Organization Member
Contact Information
info@gutsbaroque.comhttps://gutsbaroque.com
Yarmouth
Maine
Type of Organization
Performing Ensemble
About
Guts creates welcoming, powerful, un-stuffy experiences of baroque music played with love on period instruments, bringing you up close and personal with the music and the juicy stories of the composers and performers behind it. We breathe life into beautiful and unusual music, bringing it from the 17th and 18th centuries to your ears. Come experience the warmth and immediacy of historically-informed chamber music!
With the return to live performance in 2021, Guts was featured together and individually in the Portland Bach Experience (PBE) festival. Guts appeared in several chamber concerts, and served as principal cellist and concertmaster in the festival orchestra. They returned to PBE 2022, featured in salon performances of an amazing program “Back to Bach” curated and performed by baroque/jazz violinist Julia McKenzie, tracing the influences of Baroque composers on the likes of Dave Brubeck, John Williams, the Beatles, Paul Simon, and others.
Guts builds engaging, thematic programs digging into a particular moment in history or a literary inspiration. Our members bring the audience close to the music with approachable storytelling from the stage, shining light on the personalities as well as the music itself. Our performances bring all the vibrance of a deep belief in the power of music to heal and nourish those who listen and play, and a shared understanding of baroque dance and gesture.
Guts has performed in churches and breweries, from Southern California to Maine, in Groupmuses and their own livestream series, and opened the 2021 Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Festival with their performance of “Rising from the Ashes of Plague: Music for Violin & Basso from 17th-Century Italy”. Currently based in Portland, Maine, Guts has been gratefully bringing the full, in-person experience of their music back to people across New England and beyond, and to continuing to grow their online musicmaking through an annual Musical Advent Calendar and Micro-Concerts that bring people together from around the world.
In the spring of 2023, with co-founder John Ott returning to his native California, Guts welcomed cellist-gambist Rebecca Shaw to be our primary bowed bassist for New England area concerts. We are thrilled to have her join us. Recent performances include The Waldo Theatre, SoHIP concert series, and several appearances on the Noonday Concert Series in Portland.
