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Bitterroot Baroque Plays Music by Biber
Violinist Rafa Prendergast Leads the Bitterroot Baroque Orchestra in music of Biber
The New York City-based guest artist directs the Bitterroot Baroque Orchestra in 17th-
century showpieces, from a midnight serenade to a musical battlefield
HAMILTON, MT – New York City-based violinist Rafa Prendergast will lead the Bitterroot
Baroque Orchestra in Bitterroot Baroque Plays Music by Biber at 2 PM on Sunday, October
11, 2026, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 600 South 3rd Street, Hamilton.
Prendergast is an active performer of music from the early 17th century; Rafa is guest
concertmaster with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and frequently performs
with the Handel and Haydn Society, ARTEK, Nuova Pratica, and The Smithsonian Academy
Orchestra, among others. Other appearances include the Aston Magna Music Festival, the
Boston Early Music Fringe Festival, and WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. Prendergast holds
degrees from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and The Juilliard School, where
Rafa studied with Cynthia Roberts, Elizabeth Blumenstock, and Robert Mealy as a
Historical Performance Scholar.
Leading from the violin, Prendergast and Bitterroot Baroque present a program devoted to
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704), the Bohemian-born composer and violin
virtuoso known for inventive, theatrical music that pushed the limits of the Baroque
ensemble. The concert includes dance suites, sonatas for five and six parts, and two of
Biber’s most colorful works:
• Serenada a 5 “Nachtwächter”, a playful evocation of the night watchman making
his rounds
• Battalia a 9, a vivid musical battle scene featuring a rowdy company of soldiers, a
march for Mars, god of war, and a closing lament for the wounded musketeers
This program also features Montana native Jens Jacobsen on baroque trumpet in two
concerti with the orchestra which also includes players on violin, viola, viola da gamba,
cello, bass, recorder, theorbo, and organ. The afternoon concert also includes selections
from Biber’s Sonatae tam aris quam aulis servientes, composed 350 years ago, as well as
music from Fidicinium sacro-profanum, Arien and Balletti lamentabili.
About Bitterroot Baroque
Founded in 2014, Bitterroot Baroque is a non-profit organization dedicated to historically
informed early music in Ravalli County and across Montana. It presents concerts in and
around the Bitterroot Valley and Missoula by professional period-instrument musicians and
ensembles from around the country, along with workshops, master classes, and school and
community programs.
Event Details
• What: Bitterroot Baroque Plays Music by Biber
• When: Sunday, October 11, 2026, 2 PM
• Where: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 600 South 3rd Street, Hamilton, MT
• Tickets/Admission: Admission by Donation
• Info: | bitterrootbaroque@gmail.com
Media Contact: Whitney Hedman, bitterrootbaroque@gmail.com