{ "ok" : true, "artist" : { "name" : "American Baroque", "page" : "american_baroque", "description" : "Spectacular Baroque and Classical chamber music", "location" : "CA, USA", "bio" : "Founded in San Francisco in 1986, American Baroque brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions from American composers. An ensemble of eclectic, accomplished, and artful musicians, the performances bridge a gap between the edges of the new music frontier and the familiar roads to music of the past, and expands the repertoire and scope of historical instruments into the new millenium.\n\nIn its early stages, American Baroque functioned as a studio band, its mission being to record hitherto unknown quartets by Telemann. Recordings of the \"Paris\" quartets and the Fourth Book of Quartets were released and enthusiastically received. In 1991, the group recorded French Cantatas of the 18th Century with soprano Julianne Baird, again released to wide critical acclaim on Koch International Classics. In 1992, American Baroque began exploring the territory of performing new music written for historical instruments through its collaboration with composer, member and gambist Roy Whelden and his pieces Quartet After Abel and Gamba Quartet, which resulted in a CD release on the New Albion label in 1993.\n\nIntrigued by the unique timbres and subtlety of sounds inherent in their period instruments as well as the excitement and anticipation of performing new music, the group continued to pursue projects and programming that involved combinations of new and old elements. Another collaboration in 1995 with Whelden yielded the provocative CD Like a Passing River with poet and reader Rudy Rucker, also on the New Albion label.\n\nSince its founding, the ensemble has been featured at the Tage Alter Musik Festival in Regensburg, Germany; the Berkeley Early Music Festival; the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival; the San Jose Chamber Music Society; University of California; the San Francisco Early Music Society; on National Public Radio and West Coast Live; and in the Opus415 New Music Festival. In addition, ensemble members perform and record together in the finest period-instrument orchestras in America throughout the year. Recent projects include concerts at the University of Vermont and at Bowdoin College, and a multi-tracked studio recording of Songs of Cold Mountain, a cycle of texts by the 7th-century poet Han Shan. The 1998-1999 season included a commercial recording of eight pieces by the composer's collective, Common Sense, which were commissioned in 1996; and a theatrical and multimedia collaboration entitled \"The Death of Anton Webern,\" written and directed by ensemble member Katherine Shao; the group will present a 2-week run of performances in May 2000.\n\nAmerican Baroque has also received support from Chamber Music America's Millenium Commissioning Program to collaborate with Stanford University composer Jonathan Berger on his new work, Of Hammered Gold (for flute, oboe, violin, viola da gamba and digital bird organ); the work was premiered at Stanford University's Lively Arts series on January 7, 2000. The ensemble has been recognized through grants and awards from the Aaron Copland Foundation, the Mikhashoff Foundation for New Music, and the Zellerbach Family Fund, and most recently won first prize for the 2000 ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. American Baroque remains the only U.S. chamber ensemble committed to performing both new music and 18th-century works on historical instruments, while continuing to explore the issues raised by both genres, old and new.", "photo" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/img/american_baroque_1.jpg", "web_url" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/american_baroque/", "albums" : [{ "sku" : "abaroque-seasons", "name" : "The Four Seasons by Vivaldi", "artist" : { "name" : "American Baroque", "page" : "american_baroque" }, "release_date" : "2004-03-06", "genres" : ["Classical","Orchestral","Baroque","Instrumental"], "vocals" : "instrumental", "moods" : ["elegant","playful","dramatic","uplifting","reflective"], "uses" : ["period drama or history","nature documentary","documentary","emotional storytelling","art or gallery","study or focus"], "energy" : 4, "instrumentation" : ["violin","cello","flute","oboe","harpsichord"], "sounds_like" : ["Antonio Vivaldi"], "summary" : "A fresh, expressive Baroque chamber performance of Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons', ideal for period dramas, nature documentaries, and focused listening.", "cover" : "https://magnatune.com/music/American%20Baroque/The%20Four%20Seasons%20by%20Vivaldi/cover_400.jpg", "web_url" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/albums/abaroque-seasons/", "api_url" : "https://magnatune.com/api/albums/abaroque-seasons", "buy_url" : "https://magnatune.com/buy/album?sku=abaroque-seasons" },{ "sku" : "abaroque-mozart", "name" : "Mozart 4 Quartets for Strings and Winds", "artist" : { "name" : "American Baroque", "page" : "american_baroque" }, "release_date" : "2004-01-14", "genres" : ["Classical","Classical Period","Orchestral","Instrumental"], "vocals" : "instrumental", "moods" : ["elegant","tender","peaceful","reflective","calm","romantic"], "uses" : ["corporate","documentary","period drama or history","study or focus","podcast background","spa or massage"], "energy" : 2, "instrumentation" : ["string quartet","oboe","flute","harpsichord","cello","violin"], "sounds_like" : ["Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart"], "summary" : "Elegant, calm Classical Period chamber music featuring oboe, flute, strings and harpsichord; ideal for corporate, documentary, or study settings.", "cover" : "https://magnatune.com/music/American%20Baroque/Mozart%204%20Quartets%20for%20Strings%20and%20Winds/cover_400.jpg", "web_url" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/albums/abaroque-mozart/", "api_url" : "https://magnatune.com/api/albums/abaroque-mozart", "buy_url" : "https://magnatune.com/buy/album?sku=abaroque-mozart" },{ "sku" : "abaroque-rameau", "name" : "Dances and Suites of Rameau and Couperin", "artist" : { "name" : "American Baroque", "page" : "american_baroque" }, "release_date" : "2003-12-14", "genres" : ["Classical","Orchestral","Baroque","Instrumental"], "vocals" : "instrumental", "moods" : ["playful","elegant","festive","uplifting"], "uses" : ["period drama or history","documentary","travel","fashion or beauty","luxury brand","cafe or restaurant"], "energy" : 4, "instrumentation" : ["harpsichord","flute","oboe","violin","cello"], "sounds_like" : ["Jean-Philippe Rameau","Francois Couperin"], "summary" : "Vibrant Baroque chamber music featuring harpsichord, flute, oboe, violin, and cello, full of rhythmic verve and ornamentation—ideal for elegant, historical, or upscale visual projects.", "cover" : "https://magnatune.com/music/American%20Baroque/Dances%20and%20Suites%20of%20Rameau%20and%20Couperin/cover_400.jpg", "web_url" : "https://magnatune.com/artists/albums/abaroque-rameau/", "api_url" : "https://magnatune.com/api/albums/abaroque-rameau", "buy_url" : "https://magnatune.com/buy/album?sku=abaroque-rameau" }] }, "license" : { "music_license" : "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 1.0)", "music_license_url" : "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/", "listening" : "Stream the free previews, or buy an album for $8 to download it in MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, OGG or WAV. 100% of the price goes to the musician.", "non_commercial" : "Non-commercial projects may use the music under CC BY-NC-SA 1.0: credit the artist and Magnatune, and share alike.", "projects" : "Magnatune members may use any Magnatune music in their projects, commercial or not (videos, films, podcasts, games, apps, websites, adverts), including work for clients, under the Magnatune Project Licence. Projects released while a member stay licensed for good; new projects need an active membership. Credit is required. TV or radio broadcast, cinema, and background music in shops, restaurants or on-hold lines are not included: license those from the musician. Membership: $10/month, $99/year or $299 lifetime; agents can buy one themselves with MPP at /api/member-pass ($10 month, $99 year, $299 lifetime, one-off).", "projects_status" : "available", "projects_signup" : "https://magnatune.com/member/signup", "royalty_free" : "Membership is royalty-free licensing: no per-video, per-download or per-view fees, for every project created and released while a member.", "youtube" : "YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, podcasts: members may use the clean songs in monetized videos. Members register their YouTube channel (the set_youtube_channel MCP tool, or their account page) so YouTube's Content ID doesn't claim their videos. The free versions carry a spoken Magnatune voice and are non-commercial (CC BY-NC-SA), so they're not for monetized channels or client work.", "details" : "https://magnatune.com/info/licensing", "how_to_credit" : "Name the artist and \"Magnatune\", with a link to the album's web_url." } }