Midtown Concerts: The Academy Players – La Gamme

• Jeremy Rhizor, violin
• Arnie Tanimoto, viola da gamba
• Marc Bellassai, harpsichord

Join us for a concert featuring one of the most unique pieces of French chamber music: La Gamme. Published in 1723, Marais successfully blends elements of the French and ever-encroaching Italian style into an epic character piece showcasing the virtuosity of the violin and viola da gamba.

About The Academy Players

The Academy Players are musical ambassadors for the Academy of Sacred Drama. Founded at The Juilliard School and reestablished through the Academy of Sacred Drama, the ensemble participated in the Academy's first Oratorio Reading of Charpentier's Mors Saülis et Jonathae in its inaugural year as well as performing instrumental music at Juilliard at Aiken and in prestigious New York City venues including the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Miller Theater at Columbia University, and The Met Museum.

About Midtown Concerts

https://www.gemsny.org/midtown-concerts

About Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS)

https://gemsny.org/

About Jeremy Rhizor, violin

Jeremy Rhizor plays the baroque violin and founded the Academy of Sacred Drama, an organization inspired by Baroque academies that champions the performance and research of sacred drama. Noted for playing "virtuosically but with fluid grace" by The New York Times, Rhizor performs with early music organizations throughout North America such as Aureas Voces in Nova Scotia, Alchymy Viols in Indiana, Ensemble VIII in Texas, Mountainside Baroque in Maryland, the Washington Bach Consort in Washington, DC, and Bach Vespers and the American Classical Orchestra in New York. He was recently a guest concertmaster of the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra and Lyra Baroque Orchestra. He is currently exploring the relationship between music and prayer and is learning about user interface design. Rhizor lives in the hamlet of Croton Falls in North Salem, NY.

About Arnie Tanimoto, viola da gamba

https://www.arnietanimoto.com/

About Marc Bellassai, harpsichord

Marc Bellassai has studied at the Oberlin Conservatory (BMus '85, Harpsichord), Indiana University (MMus '89 and Artist Diploma) and, as a Fulbright IIE scholar from 1994–6, at the Civica Scuola di Musica and Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy. His interests include early keyboard performance practice, basso continuo, organology, art history, theatre, and the music and literature of the Italian seicento/settecento. He performs with many period instrument ensembles including The Academy of Sacred Drama (New York City), Mountainside Baroque (Cumberland, Maryland), Capitol Early Music, and the Midtown Concerts series (New York City). He is also an art lecturer in various local museums with Wandering Docents LLC. He currently teaches harpsichord and art history, and directs the early music ensemble at Towson University.