Advertisement in the New York Journal, dated August 11, 1774. Provides information about the upcoming concert and dance at the “Sign of the College” tavern in Princeton, NJ.
Ticket Prices
Individual Ticket: $45
Tickets for Two: $80
You’re invited to an evening of eighteenth century music and dance with the Historical Society of Princeton and Morven Museum & Garden.
Arranged by The Practitioners of Musick and taking place in Morven’s Stockton Education Center, the event will reimagine an actual concert and dance that took place in Princeton on August 22, 1774 at the “Sign of the College” tavern. Located directly across from Nassau Hall, the tavern was leased by William Whitehead from Morven’s Richard Stockton.
The 2024 performers for the reimagined entertainment will be The Practitioners of Musick, featuring John Burkhalter playing English and small flutes and harpsichordist Donovan Klotzbeacher, with guest artists soprano Abigail Chapman and Baroque violinist Elizabeth Rouget. The dance component will be directed by Susan Nabors Braisted, a choreographer with an extensive background in the performance of Baroque Dance.
Light refreshments, including coffee and tea, will be served prior to the performance, which will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Program tickets include access to visit Morven’s newest exhibition, Morven Revealed: Untold Stories from New Jersey’s Most Historic Home, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. prior to the concert.
In the spirit of the celebration, the wearing of fun hats and outfits are encouraged to express participants’ vision, modern or historic, for a colonial dance party.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
THE PRACTITIONERS OF MUSICK ensemble was founded to survey the musical riches of 17th and 18th century Great Britain and Ireland and the Colonial and early Federal periods in America. The ensemble has provided music for an audio tour hosted by Revolutionary NJ sites in The Crossroads of the American Revolution historic area. In addition, The Practitioners have presented or supported scholarly programs under the auspices of the National Park Service, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the National Trust of Great Britain, Fund for Irish Studies at Princeton University, Historic Deerfield, Colonial Williamsburg, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Princeton University Art Museum, The New Jersey State Park Service, New York State Historical Association, The Holland Society of New York, New Jersey Historical Society, Princeton University Library, Ireland House of New York University, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Museum of the American Revolution. amongst many others.
JOHN BURKHALTER, recorders, studied early music at the New England Conservatory with Daniel Pinkham and Baroque performance with Frans Bruggen at Harvard University. He has lectured for the Princeton Festival, American Handel Society, Yale Center for British Art, and the Horniman Museum (Dolmetsch Collection) in London. Mr. Burkhalter also performs with Brandywine Baroque, Early Music Princeton (University) the ensemble Les Agrements de musique, and Riverview Early Music. He regularly performs in various English Country Dance Bands in association, most notably, with the Germantown Colonial Assembly of Philadelphia and New York City’s 92nd Street Y.
DONOVAN KLOTZBEACHER, organ and harpsichord, studied organ at the University of Minnesota under Heinrich Fleischer and continued his musical studies under Mary Krimmel and George Markey at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. He has performed throughout the Northeast as a harpsichordist and appeared in a series of New Jersey Network [NJN] broadcasts featuring period music in 18th century houses and taverns in the state. For many years he has been Director of Music at the historic First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, New Jersey.
ABIGAIL CHAPMAN, soprano, is co-founder of Riverview Early Music and a member of Les Agrements de musique ,she often performs with the Grammy-winning choir The Crossing, the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir, Opera Philadelphia, the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, and has appeared as a soloist with Choral Arts Philadelphia, Denver Early Music Consort, La Fiocco Baroque Ensemble, Brandywine Baroque, and The Practitioners of Musick among many others. Ms. Chapman holds an MM in voice from The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.
A Baroque violinist and scholar, ELIZABETH ROUGET is currently completing her doctoral studies in Historical Musicology at Princeton University. Her work centers around French opéra comique and the performance of the genre in North America in the 18th century. Following the circulation of musical works, the ballet masters, and star performers, she explores the relationship between music and dance in French and English-speaking communities as a complicated yet integral means of expression. While at the University of Toronto, Elizabeth studied Baroque violin with Jeanne Lamon, and she currently performs with Early Music Princeton.
SUSAN NABORS BRAISTED is a dancer, teacher and choreographer with an extensive background in Baroque dance. She has been teaching and conducting Baroque and 18th century English Country Dance workshops since 2005. She has taught Baroque Dance at Art of Motion in Ridgewood NJ for over ten years and continues to coach dancers in Baroque technique. Susan Braisted has danced in numerous Baroque operas for the Amherst Early Music Festival. She has also performed with New York Historical Dance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and for “The Royals Baptism and Ballet” with the early music groups Piffaro, Parthenia, and the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir in Philadelphia. In 1996 she created historically inspired dance sequences for the acclaimed PBS series “Liberty! The American Revolution.”