Seattle-based Pacific MusicWorks is a musical production company focused primarily, but not exclusively, on the presentation of vocal chamber music and operatic works of the 17th and 18th centuries. In recent years they have also committed themselves to commissioning new works written for period instruments as a means of bridging the stories of the past with those of today, and evolved a unique catalogue of concert programs. Now the core performing ensemble (with lutenist Stephen Stubbs, harpist Maxine Eilander, violinist Tekla Cunningham and harpsichordist Henry Lebedinsky) offers a selection of these programs for touring.

“…Utterly thrilling... of a quality you are unlikely ever to encounter anywhere else in the world." - The Seattle Times

"Every program by Pacific MusicWorks is thoroughly researched, meticulously rehearsed, and refreshing to the ear. This one surpassed any reasonable expectations."   - Opera Today 

 "Visionaries have always done what they want to do when the moment is ripe for them…such is Stephen Stubbs" - Seattle Post Intelligencer

 "…among the finest performers of early baroque music" ~International Music Web

"…the performance was an unalloyed delight"- The Seattle Times

From Rome with Love:

“Stubbs, Eilander, and Cantadin are musicians of rare quality, who play with great sensitivity, as well as vibrancy. Their wide tonal palette ranged from the sweetest and purist of sounds to a cultivated earthiness which adds excitement and danger to a broad range of emotions. The same can be said of Forsythe, who possess a limpid soprano capable of floating and caressing the most delicate of musical lines, but with body enough to convey fury and passion….permitted Stubbs to exploit the full colors and dramatic range of the lute. Eilander’s lyrical playing on the harp was as beautiful as it was beguiling….Einlander proved to be Forsythe’s equal in performing Handel’s musical lines with elegance and expression.

Handel’s G-minor Sonata allowed the audience to savor the full range of Contadin’s gamba artistry. The four-movement work alternates between slow movements and brilliant displays of virtuosity. His playing in the haunting Adagio was ideally blended poise and beauty.”  – New York Classical Review

A Concert with the Countess:

everyone who attended Pacific MusicWorks’ A Concert with The Countess Oct. 7 and 8 in Seattle’s intimate Rabbit Box Theatre performance, dining, and drinks venue or saw the video of bass-baritone John Taylor Ward’s mash-up of Purcell and Miley Cyrus knew that some combination of serious musicianship and royal camp was in store.

Nothing, however, prepared me for how delightful and engaging the evening would be. Center stage stood, sang, bantered, and pranced the towering bass-baritone. Not only is Ward a direct descendent of the French-English lutenist, songwriter, and art expert Nicholas Lanier (1588-1666) — the Master of the King’s Music to England’s Charles I, amasser of the backbone of the British National Gallery’s collection, and composer of the first English monody, Hero and Leander — but he is also a dedicated early-music vocalist and the creator of a drag persona that, on this occasion, manifested as The Countess.

Ward and The Countess developed the program with Pacific MusicWorks’ founding artistic director, lutenist, and guitarist Stephen Stubbs and his two co-artistic directors, baroque violinist Tekla Cunningham and harpsichordist Henry Lebedinsky. As ideas emerged, Ward recruited superb dancer-choreographer Tshedzom Tingkhye to perform to some of the instrumental and vocal numbers. With the aid of choreographer Anna Mansbridge, who found copious inspiration in early 17th-century dance notation, a cabaret-like program took form.

….If anyone releases standalone video of the final number, D’Urfey’s “My thing is my own,” it could become a Baroque viral sensation. As the Countess pranced around while making every intention in the lyrics as clear as could be, the audience spontaneously joined in on the refrain, “My thing is my own and I’ll keep it so still / Yet other young lasses must do what they will.” You had to be there.

Navidad: A Mystery of Mary

as the audience settled into their seats to see ¡Navidad! The Mystery of Mary, the room was transformed from the streets of Seattle into the rainforests of Latin America with the sounds of various rain shakers and whistlers.

Hosted by Pacific Musicworks, ¡Navidad! The Mystery of Mary is a collection of music entirely dedicated to the “Feminine Divine” of an otherwise predominantly patriarchal church, Mother Mary, by focusing on the bodies of art, poetry, and music that blossomed from Marian traditions on both sides of the Atlantic. This ambitious goal manifested itself in 15 songs, split into 4 respective sections. The show’s program acknowledges this: “These works explore truths far too universal to limit to one creed: the humanity and wonder of motherhood, the desire for comfort in difficult times, and our hope for redemption and healing in a broken world.”

The Mystery of Mary, which sought to showcase the “dynamic blending of European, African, and Indigenous beliefs that characterized Christianity in colonial Latin America,” ultimately accomplished their goal in a way that didn’t comprise the authenticity of any one period or style. Part of their success in doing so came from the compositions themselves, constructing a story chronologically: the audience wasn’t simply observing a musical ensemble but taking part in a series of stories with instruments as the method of narration.

As we saw a change from polyphonic choral compositions to more homophonic and expressive pieces, we were experiencing in real-time the changes that the music world encountered as it shifted from the Renaissance Era to the Baroque period, and the focus from “exquisite Renaissance motets to boisterous folk dances” that took place in Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Brazil, and Peru. As the guitar grew from playful and lilting in one piece to a sorrowful and slowed tune in another, the four acts—Rosa Mistica, Made de Dios, Estrella de Mar, and Reina del Cielo—held our hands as we walked through the changes in historical events and Marian apparitions that accompanied each piece. Throughout each piece, the beauty that emerged from the clarity and power of Duarte’s voice and the ensemble’s playing was undeniable. As I looked around to the rest of the audience who now sat spellbound in their seats, I knew we were all asking ourselves the same question Juan Diego did back in 1531: Am I worthy of what I’m hearing?

The Mystery of Mary certainly achieved their dedication to past stories and history through traditional percussional elements and the use of the recitative and aria in Duarte’s opera, both defining characteristic features of the Baroque age. Nevertheless, what I found more impressive was how much The Mystery of Mary felt relevant, and most importantly close, even though the pieces were written so long ago. – TeenTix Blog