An ambitious gathering will open a kind of musical time machine on the UO campus this month, taking listeners back in history to experience music as it was performed centuries ago.

Running Wednesday, April 13, through Saturday, April 16, “Musicking: Performance, Politics, and Personalities” will focus on so-called “early music,” encompassing works of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras. The UO School of Music and Dance will lead the way back to the past.

Early music performances often include historic instruments and their reproductions and center on the historic cultural context and significance of the music.

Graduate students and faculty members in the university’s historical performance practice studies program are the organizers of the event. All Musicking events are offered free of charge. A complete schedule of events is available on the conference’s website, located at http://blogs.uoregon.edu/musicking.

“Our cohort of graduate students who focus on early music is fairly modest in number, but we’re incredibly passionate about the music we study and perform,” said Holly Roberts, a UO musicology student and the conference’s administrative director.

“We’re looking forward to sharing our love of early music with like-minded students and scholars beyond the UO and are especially excited for the opportunity to bring such talented artists and wonderful performers to the people of Oregon,” Roberts said. “All of the events are free and open to the entire community, so we hope that everyone will take the opportunity to join us and experience early music.”

The Musicking conference will encompass 20 events over four days and will bring to campus several headliner artists and scholars who are luminaries in the fields of early music and historical performance practice:

• On Thursday, April 14, at 4 p.m., the Grammy-winner Stephen Stubbs, one of the world's most respected lutenists, conductors and baroque opera specialists, will present a public lecture entitled “The Birth of Opera” in the Victorian-era Collier House at the heart of campus, just across University Street from the Erb Memorial Union.
• On Friday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Collier House, leading baroque violinist Michael Sand will present an evening of early music sounds and musicking.
• On Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Central Lutheran Church, 1857 Potter St., the Musicking Conference Oratorio Orchestra will present a culturally informed performance of Alessandro Stradella’s oratorio “San Giovanni Battista” on period instruments, conducted by associate professor of musicology Marc Vanscheeuwijck. Audience members are invited to experience an evening of 17th intrigue, seduction and death during the Musicking Conference’s capstone performance.

In addition, on April 13, 14 and 15, conference performers will present a free, hour-long, early music concert in an intimate lunchtime setting.

Several UO faculty members will also contribute to conference events. Historical performance practice specialists Marc Vanscheeuwijck and Margret Gries are facilitating the work of the graduate students. UO faculty members Stephen Rodgers, music theory; Laura Wayte, soprano; and Michael Seregow, piano, will also present as part of the conference.

Conference sponsors include the Giustina Family Professorship for Italian Language and Literature, Oregon Humanities Center, Early Music America, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, UO School of Music and Dance and Central Lutheran Church.