Dr. David Glaser, professor of music at Stern College for Women, invited two professional musicians, Lisa Terry and Daniel Swenberg, to visit his course on Baroque music. Terry plays the viola de gamba, and Swenberg, a master of early plucked string instruments, brought along a theorbo.
“I am studying viola da gamba with Lisa,” said Glaser, “and she is a frequent collaborator with Dan, so it made sense in the context of a course on Baroque music to invite players who specialize in that period to discuss the particular issues involved in interpreting early music.”
They performed movements from suites by the French Baroque composer Marin Marais (the subject of the movie Tous les matins du monde). In between each movement, the students peppered them with questions about issues of ornamentation and embellishment of the music and how the music was notated, as well as more general questions about where they studied and how they became interested in their particular instruments and this repertoire. “I plan on making performer visits a regular part of my music history courses from now on,” Glaser noted.
Glaser credited Marjorie Blenden, a member of the Stern College Board of Overseers as well as a YU Trustee, for her financial support for the musicians’ visits as well as her support of musical concerts at Stern College.
