PRINCETON: The Dryden Ensemble will be back in town to perform a free concert on March 6 at the Unitarian Universalist Church.
The Dryden Ensemble returns with its artistic director, Daniel Swenberg, in a program entitled “The Most Faithful Companion: Lute and Guitar Trios from the 17th Century” on Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 50 Cherry Hill Road. Admission is free, though donations will be accepted.
Swenberg will be joined by Adam Cockerham and Dušan Balarin, performing on Renaissance and Baroque lutes and Baroque guitars of various sizes and tunings. The trio will perform rarely heard ensembles by Dowland, Purcell, Piccinini, Cazzati, Corbetta, and Radolt.
Peruvian-Croatian lutenist Balarin specializes in a wide range of historical lutes and guitars. His artistic curiosity has led him to collaborate with leading artists and ensembles across early music, jazz, and contemporary arts, including Cécile McLorin Salvant, Les Arts Florissants, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular collaborator with major early music organizations such as The Newberry Consort, Opera Lafayette, Handel & Haydn Society, The Washington Bach Consort, and Ruckus Early Music, and is a core member of Sonnambula, ensemble-in-residence at the Frick Collection.
Cockerham specializes in theorbo, lute, and baroque guitar. Beginning his performance career as a classical guitarist, he then gravitated toward historical plucked strings, preferring the collaborative opportunities of chamber music from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. As an accompanist and continuo player, Cockerham has performed with numerous ensembles in North America. He founded the voice and plucked string duo Jarring Sounds with mezzo-soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah. Beyond chamber music, Cockerham concentrates on 17th-century Italian vocal music. He has been involved in numerous modern world premiere performances with companies such as the Academy of Sacred Drama, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and Ars Minerva. Cockerham received his doctorate from the Juilliard School and teaches at Rowan University.
Swenberg plays a wide variety of lutes and guitars: baroque, renaissance, classical/romantic —small, medium, and large. He has been a regular with the Dryden Ensemble for over 15 years. He has played with the Metropolitan Opera, Carmel Bach Festival, Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations, on Broadway with Mark Rylance in Farinelli and the King, Mr. Jones & the Engines of Destruction, Opera Atelier/Tafelmusik, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Catacoustic Ensemble, Handel & Haydn, and many others. He has also accompanied Renee Fleming and Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall. He has been on faculty at Juilliard’s Historical Performance program since 2015.
Visit drydenensemble.org for more information.