Musicians of the Old Post Road

• Comment: Seems to be a lot of cherry-picking of select sentences from the news coverage, and a lot of reliance on the ensemble website. And if performances are "notable", you need to demonstrate they've been noticed. Boston Globe has its articles available online since the 1990's so it should be possible to base the article on these sources, rather than what the author of this article would like to promote. Sionk (talk) 14:03, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

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--Fboyd25 (talk) 20:20, 21 July 2014 (UTC)--Fboyd25 (talk) 15:32, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Musicians of the Old Post Road (MOPR) is an American chamber music ensemble, based in Boston, MA, that specializes in the period instrument performance of diverse and compelling music from the Baroque to early Romantic periods. MOPR’s repertoire includes dynamic “rediscovered” works that have been lost to audiences for centuries. The ensemble, founded by Artistic Directors Suzanne Stumpf and Daniel Ryan, takes its name from its concert series, originally entitled Old Post Road Historic Concerts and begun in 1989. The concert series brings performances of early music to venues such as historic meetinghouses, mansions, and museums along the original route of the old Boston Post Road, the first thoroughfare connecting Boston and New York City beginning in the late seventeenth century. MOPR’s repertoire stretches from the late 17th to the mid-19th century, the exact period of the Old Post Road’s importance. The ensemble has toured North America and Europe, and in 1998 the ensemble was chosen as the recipient of the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society. MOPR has also received programming awards from Chamber Music America and the US-Mexico Fund for Culture. In addition to performing, MOPR is dedicated to improving community access to early music. The ensemble frequents schools in inner-city Boston to provide students with the opportunity to see and hear period instruments and to learn about early music. In light of its commitment to educational outreach, MOPR offers program notes and audio from its performances on its website. MOPR also has six CD recordings that feature “rediscovered” works. It has also published many editions of such works from its repertoire.

Notable Performances and Collaborations

MOPR has toured both within the US and internationally. US appearances include the Boston Early Music Festival Concert Series, and the Indianapolis Early Music Festival. International appearances include performances at the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Germany, and El Museo Regional in Cuauhnáhuac, Mexico.

MOPR has collaborated with La Fontegara of Mexico, Schola Cantorum of Boston, and Pamela Dellal, mezzo soprano.

The ensemble was also commissioned to build a program to accompany an exhibit at the MIT Museum. In 2006, the ensemble was featured on Boston's WCVB television’s Chronicle program about the history of the old Boston Post Road.

Rediscovered Works and Programming

MOPR specializes in finding and premiering works that have remained unheard for centuries. Artistic Directors Stumpf and Ryan work together to discover and select repertoire from lesser-known, yet outstanding, composers. The ensemble brings these compositions to life with contextualized programming. In addition to providing extensive program notes for each concert, MOPR has established an archive of program notes and concert recordings, to make the ensemble’s research widely accessible to the early music community and beyond.

Notable US premieres:

• 1994-95: Hummel: Scottish folk song settings in their original arrangements for voice, flute, violin, cello, & piano
• 1995-96: Pla: Trio sonatas in D Minor, D Major, F Major, Concerto in D Major
• 2000-01: Stradella: Christmas cantata Si apra al riso
• 2001-02: Bodinus: Quartet in G Major for flute, violin, viola, and continuo; Bodinus: Quartet in D Major for flute, violin, horn, and continuo
• 2002-03: Nisle: Septet in E-flat Major for winds and strings
• 2004-05: Brunetti: String Quartet in B-flat Major; Brunetti: String Quartet in G Major
• 2005-06: Caldara: cantata Amarilli Vezzosa
• 2007-08: Francesco Scarlatti: cantata Chi la speranza
• 2009-10: Mancini: Christmas cantata Con pace si bella
• 2010-11: Lulier: cantata Amor di che tu vuoi; Gasparini: Flute Concerto in A Minor

Educational Outreach

MOPR works to bring chamber music into the lives of underprivileged students in the Boston area. The ensemble has reached thousands of students with outreach presentations. Beginning in 2004, MOPR established its Kids Come Free program, allowing children from ages seven to seventeen to come to most of its subscription concerts free of charge. In addition, the ensemble has performed for elderly groups, rural audiences, hospice residents, and retirement communities. In addition to its residency at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, the group has held residencies at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine, and Madison Park High School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Discography

• Roman Handel: Works by the young Handel and his colleagues at the court of Benedetto Pamphili, including world premiere recordings of cantatas by Lulier and Bononcini, along with a flute concerto by Gasparini. With soprano Kristen Watson. – Centaur Records, 2012
• Feliz Navidad: Christmas from Spain and New Spain: Festive villancicos, cantatas, and instrumental works from Baroque Spain, Catalonia, and Mexico by Ripa, Iribarren, Cabanilles, Soler, Salazar, Jerusalem, and others. – Meridian, 2009
• Telemann Twelve Fantasias and Other Works, with Aldo Abreu, recorder: Aldo Abreu performs Georg Philipp Telemann’s fantasias for solo recorder and Telemann’s Concerto in E Minor for traverso and recorder with Suzanne Stumpf and Musicians of the Old Post Road. – Bressan Records, 2009
• Telemann and Bodinus Quartets: Lively and expressive quartets by two masters of the genre. – Meridian, 2004
• Galant with an Attitude: Music of Juan and José Pla: Passionate trio sonatas and a concerto by two forgotten masters. – Meridian Records, 2000
• Trios and Scottish Song Settings of J.N. Hummel: Featuring the world-premiere recording of Hummel’s Scottish Song Settings. – Meridian (1999). The ensemble won the 1998 Noah Greenberg Award for this recording.
• The Virtuoso Double Bass: Chamber works by Haydn, Vanhal, Sperger, and Mannl with obbligato bass. – Titanic Records, 1994

Members

The ensemble is composed of five core members: Suzanne Stumpf, flute, Daniel Ryan, cello, Michael Bahmann, harpsichord, and Marcia Cassidy, viola.

External Links

Musicians of the Old Post Road
Youtube of Musicians of the Old Post Road