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Con Gioia, based in Claremont, presents some of the best performers of early music in the United States and Europe. Following its debut in 1982, the ensemble continues to provide Southern California audiences with outstanding early music performances on period instruments.
Con Gioia's programs in 2009-2010 included commemorations of the anniversaries of the deaths of Handel (d.1759) and Haydn (d.1809), and the births of Purcell (b. 1659) and Margravine Wilhelmine of Bayreuth (b. 1709), and works by contemporary composers. Con Gioia's CD, "Harmonic Labyrinth", featuring Preethi de Silva and cellist Rohan de Saram was released in 2011 by First Hand Records in the UK. In 2011, Con Gioia commemorated its 30th anniversary and in March 2012 performed in the renowned Concerts from the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, to celebrate Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's 298th birthday. The ensemble presented four concerts of vocal and instrumental music in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 in commemoration of the 300th birthday of C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788). The programs included three concertos and a symphony and a gala concert on the composer’s birthday on March 8, 2014, at the Colburn School of Music, Los Angeles.
Con Gioia also offered a performance of rarely heard works for two harpsichords as well as one honoring commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. In fall 2016 they performed a program, “A Classical Viennese Soirée,” and in spring 2017 they offered virtuoso works by composers at the magnificent Dresden Court of the 18th century. Most recently, Con Gioia presented a program of sonatas, concertos, arias and a quartet commemorating the 250th anniversary of the death of Georg Philipp Telemann, which garnered exceptional praise.
Con Gioia has featured such internationally renowned musicians as violinists Eduard Melkus, Daniel Stepner, Monica Huggett, and Elizabeth Blumenstock; flutists John Solum, Matthias Maute, and Stephen Schultz; viola da gambists Wieland Kuijken, Laura Jeppesen, and Mark Chatfield; oboist Gonzalo X. Ruiz; and sopranos Julianne Baird, Juliana Gondek, Anne Harley, Sharon Baker, and male soprano Michael Maniaci. Con Gioia has performed concerts at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Caltech, Getty Villa, San Diego Museum of Art, Zipper Concert Hall, and the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, among other southland venues.
During the seasons 2000-2001 and 2001-2002, Con Gioia presented performances of all of J.S. Bach's concertos for one or more harpsichords. Con Gioia's recording of several of these concertos was released in 2004 by Centaur Records, and has received high critical acclaim. In 2006, the ensemble presented all-W.A. Mozart programs to commemorate the composers 250th birthday. Con Gioia's recent performances at pre-festival events of the Los Angeles Bach Festival have featured virtuoso Baroque violinists Monica Huggett and Chiara Banchini with Preethi de Silva. |
