April Talk: Eighteenth-Century Music in Dublin

News

The Princeton Branch of the
English-Speaking Union Presents 

Eighteenth-Century Music in Dublin with the Practitioners of Musick

The musical riches of 18th-century Dublin will be surveyed in a concert with commentary entitled "Beyond the Fanlight – Music in Georgian Dublin."  The event is hosted by the English-Speaking Union, Princeton Branch, and will be held on April 27, 2025, at 3:00 pm, at the Center for Modern Aging, 101 Poor Farm Road, Princeton, NJ.  The performers for this entertainment, sponsored by the Princeton Branch of the English-Speaking-Union, are the Practitioners of Musick, John Burkhalter, playing English and small flutes, and Sheldon Eldridge, harpsichordist

Concert-going in Dublin in the 18th century was very much part of the social life in the Irish capital. And, despite its location on the periphery of Europe, Dublin boasted a surprisingly active musical life in the 18th century. The Irish capital attracted a number of renowned musicians, including Geminiani, Arne, and Handel. An illustrated overview of Dublin by John Burkhalter will complement the musical performance. 

John Burkhalter, lecturer & recorder, studied early music at the New England Conservatory with Daniel Pinkham and Baroque performance with Frans Bruggen at Harvard University. He has lectured for the Princeton Festival, American Handel Society, Yale Center for British Art, and the Horniman Museum (Dolmetsch Collection) in London, among many other museums and learned societies. Mr. Burkhalter performs with The Practitioners of Musick, Brandywine Baroque, Early Music Princeton (University) , the ensemble Les Agrements de musique, and Riverview Early Music. He regularly performs in various English Country Dance Bands in association, most notably, with the Germantown Colonial Assembly of Philadelphia and New York City's 92nd Street Y. 

Sheldon Eldrifge, harpsichordist, is a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where he majored in organ. Graduate study included organ performance with William Hays and choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt. He also coached with Eugene Roan (organ).Summer studies at Merton College, Oxford, involved courses in Renaissance music with Gustav Reese, Denis Stevens and Alec Robertson. Sheldon has held church music positions in a number of Episcopal churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York State. He is currently organist and choirmaster of Saint Mary's-in-Tuxedo, Tuxedo Park, New York. Sheldon has served on the board of the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He is a member of the Saint Wilfrid Club of New York City. He maintains a private piano teaching practice in the Princeton area and has performed with the Practitioners of Musick

The Practitioners of Musick was founded to survey the musical riches of 17th and 18th century Great Britain and Ireland and the Colonial and Federal periods in America. 

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