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Program

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Overture to Orlando
Heroic: “Al lampo dell’armi” from Giulio Cesare
Hideous: “Orride larve … Chiudetevi miei lumi” from Admeto
Concerto Grosso in A minor, Op. 6, No. 4, HWV 322

Ancestor [West Coast Premiere]:
ERROLLYN WALLEN “The Forms”
TARIK O’REGAN “The Golden Measure”

HANDEL
Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, Op. 6, No. 7, HWV 325
Sacred: “Father of Heav’n” from Judas Maccabaeus
Secular: “Se in fiorito ameno prato” from Giulio Cesare

Richard Egarr, conductor
Tim Mead,
countertenor
Reginald Mobley, dramaturg

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

About This Concert

Handel was a man who understood the theater and its audience—always after his next hit, seeking to please his public. In this concert of contrasts and connections, we showcase his music for the stage, always recognizable by its emotional clarity, and at the heart of the evening place a duo of compositions exploring the creation story by two of today’s most powerful musical voices: Errollyn Wallen CBE and PBO’s Composer-in-Residence Tarik O’Regan.

Star British countertenor Tim Mead reprises these powerful performances in the Bay Area following acclaimed concerts in the United Kingdom last summer.

Performances

10/18
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford
7:30 PM
10/19
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
7:30 PM
10/21
First Congregational Church, Berkeley
2:30 PM
10/21
First Congregational Church, Berkeley
7:30 PM

“Soaring ambition and vividly projected Handel”

The Guardian, 2022
countertenor

Tim Mead

Counter-tenor Tim Mead is praised for his “alluring” and “consistently excellent” interpretations (New York Times). With his “rich, mellifluous sound” (Guardian), he is recognised as one of the finest across the generations of counter-tenors.

Highlights of the 2017/18 season include his debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Hamor in Handel Jephtha, a return to English National Opera as Bertarido in Handel Rodelinda, and to the Bayerische Staatsoper as Endimione in Cavalli La Calisto. In concert Mead will sing a Vivaldi programme with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Bach cantatas with the Netherlands Bach Society, Pergolesi Stabat Mater with the Academy of Ancient Music, and Bach St John Passion at the BBC Proms.

Recent operatic highlights include Oberon in Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Bergen National Opera, the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten and Ottone in Handel Agrippina at Opera Vlaanderen, a reprisal of the role of Boy/Angel in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at the Bolshoi; the leading role in Theater Basel’s ‘Melancholia’ both in Basel and at the Holland Festival, and the title role Riccardo Primo at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Arsamene in Cavalli Xerse with Le Concert d’Astrée at Opéra de Lille, Theater an der Wien, and Theatre de Caen. Previous highlights include Goffredo and Eustazio Rinaldo at Glyndebourne, Endimione La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper, Voice of Apollo in Deborah Warner’s production of Death in Venice at English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera, Angel/Boy in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Gulbenkian, on tour with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and in the U.S. premiere at Lincoln Center, and Tolomeo Julius Caesar at English National Opera and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Other operatic highlights include Ottone L’incoronazione di Poppea at ENO, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Lille; title role Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne, title role Orlando at Scottish Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, Clearte Niobe and the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur for the Royal Opera House, title role Admeto at International Händel Festspiele Göttingen and the Edinburgh International Festival, Ottone Agrippina in Lille and Dijon, and in concert the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with the Akademie für Alte Musik.

On the concert platform Tim Mead has sung Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Le Concert d’Astree, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Accademia Bizantina and Concerto Köln, Bach Christmas Oratorio with Les Arts Florissants, Bach Magnificat with Le Concert d’Astree, Bach St Matthew Passion with London Handel Festival and De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Bach B Minor Mass with Arcangelo, Bach cantatas with Ensemble Pygmalion, Handel Theodora with the English Concert, Handel Solomon with Akademie für Alte Musik, Handel Judas Maccabaeus with the OAE, Handel Saul with the Dresdner Barockorchester, Handel Joseph and his Brethren at the International Händel Festspiele Göttingen, Handel Semele with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston and the CBSO, Handel Susanna with the Early Opera Company, Handel Esther with the Dunedin Consort and Dusapin La Melancholia with the SWR Sinfonieorchester. He has worked with such leading conductors as Ivor Bolton, John Butt, William Christie, Harry Christophers, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Gustavo Dudamel, Richard Egarr, Jane Glover, Paul Goodwin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Jakub Hrusa, Vladimir Jurowski, Raymond Leppard, Paul McCreesh, Nicholas McGegan, Marc Minkowski, Antonio Pappano, Raphaël Pichon and Masaaki Suzuki. He has also given song recitals at the Wigmore Hall alongside pianist James Baillieu, for Les Grandes Voix in Paris with L’Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar and at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.

Mead’s already substantial discography includes Bach St Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass, the Handel oratorios MessiahSaulSolomonIsrael in Egypt, and The Triumph of Time and Truth, the Handel operas AdmetoFlavioRiccardo Primo and Rinaldo, and Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea and an album featuring Bach cantatas for solo alto and Pergolesi Stabat Mater. He has recorded for EMI Classics, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Opus Arte, Chandos, Linn Records amongst others.

Mead read Music as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, before winning a number of scholarships to continue his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music.

Tim Mead is represented by Intermusica.

Photograph by Benjamin Ealovega

dramaturg

Reginald Mobley

Noted for his ‘shimmering voice’ (BachTrack), American countertenor Reginald Mobley is highly sought after for the baroque, classical and modern repertoire. Reginald leads a very prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic. 

In the United States, where he resides, he became the first ever programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society following several years of leading H&H in his community engaging Every Voice concerts. He also holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with the Baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire, and is a regular guest with Cantata Collective, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Charlotte Bach Akademie, Seraphic Fire, Quodlibet, Pacific Music Works, Bach Collegium San Diego, San Francisco Early Music Society and Philharmonia  Baroque Orchestra. Recent engagements have included concerts and recordings with the Chicago  Symphony Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, Blue Heron, Chatham Baroque, Washington Bach Consort,  Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Early Music  Seattle. Future highlights include Carmina Burana with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras, a debut at Carnegie Hall with Orchestra St Luke’s and at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles.  

In Europe, Reginald has been invited to perform with the OH! (Orkiestra Historycsna) in Poland, Orchester Wiener Akademie in Austria, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Royal Scottish National Orchestra,  Academy of Ancient Music, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Chor &  Ensemble, Bach Society in Stuttgart, Holland Baroque Orchestra and in the autumn of 2021, he  performed the role of Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea in Geneva, MUPA and Teatro di Vicenza in a European tour with The Budapest Festival Orchestra. He has also extensively toured with the  Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under the baton of John-Eliot Gardiner, and more recently  performed a series of English music programmes in Germany with the Freiburger Barockorchester under the leadership of Kristian Bezuidenhout.  

His recordings have been received with great critical acclaim, most recently American Originals  with Agave Boaroque ensemble, recorded with Acis Productions, which has been nominated for a  GRAMMY Award, following A Lad’s Love with Brian Giebler on BRIDGE 9542 label. Reginald features on several albums with the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, including a recording of  Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Magnificat, where Reginald ‘encapsulates whimsical pathos’  (Classical Music Magazine) His solo recording debut with ALPHA Classics will be released in June  2023.

Photograph by Liz Linder

composer

Errollyn Wallen, CBE

Errollyn Wallen is a multi award-winning Belize-born British composer and performer. Her prolific output includes twenty-two operas and a large catalogue of orchestral, chamber and vocal works which are performed and broadcast throughout the world. She was the first black woman to have a work featured in the Proms. Errollyn composed for the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games 2012, for the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees, a specially commissioned song for the climate change conference, COP 26, 2021, and a re-imagining of Jerusalem for BBC’s Last Night of the Proms 2020.

BBC Radio 3 featured her music across the first week of 2022 for its flagship programme, Composer of the Week and she has made several radio documentaries including Classical Commonwealth, nominated for the Prix Europa, which explored the impact of colonialism on music in the Commonwealth.

Errollyn Wallen founded her own group, Ensemble X whose motto is “we don’t break down barriers in music…we don’t see any”. Their orchestral album PHOTOGRAPHY on the NMC label was voted a Top Ten Classical Album by USA’s National Public Radio. Orchestra X performed Errollyn’s composition Mighty River, which was featured in PRSF’s New Music Biennial 2017 and which is being performed at this year’s PRSF Biennial by National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at Coventry Cathedral and the Southbank, London.

Errollyn Wallen collaborated with artist Sonia Boyce on her installation, Feeling Her Way, for the British Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale which won the Golden Lion prize for Best National Participation.

Errollyn’s albums have travelled 7.84 million kilometres in space, completing 186 orbits around the Earth on NASA’s STS115 mission.

Her critically acclaimed opera, Dido’s Ghost premiered at the Barbican, London, in June 2021 and will receive its US premiere in 2023 in San Francisco by co-commissioners Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale.

Recent and forthcoming premieres include a piano concerto composed for pianist Rebeca Ormodia, The World’s Weather, an orchestral work premiered by BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins, and new choral works for King’s College Choir, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral and Harrow School.

The April premiere and tour of her latest opera (for Graeae Theatre Company), The Paradis Files, coincided with the premiere of Quamino’s Map, for Chicago Opera Theater.

Errollyn was awarded an MBE in 2007 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and a CBE in 2020 in the New Year Honours, for services to music.

Errollyn lives and composes in a Scottish lighthouse.

composer in residence

Tarik O'Regan

Tarik Hamilton O’Regan is a London-born composer based in San Francisco. In recent years much of his work has investigated and been influenced by his dual Arab and Irish heritages.

As of the 2021/22 season, Tarik is the newly appointed Composer-in-Residence with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO), where he is also overseeing an ambitious new commissioning initiative. He is also a Visiting Artist at Stanford University. After three albums of his compositions were released last year, this year sees an exciting return to live performances with premieres by the Jacksonville
Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Chorale and Pacific Symphony, Amy Dickson at the Presteigne Festival, and PBO, among many others.
Tarik’s output, recognized with two GRAMMY® nominations and two British Composer Awards, has been recorded on over 40 albums, and is published exclusively by Novello. He maintains a
longstanding commitment to education and service to the arts in general. Most recently, this has been recognized by his election to an Honorary Fellowship of Pembroke College, Oxford, and to the
board of Yaddo, one of the oldest artists’ communities in the USA. Tarik is included in the Washington Post’s annual list of creative artists “changing the classical landscape” for 2022.

Photograph by Pedro Greig