Save the Dates!
Blue Hill Bach Festival
August 15-21, 2021
As we emerge from this period of isolation, we’re planning a variety of
live and virtual events. Please stay tuned for details!
A Glorious New Harpsichord for Blue Hill Bach!
September 2020
Blue Hill Bach is now the happy owner of a beautiful harpsichord, bequeathed to us by the estate of the distinguished musicologist Virginia Newes, a medieval specialist who taught music history and musicology at New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where she retired as Associate Professor.
The single manual Flemish-style harpsichord, built by Willard Martin in 1977, is his Opus 49. It has two 8’ registers and a buff stop, and transposes A-392/415/440. Its keyboard has ebony natural keys and bone-topped sharps. There is hand-painted decoration on the key well and sound board surround, as well as a painted sound board. The instrument’s original owners were Blue Hill Bach’s festival music director John Finney and noted organist James David Christie. It is a perfect instrument for our ensemble, with clarity of sound appropriate for continuo playing, yet enough depth and resonance to serve as a solo instrument.
