Think the Baroque and Renaissance are history? Guess again—Orfeo’s Muse brings period instruments from the past into the present by connecting their early music to everything from bluegrass to Lenny Kravitz!

Three remarkable performers making the Baroque come alive for students.

About the program

The Baroque was an exciting time in European history, with big changes happening not only in music but also in politics, philosophy, and religion! Orfeo’s Muse jumps right in to the period to give students a look at some of those musical changes, the instruments of the day, and how some of the musical forms we still use today are part of the tradition begun by Bach and Handel.

These three performers (Baroque guitar/theorbo, sackbut/recorder, and soprano) are committed to making the Baroque come alive for students. As active advocates for their art form, Linda, Bill and Bryce link dance forms of the late Renaissance to the rise of instrumental music suites, talk about the beginnings of opera, and show how a modern jazz singer like Ella Fitzgerald would be right at home with Baroque ornamentation!

Students K-12 are fascinated with the instruments, with the elementary program focusing upon the instrument families and the elements and MS/HS audiences really working with the history, culture and purposes areas of the Content. This program can provide great opportunities for teachers to follow up across the curriculum, not only in the arts but in reading and social studies as well!

Availability:	November/December 2008
Costs for programming:	$960/day, $480/half-day*
Program format:	Assembly
Audience limit:	150/elementary 150/MS & HS
* Prices above reflect significant subsidy from New Performing Arts' fundraising with arts education supporters statewide and nationally.

About the Artists

Bryce Peltier plays both recorder and trombone (sackbut). After receiving his Bachelor of Music for performance from the University of Oregon in 1993, he concertized regularly on both instruments all over Oregon. Starting in 1995, Bryce played both instruments at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with the Terra Nova Consort. His tenure with the Terra Nova Consort lasted for four years. He recorded an album with them of music from the Netherlands wind band repertoire on both recorders and sackbut. Bryce received a Masters in Jazz Studies in 2003. With his jazz training he was hired by an established salsa band on trombone. During this time he also performed high renaissance and baroque music with his group Libro Primo. Bryce has taken master classes with Peter Van Heyghen and Dan Laurin and is now continuing his career with advanced study on the recorder at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. In July of 2005 Bryce made his debut on recorder at the Oregon Bach Festival with his current teacher Gwyn Roberts.

William Feasley is rapidly becoming recognized as one of today's top classical guitarists. The first guitarist to be awarded the Peabody Conservatory's coveted Artist Diploma, Mr. Feasley has since been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards: a gold medal in the 1987 Panhellenic Guitar Competition in Athens, the 1990 and 1995 Baltimore Chamber Music Awards and a 1996 Governor's Citation for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts in Maryland. Selected to play for Andrés Segovia at the master's historic last class at the University of Southern California in 1986, he was later featured on the CBS special Eulogy of Segovia.

Since making his debut in 1980 with the San Francisco Ballet, performing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez for Lou Christenson's ballet, Don Juan, William Feasley has maintained an active international touring schedule. He has appeared in the Ohrid Spoleto Festival in Macedonia and venues such as St. Martin in the Fields in London, the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Washington National Cathedral and Yale University. He has toured with the Russian Chamber Orchestra, Music Viva (Alexander Rudin, Conductor), performed live on ABC International Radio in Australia, and with New York's Bachanalia Ensemble under the direction of Nina Beilina and Washington's 20th Century Consort. Recent tours have included Spain, the Caribbean, Greece, Yugoslavia, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Iceland.


Versatile soprano Linda Fisher Teasley is constantly expanding her repertoire of musical styles and experiences. Classically trained at the Universities of Maryland and North Carolina, Dr. Teasley has infused her singing with elements of world, jazz and folk music. Her diverse appearances range from work with various opera companies to Carnegie Hall; from the Los Angeles World Music Festival to The Kennedy Center and from UNLV’s Cashman Auditorium to the Washington Folk Festival. Ms. Teasley has appeared with the Cincinnati Pops, The National Symphony Orchestra and on numerous nationally televised events. Dr. Teasley has several recordings to her credit, most recently Cancionces Argentinas, a collection of 27 rarely heard songs from Argentina. Linda has made numerous recordings with her husband global percussionist Tom Teasley. These recordings have received international attention in both radio and print media. Dr. Teasley has appeared on numerous recordings with the United States Navy band from which she retired after 20 years of service. Dr. Teasley has been on the faculties of Northern Virginia Community College and Georgetown University and currently maintains an active teaching practice.