Infusion Baroque: Exploring the Wonders and Mysteries of the Baroque

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Alexa Raine-Wright, Sallynee Amawat, Andrea Stewart and Rona Nadler are rising stars of baroque music. In 2013, the ensemble founded Infusion Baroque because of their common passion for fine-tuning early music. In February 2017, the group launched their first album featuring sonatas by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The 2017-18 season cements their innovative qualities beyond musical performances.

Infusion Baroque’s uniqueness lies not only in artistic sensitivity but also in a fondness for musical and historical research. The players present baroque music to new audiences, combining other artistic media with chamber music. This modernization breathes new life into the historical context and crucial biographical moments of works of by various composers.

The ensemble is buoyed by the warm welcome it receives in Canada and the United States. In 2014, Infusion Baroque won the grand and public prizes at the Early Music America’s Baroque Performance Competition. Many projects are inspired by the musicians themselves. “Creative ideas that add artistic value to baroque music performance,” is how Amawat describes them. She emphasizes the care the ensemble takes to perform selected works and create narrative components for each concert.

Concerts and Anecdotes

As part of the Conseil des Arts de Montréal Touring Program, the Rebels & Rivalries concert presents works by familiar and lesser-known baroque composers and includes fascinating anecdotes about their lives. For instance, this program helps us discover that Johann Sebastian Bach almost got into a fight after insulting a bassoonist in his ensemble.

The interest in stories about people and their connection to baroque repertoire has encouraged the Infusion Baroque players to explore interactive artistic experience in depth and devise entertaining programs that combine musical performance, mysteries and intrigues. “Who Killed Leclair?” encourages the public to take part in a game that seeks to solve the mystery behind the person who killed composer Jean-Marie Leclair.

The Virtuosa concert was one of many season highlights; It was dedicated to women who left a mark on baroque music as virtuoso composers and performers.

Be on the lookout for an ambitious project that brings out various musical personalities in J.S. Bach’s sons: the mysterious Wilhelm Friedemann, the creative and sensitive Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and the cheerful and conservative Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach. What an exciting program!