Arcangelo Corelli may have written his Christmas Concerto more than three centuries ago, but it remains today a popular holiday piece, especially among those who love early music.
The Stevenson Baroque Ensemble, a high school group, will perform that piece and one written by another baroque composer, Anton Vivaldi, Dec. 12 at the Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake.
The ensemble consists of music students from Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire who play on baroque-era style instruments including harpsichord, theorbo (a type of lute), baroque violin and viola da gamba. It’s their first time playing at the Colby Barn and they are the only high school group invited to perform there, according to their director Enrique Vilaseco.
The ensemble has performed with well-known violinist Rachel Barton Pine in New Mexico and at Church of Ascension in downtown Chicago, said Vilaseco, who also teaches full-time at Stevenson High School and leads its main orchestra.
When Vilaseco came to the high school, a few electric violins and cellos were available for students to try — but they weren’t interested, he said.
He found, however, that they were interested in playing baroque music on acoustic instruments. The baroque period of music lasted from 1600 to 1750, and important composers included Bach, Vivaldi and Corelli.
Vilaseco formed the Stevenson Baroque Ensemble or band, as he often calls it, in 2010.
“We started off with baroque violin, baroque cello, and then we got a viola da gamba,” said Vilaseco, who studied early music in college. “As the years went on, we acquired more (baroque-style) violins, violas, cellos and a full set of viola da gambas. We also have a baroque viol consort in addition to a full baroque band.” The school also owns two theorbos and baroque guitars.
Joel Spears, director of the early music series at the Colby Barn, teaches theorbo at Stevenson High School and helps with the ensemble.
“Joel brings in a whole different dimension to the ensemble with the plucked instruments,” Vilaseco said. “It creates an air of authenticity” and energy, he said.
Baroque music typically had no conductor and that allows the students to take on leadership roles, Vilaseco said.
“It encourages them to really connect with each other on a musical level, and because there’s a limited number of people in the group, every part is exposed and super important, so that have to be well-prepared.”
Students use replicas of baroque instruments, played differently from modern violin. In the baroque area, the violinist had no chin or shoulder rest, for example.
Spears, who works and plays with the group, said students who study baroque music learn “freedom within boundaries … what you see notated on the page is only what goes into the interpretation of a piece.” In that way, baroque music is improvisational, just as jazz music is, he said.
Baroque ensemble performances by the Stevenson students usually include eight violins, four violas, three cellos, one bass, a harpsichord and two theorbos.
“This not a group you just join,” Vilaseco said. “You have to be auditioned into it. This is unique. It’s something you would see at graduate level in colleges.”
Spears said only two high schools in the nation have a baroque ensemble, one in California and Stevenson.
The students are advanced musicians, Vilaseco said. They are learning the history of how pieces were performed. For example, in baroque music, musicians did not use vibrato — a vibrating of an instrument’s tone that’s used in modern classical music, he said. In addition, composers of the era like Corelli used a technique in which notes were written to create a continual tension and release of tension.
Corelli’s Christmas Concerto was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1690 — and he inscribed on the music in Italian that it was “made for the night of Christmas.”
Spears said the Corelli piece is perfect for music lovers of all types to hear around the holidays.
“It’s always been a very accessible piece musically,” he said. “During the 20th century, when audiences were being reintroduced to baroque music, it was commonly featured on programs, and I think it has remained popular today and familiar to audiences,” he said.
The piece contains a series of short movements alternating between slow and fast and highlights two solo violins and one solo cellist, with the background of the rest of the ensemble. “All of the solo parts are being covered by students,” Vilaseco said.
In the music, a nice conservation goes on between the soloists and ensemble, he said. The last movement, called the pastorale, hearkens to the shepherds of Bethlehem, he said. It ends quietly leaving a sense of calm, he said.
Adult coaches including cellist and teacher Morgan Little, Vilaseco and Spears help prepare the students for performances, then join them on stage to add to the sound.
“The students are nervous, but also very excited about this performance,” Vilaseco said.
Early Music Series: Stevenson Baroque Ensemble
When: 4 p.m. Dec. 12
Where: Byron Colby Barn, 1561 Jones Point Road, Grayslake
Tickets: $20 at the door only, under age 16 are free
Information: 847-543-1202, byroncolbybarn.com/early-music-series/
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
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