Michigan Baroque, one of North America’s newest period-instrument ensembles, will present a concert on Sunday April 1, 2007 at 4:00 pm at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Farmington, 25301 Halsted Rd., Farmington Hills, Michigan.

The concert will explore the development of the German style of composition, with its many foreign influences and adaptations. It will feature vocal works by Heinrich Schutz (1585-1672), a composer who revolutionized musical style in Germany after studying in Venice. This new style of vocal writing, with dramatic word painting and sometimes wild and clashing harmonies, was previously unknown in Germany and was influential in the work of later composers such as Buxtehude and Bach.

Michigan Baroque had its debut in the fall of 2006. Its members are Linda Munch, soprano; Valerie Sylvester and Sheila Smyth, baroque violins; Marilyn Fung, viola da gamba; and Diana Munch, harpsichord and organ.

Other works to be performed include vocal works of Bach and Buxtehude, and instrumental masterpieces by Johann Schmelzer, Dietrich Becker, the English emigrant William Young, and convicted felon Johann Rosenmuller, who fled Germany, landed in Venice and helped in the development of the Venetian style.

Tickets are $15/ adult, $10 /seniors, EMA members, students and the unwaged.

For more information:

Contact dianamunch@comcast.net, 248-356-1274

Visit the Michigan Baroque website at www.michiganbaroque.org