Passion of Musicke

Embark on a captivating journey with Passion of Musicke, exploring three centuries of viol repertoire. Join the esteemed and virtuosic Cristiano Contadin, a celebrated Viola da Gamba player, for this exquisite experience.

Passion of Musicke is a journey into the technical and expressive evolution of the viol repertoire over three centuries, with important virtuosic repertoire of the great French masters M. Marais and A. Forqueray, the English T. Hume, the German J. Schenck (even if he has Dutch origins), and J.S. Bach, mixed with some traditional tunes from England and Scotland.

Cristiano Contadin is an Italian viola da gamba player and the founder of the Opera Prima Ensemble, a chamber music group of internationally acclaimed soloists devoted to the baroque repertoire. As a gamba soloist and continuo player, he collaborates with ensembles in Italy and abroad, including I Barocchisti, Accademia Bizantina, Les Musiciens du Prince, Il Suonar Parlante, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Venexiana, Odhecaton, Orchestra Sinfonica “G.Verdi” (Milan), Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala (Milan) and the Boston Early Music Festival.

With the “Quartetto Italiano di Viole da Gamba”, “Il Suonar Parlante”, and as a soloist, he aims to cultivate a repertoire that embraces ancient as well as modern viol consort music. He has performed works by contemporary composers and jazz artists such as Kenny Wheeler, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Ernst Reijseger, Markus Stockhausen, Vanni Moretto and Lucio Garau, and performed in the Italian premiere of George Benjamin's Written on Skin with the Orchestra Haydn of Bolzano.

In addition to his activities as a performer, Mr. Contadin wrote the Italian translation of The Early History of the Viol by Ian Woodfield, published by EDT - Turin. He is also the coordinator of the viola da gamba catalogue La Voce Dell'Ambasciatore for the Italian publishing house Musedita.

Mr. Contadin teaches Viola da Gamba and chamber music at the Conservatory B. Marcello in Venice. He has given lectures and master classes at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre of Tallinn, the Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Vigo, Mozarteum of Salzburg, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Harvard University in Boston.

Mr. Contadin plays an anonymous Venetian bass viol from the 18th century.

This event is free and open to the public.

For concert questions, please email concerts@wellesley.edu.
For accessibility questions, please email accessibility@wellesley.edu.

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Parking: Please use the East entry and park in the Founders Lot.