***Please note this concert is at 7:00pm***

Bowerbird is pleased to present Filament with flautist Héloïse Degrugillier performing J. S. Bach’s The Musical Offering. In the spring of 1747, J.S. Bach paid a visit to King Frederick the Great, where his son Carl Phillip Emmanuel was employed as a court musician. Curious to test Bach’s contrapunctal prowess, Frederick presented Bach with a subject to improvise two fugues, first one in three parts, and then one in six. Declining the second of these tests, Bach took Frederick’s subject home with him to create one of his most fascinating collections of music, The Musical Offering.

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

FILAMENT is a chamber ensemble, formed in 2019, of Philadelphia-based period-instrument soloists. Comprising a core trio of violin, viola da gamba, and keyboards, its respective founding members are Evan Few, Elena Kauffman, and John Walthausen. As a collective, its mission is to be the bright connective thread—that eponymous filament—linking the world of its audience with that of its repertoire, illuminating the delightful, sometimes uncanny familiarity of the emotions and images it evokes.

Filament is building a reputation as a leading proponent and champion of 17th- and 18th-century chamber music. The Broad Street Review praised Filament for a “fervor and delight that make early music seem current, and easy, joyful communication,” and the Lancaster News noted Filament’s “profound understanding” of its repertoire. Filament’s programs bridge the gap between music from some of history’s most celebrated and familiar composers and music that is completely unknown. Recent concerts have featured unpublished music by anonymous composers, Filament’s own original transcriptions, and music by female composers.

Filament presents concerts in its core formation and in collaboration with other musicians in

Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley, and across the country. In its hometown, Filament performs on numerous concert series, including Main Line Early Music and the PhilaLandmarks Early Music Series, and in self-presented concerts in a variety of sacred and secular spaces, including Gloria Dei “Old Swedes” Church and the Fleischer Art Memorial. Regionally, Filament has been featured on Gotham Early Music Scene’s Midtown Concert Series and Musae (New York, NY); Early Music at St. James (Lancaster, PA), Market Street Music’s Festival Concerts (Wilmington, DE), Concerts at Locktown Stone Church (Flemington, NJ), and Immanuel Concerts at Immanuel on the Green (New Castle, DE). Recent performances in South Carolina and Florida have expanded Filament’s reach. Of its 2023 collaboration with vocal ensemble Variant 6, the Chestnut Hill Local cited a “sterling performance.” Filament was a featured ensemble in Early Music America’s 2021 Emerging Artists Showcase, and in 2022 was featured on the American Bach Society’s TinyBach series.

During the 2023-2024 season, marking its fifth anniversary, Filament made its debut at Penn Live Arts at the University of Pennsylvania with renowned mezzo soprano Meg Bragle and Friends, presenting seldom-heard music of Salamone Rossi. In February 2024, Filament traveled to New Orleans to perform 18th-century music from that historic city in partnership with fellow Philadelphia chamber ensemble Variant 6 in a concert presented by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

Visit www.filamentbaroque.com to learn more.

Filament is joined by Héloïse Degrugillier who has worked extensively as both a recorder and traverso performer, and teacher throughout Europe and the United States. She has performed with leading period ensembles, including the Boston Camerata, Boston Early Music Festival, Piffaro and Tempesta Di Mare.

Heloise also enjoys an active teaching career. She teaches at Tufts university and Rhode Island College. She is the president and music director of the Boston Recorder Society. She has completed her studies in the Alexander Technique and has a Masters in Music from the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands.