Flutist Lissa Hepner Wildman loves baroque music, especially when it's played on period instruments. And when an offer comes along to perform with like-minded colleagues, she doesn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity.
Wildman will be able to indulge her passion today when she's joined by viola da gamba player Ronnee Fullerton and harpsichordist Kraig Scott for a 3 p.m. concert in Westminster College's Vieve Gore Concert Hall.
The trio doesn't have the chance to perform together all that frequently, because Fullerton and Scott live in Washington state, while Wildman lives in Salt Lake City. "Kraig and Ron met through Walla Walla Baroque (a group that Fullerton founded), but I've known Kraig for years," Wildman said.
Wildman, Fullerton and Scott played together in Walla Walla in 2004, and today's concert will be the first time the threesome has been able to get together since then. "Westminster provided us the opportunity, and we were excited about it," Wildman said.
The program for today's concert will give "a nice picture of the baroque," Wildman promised. It will feature the three instruments in a variety of music by the most prominent composers of the era. "It was our intention to have a good mix of composers, pieces and lengths," she said. They'll be playing works by Rameau, Domenico Scarlatti, Couperin, Handel, J.S. Bach, Marin Marais and Jean-Marie Leclair.
Wildman said their combination of instruments isn't heard frequently in Salt Lake City, and the sound will be surprising. The viola da gamba has a quiet sound, and the baroque flute that Wildman will be playing is softer than its modern counterpart. "It's quiet, but quite a nice sound," she said.
It was when she was a freshman at the Eastman School of Music that Wildman fell in love with baroque music and the peculiar sound of period instruments and lower pitch. (For today's concert, the instruments will be tuned to A 415, which was the standard in the early 18th century, rather than today's A 440, or concert pitch.)
"Playing on period instruments gives you an entirely new musical language," she said. "It's a different experience, and I enjoy it."
If you go ...
What: Baroque Trio
Where: Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College, 1700 South and 1300 East
When: Today, 3 p.m.
How much: Free
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com