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The Dryden Ensemble presents “Swan Songs” on Sunday, April 16
April 16 • 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
$25 – $40
The Dryden Ensemble presents “Swan Songs” on Sunday, April 16 at 3:00 p.m. at Seminary Chapel, located on the campus of the Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ. Tickets prices are $25 for general admission, $40 for patrons, and free for students with an ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at https://drydenensemble.org.
This concert celebrates nearly 29 years of creative programming by the ensemble’s artistic director, Jane McKinley. Designed as a theatrical entertainment, the program is divided into two acts: French and English, reflecting two of the ensemble’s passions. Actors Roberta Maxwell and Paul Hecht will offer dramatic readings from 17th-century letters and diaries by Élisabeth Charlotte (sister-in-law to Louis XIV), courtier Saint-Simon, Moliére, Samuel Pepys, John Evelyn, Mary Burwell, and others. Julianne Baird, soprano extraordinaire, will sing airs by Lully and Purcell, and a Baroque band of oboes, bassoon, strings, lute, and harpsichord will play music from John Dryden’s lifetime. Featured composers are Lully, Louis and François Couperin, Purcell, and others. Grand movements from Lully’s opera Armide and Purcell’s Fairy Queen will open and close each half.