2020 Virtual Concert Season

While our live performances are on hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pacific MusicWorks’ co-Artistic Directors Stephen Stubbs and Henry Lebedinsky are offering the very best of PMW’s concert archives, with new introductions, downloadable program books, and more. We hope you enjoy the videos, and hope to be back bringing you great music as soon as possible. Your donations help us keep the music alive. Support our 2020 Online Season with a tax-deductible donation HERE and subscribe to our YouTube channel at http://YouTube.com/c/PacificMusicWorks.

Handel: Il Trionfo del tempo, part 1

The year was 1707, and a 22-year-old handsome and brilliant organ virtuoso was taking Rome by storm. His name was Georg Frideric Händel, and he had already caught the eye of Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, one of the city's most prestigious patrons of the arts. With a libretto by the ardinal himself, Handel transformed The Triumph of Time and Truth from a rather conventional morality play into a masterpiece of drama and energy, a foretaste of the great oratorios that would become household names to lovers of great music - Saul, Samson, and, of course, Messiah. Stephen Stubbs directs an all-star cast including audience favorites Amanda Forsythe and Dominique Labelle along with the Pacific MusicWorks Baroque Orchestra in this performance recorded LIVE at Daniels Recital Hall, Seattle WA, on March 31, 2012.

Download the complete program book HERE

Carissimi: Prophets, part 1

Though he himself never left Italy, Giacomo Carissimi's musical influence - both as an innovator and a teacher - was felt across Europe. A pioneer in the development of the oratorio and chamber cantata, he was a crucial link in the stylistic evolution between Monteverdi and Handel. Experience the the drama with selections from Abraham and Isaac and his most well-known work, Jepthte: two powerful stories of love, sacrifice, and redemption brought to life in this performance co-produced by Pacific MusicWorks and Seattle's St. James Cathedral. Stephen Stubbs directs a stellar cast of singers and instrumentalists, with stage direction by Guillaume Bernardi.

Download the complete program book HERE

Carissimi: Prophets, part 2

Experience the conclusion of this powerful performance co-produced by Pacific MusicWorks and St. James Cathedral, Seattle. Beginning with excerpts from 'Job', Carissimi's tale of faith put to the test, we conclude with 'La Reniement de St. Pierre' (The Denial of St. Peter) by Carissimi's brilliant student Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Stephen Stubbs directs a stellar cast of singers and instrumentalists, with stage direction by Guillaume Bernardi.

Leading Ladies, Part 1

Barbara Strozzi is the best known of a small group of female professional musicians working in the rigidly patriarchal world of 17th century Italy - writing, performing, and publishing extraordinarily beautiful music in the face of misogyny at home, at church, and on the stage. Explore Strozzi's life and times along with her fellow musical trailblazers Francesca Caccini (the first woman known to have written an opera) and musical nuns Isabella Leonarda and Maria Peruchona. Sopranos Tess Altiveros and Danielle Sampson join Stephen Stubbs and the PMW Ensemble for this unique and inspiring program.

Download the complete program book HERE

Leading ladies, part 2

The musically gifted daughter of a social climbing Venetian doctor, Antonia Padoani Bembo was married off to an abusive nobleman at a young age. With the help of a globetrotting guitar virtuoso, she staged a dramatic escape and fled to Paris, where she secured protection from none less than King Louis XIV himself. Experience the conclusion of our journey into the world of 17th century Leading Ladies, featuring works by Bembo, Barbara Strozzi, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, and Isabella Leonarda.

Download the complete program book HERE

Handel: Semele, part 1

Written the year following Messiah, Handel called this work a ‘musical drama’, blending elements of opera and oratorio and using the chorus to great effect. One of only two secular works he wrote for the Lenten oratorio season, it never achieved great success during Handel’s lifetime - likely because it was too much fun! Enjoy this collaboration between Pacific MusicWorks and the University of Washington School of Music, conducted by Stephen Stubbs and directed by James Darrah, with Haeran Hong in the title role.

Download the complete program book HERE

Handel: Semele, part 2

Experience the dramatic conclusion of George Frederick Handel's Semele in this collaboration between Pacific MusicWorks and the University of Washington School of Music. Conducted by Stephen Stubbs and directed by James Darrah, the cast features soprano Haeran Hong in the title role, along with GRAMMY award-winning tenor Aaron Sheehan and more. Tekla Cunningham leads the PMW Baroque Orchestra and instrumentalists from the University of Washington in this dynamic and visually extravagant performance.

Download the complete program book HERE

Claudio Monteverdi: vespers of 1610, part 2

It was music for a changing world from a composer who changed music history, stunningly modern yet grounded in tradition... experience the conclusion of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. Stephen Stubbs leads internationally-renowned vocal soloists, the University of Washington Chamber Singers, and the Pacific MusicWorks Baroque Orchestra in this performance co-produced by St. James' Cathedral, Seattle, and recorded there on October 24, 2015.

Download the complete program book HERE

Virtual Underground: La Musa Mexicana

Poet, composer, theologian, and feminist, the remarkable Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was renowned far beyond her native Mexico, both during her lifetime and after her untimely death from the plague. While almost none of her own music has survived, many composers from across Spain and Latin America set her words to their own music. Grab a tasty bite and your favorite beverage and join Pacific MusicWorks' co-Artistic Director Henry Lebedinsky for a multimedia journey into Sor Juana's world through music, commentary, and a good dose of humor.

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel HERE

An American Tune, Part 1

Hard times, come again no more… Trace the evolution of American folk music from England and the Celtic countries to the hills of Appalachia, from colonial times up through the Civil War. Soprano Catherine Webster joins Stephen Stubbs and the Pacific MusicWorks String Band for this evocative journey into our unique American musical heritage.

Download the complete program book HERE

An American Tune, Part 2

Who doesn't love a good murder ballad?

Our fascination with true crime stories dates back hundreds of years, and 19th century American popular song delighted in accounts of the garish and gruesome. Indulge in a little guilty pleasure as soprano Catherine Webster joins Stephen Stubbs and the Pacific MusicWorks String Band for a unique journey into our American musical heritage, from the sensational to the sentimental.

Download the complete program book HERE

Bach: advent cantatas, Part 1

When we first performed this program back in 2017, we could not imagine how Bach's powerful message of hope and comfort - so beautifully illustrated by these Advent cantatas - would resonate in this time of isolation, waiting, and expectation. We hope this music brings you some welcome light today. Soloists Tess Altiveros, Laura Pudwell, Zach Finkelstein, and Zachary Lenox join the Pacific MusicWorks Baroque Orchestra, Stephen Stubbs, director.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

BACh: ADVENT CANTATAS, PART 2

Hope and promise, comfort and joy - messages we need to hear today more than ever. Experience the conclusion of Light in the Darkness: Bach Advent Cantatas. Soloists Tess Altiveros, Laura Pudwell, Zach Finkelstein, and Zachary Lenox join the Pacific MusicWorks Baroque Orchestra, Stephen Stubbs, director.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

Monteverdi: L’Orfeo, Part 1

It was to the ancient Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice what Bernstein's West Side Story was to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet - a timeless tale retold in a thoroughly modern way, with an extravagant score that shook the establishment and changed the world of music forever. It was Claudio Monteverdi's L'ORFEO, the first great operatic masterpiece.Tenor Colin Balzer leads a stellar cast of singers with Stephen Stubbs directing the Pacific MusicWorks Orchestra and the Dark Horse Ensemble in this performance recorded live at St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, on October 28, 2017.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

Monteverdi: L’Orfeo, Part 2

He literally went to Hell and back for true love. Experience the hope and heartbreak in this timeless tale of love and loss. It's the conclusion of Monteverdi's L'ORFEO with internationally-acclaimed tenor Colin Balzer in the title role. Stephen Stubbs leads a stellar lineup of singers, the Pacific MusicWorks Orchestra, and the Dark Horse Ensemble in this live performance recorded at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle on October 28, 2017.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

Handel’s Tenor: Beard’s Beauties, Part 2

Aaron Sheehan brings the house down in selections from Handel's 'Samson' and one of his great concerti grossi, with Stephen Stubbs directing the Pacific MusicWorks Baroque Orchestra, Tekla Cunningham, concertmaster. Recorded LIVE at Illsley Ball Nordstrom Performance Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA, on February 26, 2017.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

George Frederick Handel:
Messiah, Part 1

Comfort and joy, healing and hope - experience Handel’s timeless ‘Messiah’ again for the first time. Stephen Stubbs conducts a world-class lineup of soloists, the University of Washington Chamber Singers, and the Pacific MusicWorks Baroque Orchestra. Recorded LIVE at University of Washington’s Meany Hall, Seattle, WA, on December 13, 2015.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE

George Frederick Handel:
Messiah, Parts 2 & 3

From the depths of despair to the triumph of the 'Hallelujah' chorus to one of the greatest fugal Amens ever written, Stephen Stubbs, Pacific MusicWorks, and the University of Washington Chamber Singers invite you to experience the rich and complex emotional landscape that has made Handel's ‘Messiah’ one of his most enduring and beloved masterpieces. Recorded LIVE at University of Washington’s Meany Hall, Seattle, WA, on December 13, 2015.

Download the complete program book HERE

Support our 2020 Online Season - make your tax-deductible donation HERE