Unlock the Baroque - an introduction

These workshops are designed for those interested in playing 17th-18th century music on the instruments for which it was originally composed, using the musical principles and performance techniques appropriate for that time.  

In these workshops the tutors explain and demonstrate some of the fundamental aspects of their approach, and all participants have the opportunity to play the instruments.  A small number of baroque violins, violas, cellos and baroque bows, and harpsichords are available. Participants who have their own instrument (pitch a415) are also encouraged to attend, to explore this more radical approach to historical performance. Singers, dancers, and players of wind, plucked strings, and other baroque instruments are welcome to enrol as observers.

The tutors' direct connections with the Dutch school and the pioneers of the baroque music and baroque dance revival inform their radical approach, which is based on what the scores, treatises and the original instruments, as well as the social environment of the baroque era, can teach us about how this music was conceived, performed and heard 300 years ago; and how the intervening centuries and the musical extremes and compromises of our own time can affect our attempts to understand and perform it today.

The workshop is directed by members of Restoration:
Bronwen Pugh (violin); Emma Goodbehere (cello); Robert Petre (harpsichord)
The workshops have been presented in association with the NZ School of Music and the NZ Suzuki Institute.