horngems midtown concerts logo           Donate button

Our first virtual season

Watch our live streams on-demand here; or click through to the individual concerts below


  • September 3, 2020 - Peter Walker and Christa Patton
    Watch now on Facebook or YouTube L’Isle enchantée. Our program explores the pastoral repertoire published for the musette de cour during the century or so when it was fashionable, including solo suites with continuo, duets with another treble instrument (here a flute), and songs sung while play...
    September 10, 2020 - Arnie Tanimoto & Friends
    Watch now on YouTube, or Facebook Suitte d'un Goût Étranger. Join us for an afternoon of strange and foreign music, as seen through the eyes and ears of 18th-century France: Marin Marais' monumental collection of virtuosic character pieces from his fourth book of pièces de viole. Arnie Ta...
    September 17, 2020 - Filament
    Watch now on YouTube or Facebook Harmony of Nations. Celebrating the free-flowing exchange of musical ideas among seekers and sages as well as the distinctive, newly inflected voices developed through the merger of seemingly disparate national styles. Highlights of the pro...
    September 24, 2020 - Joseph Jones & Friends
    Watch now on YouTube or Facebook View the full program Naturally Expressed in Music: the pioneering musical style of J. E. Galliard. Virtuoso oboist Johann Ernst Galliard was one among many of talented young artists who emigrated to London in the first decades of the 18th century. ...
    October 1, 2020 - The Raritan Players
    Watch now on YouTube or Facebook View the Program Sentiment and Sympathy: Music of Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy and Ignatius Sancho. The Raritan Players invite listeners into the salons and drawing rooms of eighteenth-century Paris and London. We present songs and keyboard musi...
    October 8, 2020 - Burning River Baroque
    Watch on YouTube View the program A Mad, Burning Desire. The right for women to legally appear on the English theater stage converged with early modern society’s fascination with mental illness. Mad songs consequently became quite popular, and singing them catapulted English soprano-actres...
    October 15, 2020 - Richard Kolb
    The 10-course lute: Music of Robert Ballard and Michelangelo Galilei. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program Robert Ballard (c.1572 – c.1650) was the most famous French lutenist of the first decades of the 17th century, and an important pioneer in the development of French Baroque m...
    October 22, 2020 - Scheid, Lee, Karosi, and Kim
    Sanguineus und Melancholius Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the Program The title represents the two extreme psychological states from ancient Greek medical theory: Sanguineus und Melancholius. We explore the Trio Sonata genre that vividly displays both melancholic and fiery cons...
    October 29, 2020 – Bach Ensemble in New York
    Music of the Spheres – Concert at Sanssouci. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program Music of the early Enlightenment and the late Baroque as heard at the palace of Frederick the Great. He was surrounded by many artists and musicians, and the musical events at Sanssouc...
    November 5, 2020 – Sarah Jane Kenner & Friends
    The Pandolfi Project. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program Save for a few details surrounding his employment and likely involvement in a murder, very little is known about the life of Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli. He left behind a very meager catalog; his twelve v...
    November 12, 2020 – Kevin Devine
    Historia: Tales at the Harpsichord. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program A number of the works on this program – Susannah and the Elders, Pygmalion, The Kuruc Rebellion, Jacob’s Wedding – are examples of the birth of programmatic instrumental music during the ea...
    November 19, 2020 – André Laurent O'Neil
    Gabrielli and Bach: The Scordatura Connection. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program A common cello tuning C-G-d-g in late 17th-century Bologna used by Domenico Gabrielli had become an exotic tuning by the time Bach employed it, once only, in his C minor Suite. This pr...
    December 3, 2020 – Rebecca Pechefsky
    Antonio Soler: Sonatas from the Morgan Library & Museum. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program The Morgan Library & Museum recently acquired a manuscript (Cary Ms. 703) that includes several newly discovered sonatas by the great Spanish keyboard composer Antoni...
    December 10, 2020 – Quartet Salonnières
    Shadows of Haydn. Watch on YouTube View the program This program explores the development of the string quartet by surveying the way composers from different national backgrounds conceptualized the genre: Franz Joseph Haydn from Vienna’s dominating taste for string quartets, Maddalena...
    Canceled: December 17, 2020 – Jude Ziliak & Elliot Figg
    Canceled due to the blizzard. While we had to cancel this Thursday's Live Stream, we are happy that the technology allows us to revisit past events, including an earlier appearance by Jude Ziliak at the Midtown Concerts and the final piece from last week's concert by the Quartet Salonnières. We of...
    December 31, 2020 – Rozendaal and Young
    Fugitive Fantasies, Fantastic Fugue. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program Last year's program drew a dazzling array of colors, textures, tonalities, and affects from two bass viols in the works of three composer/performers of the 17th century. This season the duo ...
    January 7, 2021 – Dan McCarthy & Friends
    Viola of Love. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program A viol family instrument strung with sympathetic strings, the viola d'amore has always been an instrument that evokes a particular kind of aesthetic. Leopold Mozart described it sounding “especially charming in the stillnes...
    January 14, 2021 – Francis Liu
    Solo Violin Sonatas of Ivan Khandoshkin. Watch on YouTube View the program A violinist in the court of Catherine the Great, Ivan Khandoshkin (1747–1804) is believed to have developed his craft under the tutelage of the Italian violinists who dominated the court orchestra. This c...
    January 21, 2021 – Daphna Mor & Friends
    Masters of the Baroque. Watch on YouTube or Facebook View the program Instrumental virtuosos of the Baroque period raised playing technique to new heights. Performers were, and still are, expected to express their creativity and knowledge of the style by ornamenting the music, as well as h...
    January 28, 2021 – Elena Zamolodchikova
    Music of the English Virginalists. Watch on YouTube View the program Music of the late Renaissance English composers, who are now known as English Virginalists. The virginal, a small harpsichord, was a largely popular keyboard instrument of the period in England. Elena Zamolodchikova, harp...
    February 4, 2021 – VERITÀ
    Vivaldi versus Bach. Watch on YouTube View the program Italy versus Germany — Vivaldi versus Bach. Two most influential national styles of the Baroque era on one stage: Italian passion and virtuosity are confronted by German earnestness and sophistication. We open our concert with the f...
    February 11, 2021 – Tarasevich, Miura & Abel Trio
    Bach & Sons. Watch here View the program A celebration of the musical legacy of the Bach family, Bach & Sons explores the music of the great Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as that of his sons Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, and Johann Christian Bach. This musical family tree...
    February 18, 2021 – House of Time
    A Snowy Day with Bach and Handel. Watch here View the program The program has been changed last-minute because of the snow storm. Join House of Time for some beloved music by J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel.Gonzalo X Ruiz, oboeTatiana Daubek, violinMatt Zucker, celloElliot Figg, harpsichord   ...
    February 25, 2021 – The New Consort
    Arianna/Jeremiah: Voices in Lamentation. Watch here View the program The New Consort is excited to present a program built around two of early music’s most beautiful and influential large-scale compositions for vocal ensemble: Claudio Monteverdi’s Lamento d’Arianna and Robert White’s La...
    March 4, 2021 – Four Nations Ensemble
    Of Two Minds. Watch here View the program When Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and cello sonatas conquered Parisian taste, the city boasted its admired and unique musical character and tradition. The opera with roots in Lully and the repertory of chamber and harpsichord music boasted the subtle genius...
    March 11, 2021 – Taya König-Tarasevich & Daniel Swenberg
    A Midday Nocturne: a Schubertiade for Biedermeier Flute & Guitar. Watch here View the program photo credit Alisa ShaukerovaMusic for original early romantic flute and (8-string) guitar by Schubert, Schumann, Burgmüller on themes of night and the moon. Selections are from period manuscripts...
    March 18, 2021 – ALBA Consort
    Dancing over the Caucasus to the Sea... Watch here View the program A journey of Medieval and Renaissance songs and dances from Persia, over the Caucasus Mountains to Armenia and the Mediterranean, seaward to Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, North Africa, then through Iberia, dancing to the rhythms...
    March 25, 2021 – Arnaut Consort
    Medieval Treasure from Three Manuscripts. Watch here View the program Medieval music from three precious manuscripts, the Llibre Vermell of Montserrat, the Manuscrit du Roi, and the Codex Faenza. The repertoire includes instrumental arrangements of traditional folk songs and rhythmic dance work...
    April 1, 2021 – ARTEK
    Alessandro Grandi (1590–1630)Sacred Motets for Holy Week. Watch here View the program Selections from Grandi's Motetti con Sinfonie (1621) including the solo motet O Vos Omnes, along with instrumental music of his contemporaries. Laura Heimes, sopranoPeter Becker, bass-baritoneVita Wallace, ...
    April 8, 2021 – The Vivaldi Project
    The Early Viennese String Trio. Watch here View the program The Vivaldi Project’s continuing exploration of the 18th-century string trio, has found its way to Vienna at the cusp of the 19th century. This program features string trios by Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen (1745–1818), Francesc...
    April 15, 2021 – Shin, Tanimoto, Ross Trio
    Style Benders. Watch here View the program In the 18th century the musical rivalry between France and Italy culminated in a hybrid style, famously dubbed by François Couperin as "Les Goûts-réunis". This program will feature works by some of these style-bending champions — J. S. Bach, G. P....
    April 22, 2021 – Douglas Lundeen
    Sonatas for Horn and Piano by Beethoven and Danzi. Watch here View the program Beethoven's Sonata in F for Horn and Piano, written for the internationally famous horn soloist, Giovanni Punto (Jan Václav Stich 1746–1803), along with two selections which showcase the vocal qualities ...
    April 29, 2021 – Ensemble BREVE
    Sparkle & Elegance – Germany & France. Watch here View the program An exploration of sparkling pieces composed by two of the most brilliant musical geniuses from the German Baroque – J. S. Bach and G. P. Telemann – as well as elegant suites illustrating the gracious style of the F...
    May 6, 2021 – Members of the American Classical Orchestra
    Beethoven and Vanhal Trios. Watch here View the program Leading American Classical Orchestra period instrumentalists perform Beethoven's Clarinet Trio, Opus 11 for clarinet, cello, and piano. In this 250th Beethoven year, we cherish the composer's incomparable chamber music, which comes to life...
    May 13, 2021 – Concentus
    The Diverging Baroque Traditions. Watch here View the program Eighteenth-century Europe was a melting pot of diverging musical traditions. Marin Marais and Jacques-Martin Hotteterre’s music showcase essences of the French tradition; Giuseppe Sammartini represents the late Baroque Italian style;...
    May 20, 2021 – Abendmusik
    Bohemian Rhapsody. Watch here View the program Music from the Kromeriz Archive in Moravia, including some of the most popular, original and striking of all 5-part music by Heinrich Schmelzer, Biber, and Biber's colleague Pavel Vejvanovský. In his capacity as librarian and copyist, Vejvanovský...
    May 27, 2021 – BALAM Dance Theatre
    Live Baroque Music and Dance. Watch here View the program Excerpts from the Leycester Lyra Viol manuscript (1670) for solo viol, featuring Four Corantos Scottish tunes by Francesco Barsanti (1742), played by viola da gamba and theorbo Giovanni Kaspberger Toccata Arpegiatta for theorbo, 1604 ...
    June 3, 2021 – Jude Ziliak and Elliot Figg
    Sonate guerrieri ed amorosi. Watch here View the program More than a century before Liszt’s and Berlioz’s names became synonymous with programmatic music, Giuseppe Tartini’s instrumental evocation of Tasso and Virgil was so powerful that he himself was reported to go into a mystical tranc...
    June 10, 2021 – Dioscuri
    In furore... Watch here View the program Vivaldi's gripping sacred motet In furore iustissimae irae is surrounded by works of Telemann and Muffat.Jessica Niles, sopranoRachell Ellen Wong, violin and directorCarmen Johnson-Pájaro, violinIsabelle Seula Lee, violinAndrew Gonzalez, violaNatha...
    June 17, 2021 – Karr-Yang Duo
    Trading Places. Watch here View the program The harpsichord takes a vocal line in an aria by Bach. The violin is relegated to accompaniment in a keyboard sonata by the 8-year-old Mozart. in a sonata by Corelli, harpsichord and violin exchange short, pithy remarks, then grand virtuosic statement...
    June 24, 2021 – Violators
    Popular Consorts, Songs, and Dances. Watch here View the program The Violators, a renegade consort of viols, recorders, voices, and “air viol” (aka English concertina), return with a repertoire of airs, consort songs, and country dances from the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods in Great Brita...

Midtown Concerts sponsors lunchtime performances of music of the 18th century and earlier. Ensembles are chosen by a panel of early music specialists from the metropolitan area.

Time: Thursdays, 1:15–2:00 pm
All concerts are free; no tickets or reservations are necessary.

Concerts are in person at St. Malachy's Church, 239 West 49th Street, Manhattan, AND live streamed.