IU music students \'go for Baroque\'

A woman with a slight frame and striking similarity to the host of "Trading Spaces" stands at the center stage of Auer Hall, surrounded by a semi-circle of students playing odd-looking instruments. She clasps and unclasps her hands while their musical notes slide and poke at the space around her, about to signal her to start singing. When her cue arrives, she unleashes a handsome, mellifluous voice for a song that demands an impressive vocal range.\nAll of the performers' clothing is a stark, modern contrast to the older style of music they're playing. After listening awhile, the neon orange shirt, rainbow socks, Nikes and funky tights are what start to seem out of place, rather than the music.\nThe singing is probably the only part of the performance one would be familiar with during this rehearsal for "1690\'s Paris," directed by Professor Nigel North. The performers are just a few of the 40 students currently majoring in IU's early music program.\n"IU is one of the only programs in the country where students can study early music," said Paul Hillier, director of the Early Music Institute. "We're not boasting -- it's a fact. We have something really special here." \nAt the University's request, Hillier moved from London to start the program. He said he was more than happy to come because IU had a reputation of setting a high standard for both academics and tradition.\nThe program teaches medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music, and it includes instruments such as the lute, harpsichord, gamba, theorbo and recorder.\nThe recorder these students use is a far cry from the cheap, $5 plastic version some students used in elementary school to master "Hot Cross Buns." Graduate student Kathryn Montoya said her recorder cost $1,500 and similar models could cost much more or less, depending on the quality of the instrument.\nOne of the instrument looked like two rain sticks bound together in the middle, and another, the theorbo, had a four-foot long neck and what looked like half of a wooden watermelon attached to the end. The carrying case for the theorbo is about six feet long and could probably do some damage if the owner whipped around too quickly in a crowd.\nThe gamba players, whose instruments only have foot-long necks, said they don't suffer from neck envy. They said they are too busy keeping their eyes glued to the sheet music to worry about it.\nThere's a place for early music all over the world, and it is possible to have a future career in it, as five students who graduated from the program found out. The Bimbettas, "Five Babes Who Go for Baroque," left IU five years ago and are still performing in the San Francisco Bay area.\nMoney or a career is not the driving force for most of the students. They specialize in early music because they have a genuine interest in it.\nGraduate student Ann Marie Boyle, a vocalist, said she prefers performing early music because it's on a smaller, more intimate scale, and there is a wider range of choices in terms of what students are allowed to do in terms of dynamics and expression.\n"It just felt right when I sang early music," Boyle said. "It felt more comfortable. Most music tends to be on a much larger scale, and you don't really have a choice with what you do in a performance"