The orchestra pit in front of the Dorothy Hinkebein Mershon Stage at the Ursuline Arts Center was packed with instruments of a different sort on Feb. 12.
This group of musicians represents Bourbon Baroque, which is known as “Louisville’s period instrument ensemble” according to the program for the concert.
The group was founded by harpsichordist John Austin Clark, of Louisville, and baroque violinist Nicolas Fortin, adjunct professor of French, from Montreal.
Bourbon Baroque collaborated with a Louisville-based modern dance group called Moving Collective for the second year to produce “Something Olde, Something New II.”
“Tonight is a fusion of two separate entities that would seemingly not have any relation,” Clark said as he introduced the production. “We have modern dance, and we have all the way on the other end of the spectrum baroque music on period instruments.”
The musicians of Bourbon Baroque played pieces by composers including George Philipp Telemann, Henry Purcell and Antonio Vivaldi.
Moving Collective dancers put a new spin on the classical tunes using their interpretive dances.
Fortin said since Moving Collective is a collaborative group, each dancer listened to the music and chose what piece they would prefer to dance to.
“I put the program together, chose music that I found interesting for us to play,” Fortin said. “After that I sent [music] to the choreographers — the two founders of Moving Collective.”
Moving Collective and Bourbon Baroque first collaborated last winter to produce their first “Something Olde, Something New” show.
Bourbon Baroque was founded through the work of both Fortin and Clark, who met years ago while each earning a master’s degree in Music in Canada.
“Austin and I met in graduate school at McGill University in Montreal,” Fortin said. “Austin is local-born and raised in Louisville. I was about to finish college, and he was like, ‘You know, Nico, I really want to go back to Louisville and start something.’”
Fortin decided he would like to get involved, as well.
“I wanted to be more proactive in my development, personally, so I took the risk to leave where I used to be and come to a new place and bring that sound to Louisville,” he said.
Fortin and Clark’s mission is to bring music to life for Louisville and Southern Indiana residents.
“For us, what is important is not only to play baroque music, but also to engage people in the performance with us,” Fortin said.
By MICHELE HOP
Staff
mhop@ius.edu
