BLEMF to present 'Solomon' Sunday

The Bloomington Early Music Festival produces an opera each year. This year, they were given the opportunity to do something similar, but with a twist. \nWhile the performances are usually theatrical, this year the featured choir, vocalists and orchestra will perform without the on-stage action. The BLEMF will present composer Georg Frideric Handel's oratorio about the life of King Solomon, as featured in the Old Testament. The production will also hold concerts in Lafayette and Indianapolis, as well as Bloomington.\n"This is the first time that our festival has taken a major production on the road," said BLEMF Executive Director Alain Barker. \nStructured like an opera, the biblical story "Solomon," one of Handel's most famous pieces, lacks costumes or scenery, but the vocals and music contain acts are divided into scenes.\nThe BLEMF Orchestra, which features musicians from Chicago, Boston, California and Atlanta, is collaborating with Lafayette-based Bach Chorale Singers for vocal pieces.\n"This orchestra has been assembled from all over the United States," said "Solomon's" conductor, William Jon Gray.\nEach individual group began rehearsals in February, but they have only been able to practice together since Sunday when the national artists were finally able to get together in the same place. While the soloists have been cast for almost a year, practices this week have taken close to eight hours a day.\nAs with other productions of the BLEMF, instruments used by the ensemble have historic authenticity or are reproductions of instruments from an earlier time.\n"Every single instrument is either a replica or an original from an instrument made in the 18th century," Barker said. \nBarker said this performance is considered a rarity because of the use of ancient instruments, which sound much different than today's.\nBecause early instruments are played slightly differently than modern ones, it takes a devoted student to learn how to play them properly. Barker said early music has only been a field of study for about 30 years, which means musicians are limited. Because the School of Music has an Early Music Institute, it is able to produce the musicians necessary to cast a full early music orchestra. Gray said not many places could assemble such an orchestra.\nGray approached the program committee of the BLEMF with the suggestion of featuring the "Solomon" act, which the committee approved as their annual major production. \n"This is a piece of music that is very rarely performed, it's a very dramatic piece," said Gesa Kordes, a doctoral student leading the violins in the BLEMF orchestra. \nKing Solomon will be played by Daniel Bubeck. Handel would often use male performers who sang in the alto range, known as a countertenor. Bubeck, an IU alumnus, who can sing in this range has performed all over the world.\nThe performance takes place at 7:30 p.m., Sunday in Auer Hall. \nTickets are available online, by phone, or at the door. General admission is $15. \n-- Contact staff writer Andrea Opperman at acopperm@indiana.edu\nArts editor Jenica Schultz contributed to this article.