Early Music America

This academic year I had the honor of being named a Fulbright Scholar to complete archival research in Paris, France. I have been welcomed by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (CMBV (hyperlink to: http://www.cmbv.fr) as a chercheurassociéand have enjoyed meeting French musicologists and learning about the differences between working as an academic in the United States and in France. My dissertation examines seventeenth-century French street music, particularly music associated with the Pont Neuf (a seventeenth-century bridge in Paris that became an important public space and information conduit), and it investigates the symbiotic relationship between street culture and theatrical spectacle that emerged during the reign of Louis XIV.

A clever self-promoter, Jacquet de La Guerre augmented her exceptional musical talents with a combination of shrewd risk taking, perceptive opportunism, and persuasive ability. Described by the Mercure Galant, a prominent French newspaper of the time, as a “marvel of our century,” Jacquet was born into a musical family, and was highly favored by King Louis XIV. From a young age, she received musical training at his court. She later composed and performed works that spanned several genres, publishing many of them, which was quite unusual for a woman.

The Houston resident talks about strengthening the Early Music scene nationally.
Houston arts patron Birgitt van Wijk became involved in the world of Early Music when a friend invited her to join the board of Houston Early Music, the city’s Early Music presenting organization.
In the years since, her love of the music has grown to such an extent that she was recently invited to become a board member of Early Music America (EMA), the national service organization devoted to strengthening and promoting the Early Music scene.