Les Arts Florissants with Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Jorgensen Center |Thu, Nov 20, 7:30 pm
Stephanie
Bridget Forte,
Cory
Pamela Frappler,
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LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK
Written by Qui Nguyen
October 9-19, 2025
Nafe Katter Theatre
AS YOU LIKE IT
A Musical Adaptation of William Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT
Adapted by Shaina Taub & Laurie Woolery
Music and Lyrics by Shaina Taub
November 13-22, 2025
Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre
DARLING
By Harley Brooke Walker
February 5-15, 2026
Studio Theatre
THREE MUSKETEERS: 1941
By Megan Monaghan Rivas
March 6-14, 2026
Nafe Katter Theatre
COMEDY TONIGHT!
AN EVENING OF ONE ACTS
April 23-May 3, 2026
Studio Theatre
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C oSt rs★
Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts
2025 - 2026 Co-Chairs: Shareen Hertel & Donald Swinton
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Join the CoStars, Jorgensen’s Active Volunteers!
The CoStars is a special group of volunteers who generously donate not only $750 per person, but also their talent and time. The invaluable CoStars support Jorgensen through community advocacy by creative fund-raising activities, and by hosting pre- and post-concert receptions that often feature world-class luminaries. The CoStars have been instrumental in the purchase of the new portable chamber stage and acoustical shell, a new Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano, funding the JOY! Conservatory Program, the installation of the exterior Jorgensen message center, the renovation of the Jorgensen Gallery, and continued support of Jorgensen programming. By becoming a CoStar, you’ll join with other vibrant, thoughtful and devoted arts lovers who have made Jorgensen’s success a priority.
CoStars receive an honorary membership in the Jorgensen Circle of Friends at the Producers Circle level. Benefits include early ticket ordering privileges for one full year from the date of enrollment; reserved lower-level parking in the North Garage, providing a speedier exit after each Jorgensen event; and recognition in the Jorgensen playbill.
As a Special Thank You... An Invitation to the CoStars
CoStar members receive an exclusive invitation to attend the Annual Sneak Peek hosted by Jorgensen Director Rodney Rock. This party offers attendees an exciting preview of the coming season – prior to the public announcement. Join the CoStars and be the first to know what’s new!
If you are interested in becoming a CoStar, please contact Rodney Rock at 860-486-1983, or by e-mail at rodney.rock@uconn.edu.
Jorgensen
Circle of Friends 2024-2025
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We invite you to join Jorgensen’s Circle of Friends, a group of generous arts supporters who over the years have made vital contributions to Jorgensen’s special projects, commissioned works, and interior restorations. Your membership in the Circle of Friends entitles you to early ticket ordering privileges for one full year from the date of your enrollment; you will be recognized in the Jorgensen Playbill; and if you contribute at the Directors or Producers Circle levels, you will enjoy reserved parking in the North Campus Parking Garage for each Jorgensen performance you attend.
Please consider making your tax-deductible donation and become a Circle of Friends member today. Simply call 860-486-4226 for more information.
Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges the support of its Friends.
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$1,000 & above/couple
Elena Sevilla & Paul Aho*
Mona & Greg Anderson*
Marianne Barton*
Deborah Walsh Bellingham*
In Memory of Dr. Bruce A. Bellingham*
Honey & Harry Birkenruth*
Ruth Buczynski*
Carol Colombo*
In Memory of Maurice Thompson*
Michael Cucka
Susan & John DeWolf*
Ana Lena Fidantsef & Paulo H. Verardi*
Ms. Joan N. Gionfriddo
Stan & Sandy Hale*
Judy & Peter Halvorson*
Patricia Hempel*
Shareen Hertel & Donald Swinton*
Jan Huber*
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Janet & George Jones*
Lin & Waldo Klein*
James Knox*
Ann Kouatly*
Becky & Scott Lehmann*
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Gene Likens & Leola Spilbor*
Tom Martin & Susan Spiggle
Margarethe & Matthew Mashikian*
Hon. Denise Merrill
Antonia Moran*
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Barbara Rhein & Stan Shaw
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Bonnie Ryan
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Nancy & John Silander*
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In memory of
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Additional support provided by the following donors
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*Campaign for the Grand Honorary Committee
Jorgensen Outreach for Youth
Funded through private contributions as well as corporate support, JOY! provides school-age children, many from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with access to live performances and special enrichment programs. Now in its 16th season, the JOY! Conservatory program offers instrumental and vocal students in grades 9-12 the opportunity for a rigorous course of study including private lessons, ensemble rehearsals and coaching, and basic musicianship courses. For more information, contact Jorgensen director Rodney Rock at 860-486-1983.
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Lenard Chamber Music Endowment Fund
The Lenard Chamber Series is made possible through the generosity of longtime patrons Jean and John Lenard and the Lenard Chamber Music Endowment.
Thanks to the generous philanthropy of patrons Jean and John Lenard, chamber music, one of the hallmarks and most dearly loved elements of the programming at Jorgensen, is secure well into the future. Also thanks to the Lenard Endowment, UConn students, non-UConn students, and area youth are invited to attend all chamber music events for free.
Please join this giving community and make your contribution today.
To make a gift, contact Jorgensen Director Rodney Rock at rodney.rock@uconn.edu or 860-486-1983, or visit jorgensen.uconn.edu/online/article/lenard-endowment.
Jean & John Lenard
Elena Sevilla & Paul Aho
Greg & Mona Anderson
Deborah Walsh Bellingham
Ruth Buczynski
Carol Colombo
Anne D’Alleva
Kenneth Doeg
Judy & Peter Halvorson
Patricia Hempel
George & Janet Jones
Carol & David Jordan
Lin & Waldo Klein
James Knox
June & Henry Krisch
Becky & Scott Lehmann
Shoshana Levinson & Chris Crossgrove
Julia J. & Carl W. Lindquist, MD
Joan & Austin McGuigan
Jane & Robert Moskowitz
Lauren & Eric Prause
Donald Shankweiler & Ruth Garrett Millikan
John & Nancy Silander
Beverly Sims & William Okeson
Kenneth & Janet Slavett
Marilyn & Arthur Wright
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 7:30 pm Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts
The Lenard Chamber Music Series Les Arts Florissants with Théotime Langlois de Swarte
PROGRAM NOTES
A colorful figure in fascinating Baroque Venice who captivated audiences with his extravagance and virtuoso violin playing, Antonio Vivaldi is one of the most influential musicians of 18th-century Europe.
Born in Venice in 1678, Vivaldi quickly became violin master, choirmaster and then concert master at the Ospedale della Pietà. There, he explored a wide range of musical activity, demonstrating an incomparable talent, notably in the invention of the solo concerto, which enchanted 18th-century musical Europe and inspired virtually all subsequent composers. His career also flourished in opera, particularly at the San Angelo theater in Venice, but also in Mantua, Rome and Vienna.
The Four Seasons, whose 300th anniversary we are celebrating today, played an essential role in the composer’s fame. With its descriptive and imaginative writing, this work anticipates the programmatic music that would prevail among later Romantic-era composers, and even included descriptive sonnets to help illustrate the music for performers and listeners. For violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte it embodies the essence of spirituality, a metaphysical work evoking life and death, with moments of great gentleness as well as extreme violence. Through his interpretation Théotime seeks to capture the drama characteristic of Venetian arts: expressive density, operatic and theatrical emotion, and jubilant energy.
The works complementing the Seasons on our program serve to highlight musicians who influenced Vivaldi’s approach, and one he in turn inspired.
The transcription of Claudio Monteverdi’s Adoramus te SV 289 is closely linked to Vivaldi’s childhood, when he accompanied his father, a musician in the San Marco orchestra which Monteverdi previously directed. The work also embodies the liturgical vocal style specific to Venice, as well as the city’s theatrical and musical environment. In a way, it represents Vivaldi’s musical DNA, upon which he built his virtuosity, notably through the abundance of repeated notes.
The Madrigalesco from Vivaldi’s Concerto for strings and continuo RV 129 is composed in the “antico” style. Its presence here establishes an interesting connection between Monteverdi and Uccellini, revealing the extent to which the influences of the masters shaped Vivaldi’s new style.
If Monteverdi marks the beginning of Vivaldi’s musical journey, Marco Uccellini’s Bergamasca reveals the origin of his instrumental repertoire. A pioneer in the art of violin and sonata composition, Uccellini exerted a decisive influence on the young Vivaldi. This dance, based on a popular theme with variations, also celebrated the art of improvisation, an element dear to the Venetians and to the composer throughout his life.
Vivaldi’s Concerto in D minor RV 813 was one of his earliest written for the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. All the hallmarks of Vivaldi’s style are already present: joy, virtuosity, theatricality, exaltation. The popularity of this concerto is also due to Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterly transcription for keyboard.
Francesco Geminiani’s Follia from Concerto XII in D minor, a transcription of Corelli’s treatment of this famous Baroque-era theme, illustrates the lineage of three Italian masters. Corelli, whose groundbreaking Op. 5 (concluding with Follia and published in 1700) – was an inspirational figure to the young Vivaldi. And Geminiani’s Follia, published in 1729, was almost certainly influenced by the appearance of Vivaldi’s Op. 8 just four years prior. It also highlights the particularly lively and joyful spirit inherent to the art of the concerto, which Geminiani had undoubtedly heard in many of Vivaldi’s works.
Vivaldi’s Overture to La Fida Ninfa in F major RV 714 evokes the Teatro San Angelo and shows how opera influenced Vivaldi’s instrumental music, offering extraordinary vocality. Opera also enabled him to create dramatic interactions between instruments, where brilliance, impetuosity, sensuality and seduction blend harmoniously in the soundscape.
The “Grave” movement from Vivaldi’s Concerto in B flat major RV 370 is an unfinished piece, built on an ostinato chromatic bass. Théotime Langlois de Swarte has completed it here; a tribute from a young violinist to his illustrious elder.
When published in 1725 nobody could imagine Vivaldi’s Opus 8, Nos. 1-4 (The Four Seasons) would become perhaps the most frequently heard music of all time. Vivaldi’s singular genius continues to inspire artists the world over, as demonstrated by this concert of Les Arts Florissants led by violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte. As this great Vivaldi performer and loyal member of Les Arts Florissants puts it: “For one of the best-known composers in Western music, it is astonishing there are still so many facets to explore.”
— Copyright 2024 by Fannie Vernaz
Sonnets published in the first edition of The Four Seasons
These Sonnets appeared in the first edition of The Four Seasons published in 1725. Many assume they were penned by Vivaldi, although nobody is certain. They nevertheless must have been important to the composer.
SPRING
Allegro
Springtime is upon us.
The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.
Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.
Allegro
Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath spring’s beautiful canopy.
SUMMER
Allegro non molto
Under a hard season, fired up by the sun
Languishes man, languishes the flock and burns the pine
We hear the cuckoo’s voice; then sweet songs of the turtledove and finch are heard. Soft breezes stir the air, but threatening the North Wind sweeps them suddenly aside.
The shepherd trembles, fearing violent storms and his fate.
Adagio e piano – Presto e forte
The fear of lightning and fierce thunder
Robs his tired limbs of rest
As gnats and flies buzz furiously around.
Presto Alas, his fears were justified
The Heavens thunder and roar and with hail
Cut the head off the wheat and damages the grain.
AUTUMN
Allegro
Celebrates the peasant, with songs and dances, The pleasure of a bountiful harvest. And fired up by Bacchus’ liquor, many end their revelry in sleep.
Adagio molto
Everyone is made to forget their cares and to sing and dance By the air which is tempered with pleasure And (by) the season that invites so many, many Out of their sweetest slumber to fine enjoyment
Allegro
The hunters emerge at the new dawn, And with horns and dogs and guns depart upon their hunting The beast flees and they follow its trail; Terrified and tired of the great noise Of guns and dogs, the beast, wounded, threatens Languidly to flee, but harried, dies.
WINTER
Allegro non molto
To tremble from cold in the icy snow, In the harsh breath of a horrid wind; To run, stamping one’s feet every moment, Our teeth chattering in the extreme cold
Largo
Before the fire to pass peaceful, Contented days while the rain outside pours down.
Allegro
We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling. Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up. We feel the chill north winds course through the home despite the locked and bolted doors... this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delights.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 7:30 pm
University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts
Deanna Fitzgerald, Dean Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts
Rodney Rock, Director presents
PROGRAM
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300 Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
Allegro - Adagio - Allegro - Adagio - Andante e piano - Largo – Allegro
Vivaldi
The Four Seasons:
Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, "Spring" (La primavera) Vivaldi
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" (L'estate) Vivaldi
I. Allegro non molto
II. Adagio
III. Presto
—INTERMISSION—
Overture to “La Fida Ninfa” (“The Faithful Nymph”) in F-Major, FV 714 Vivaldi
Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, "Autumn" (L'autunno) Vivaldi
I. Allegro
II. Adagio molto
III. Allegro
Grave from Violin Concerto in Bb-Major, RV 370 Vivaldi
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno) Vivaldi
I. Allegro non molto
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin soloist
Violin I
Augusta McKay Lodge, leader
Valentine Pinardel
Amandine Solano
Magdalena Sypniewski
Violin II
Roxana Rastegar
Yaoré Talibart
Lydia Becker
Alyssa Campbell Viola
Lucia Peralta
Nicolas Fromonteil
Cello
Elena Andreyev
Magdalena Probe
Double Bass
Alexandre Teyssonnière de Gramont
Harpsichord
Benoît Hartoin
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie, Founder and Musical Director
Paul Agnew, Musical Co-director
An ensemble of singers and instrumentalists specializing in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments, Les Arts Florissants are renowned the world over. Founded in 1979 by the Franco-American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie, the Ensemble, named for a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, has played a pioneering role in the revival of a Baroque repertoire that had long been neglected (including the rediscovery of countless treasures in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France). Today that repertoire is widely performed and admired: not only French music from the reign of Louis XIV, but also more generally European music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 2007, the Ensemble is also conducted by the British tenor Paul Agnew, who was appointed Musical Co-director of Les Arts Florissants in 2019.
Each season Les Arts Florissants give around 100 concerts and opera performances in France—at the Philharmonie de Paris, where they are artists in residence, the Théâtre de Caen, the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Château de Versailles, as well as at numerous festivals—and are an active ambassador for French culture abroad, being regularly invited to New York, London, Edinburgh, Brussels, Vienna, Salzburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Moscow, and elsewhere.
Since the 1987 production of Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique in Paris, which was triumphantly revived in May 2011, it has been on the opera stage that Les Arts Florissants have enjoyed their greatest successes. Notable productions include works by Rameau (Les Indes galantes, Hippolyte et Aricie, Les Boréades, Les Paladins, Platée), Lully and Charpentier (Médée, David et Jonathas, Les Arts florissants, Armide), Handel (Orlando, Acis and Galatea, Semele, Alcina, Serse, Hercules, L’Allegro, il Penseroso
ed il Moderato), Purcell (King Arthur, Dido and Aeneas, The Fairy Queen), Mozart (The Magic Flute, Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Monteverdi (his opera trilogy), but also by composers who are less frequently played, such as Landi (Il Sant’Alessio), Cesti (Il Tito), Campra (Les Fêtes vénitiennes) and Hérold (Zampa).
For their theater productions, Les Arts Florissants have called on the talents of some of the greatest stage directors, including Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Carsen, Adrian Noble, Andrei Serban, Luc Bondy, Deborah Warner, David McVicar, Claus Guth and Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff, as well as on renowned choreographers such as Béatrice Massin, Ana Yepes, Jirí Kylián, Blanca Li, Trisha Brown, Robyn Orlin, José Montalvo, Françoise Denieau, Dominique Hervieu and Mourad Merzouki.
Les Arts Florissants enjoy an equally high profile in the concert hall, as illustrated by their many acclaimed concert or semistaged performances of operas and oratorios (Rameau’s Zoroastre, Anacréon and Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Charpentier’s Actéon and La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers, Campra’s Idoménée and Mozart’s Idomeneo, Montéclair’s Jephté, Rossi’s L’Orfeo and Handel’s Giulio Cesare with Cecilia Bartoli as well as his Messiah, Theodora, Susanna, Jephtha and Belshazzar), their secular and sacred chamber-music programs (petits motets by Lully and Charpentier, madrigals by Monteverdi and Gesualdo, court airs by Lambert, hymns by Purcell, among others) and their approach to large-scale works (particularly the grands motets by Rameau, Mondonville, Campra and Charpentier, as well as Handel’s Messiah and J.S. Bach’s Matthew’s and John’s Passion).
The Ensemble has produced an impressive discography: nearly 100 recordings (CD and DVD) and its own collection in collaboration with harmonia mundi directed by William Christie and Paul Agnew.
In recent years, Les Arts Florissants have launched several education programs for young musicians. The most emblematic is the Academy of Le Jardin des Voix: created in 2002, it is held
every two years and has already brought a substantial number of new singers into the limelight. The Arts Flo Juniors program, launched in 2007, enables conservatory students to join the orchestra and chorus for the length of a production, from the first day of rehearsals up to the final performance. And then there is the partnership between William Christie, Les Arts Florissants and New York's Juilliard School of Music, which since 2007 has allowed a fruitful artistic exchange between the U.S. and France. Launched in 2021, a yearly program of masterclasses in Thiré (Vendée, Pays de la Loire) comes to complete this panel of programs with short working sessions led by William Christie and Paul Agnew, to help young professionals improve their skills.
Les Arts Florissants also organize numerous events aimed at building new audiences. Linked to each year’s concert program, they are designed for both amateur musicians and non-musicians, adults as much as children.
In 2012, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants created the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, in partnership with the Conseil départemental de la Vendée. An annual event, the festival brings together artists from Les Arts Florissants, pupils from the Juilliard School and finalists from Le Jardin des Voix for concerts and promenades musicales in the gardens created by William Christie at Thiré, in the Vendée. In addition to the festival, Les Arts Florissants are working with the endowment fund Les Jardins de Musique de William Christie towards the creation of a permanent cultural venue in Thiré. In 2017, following a decision by the French Ministry of Culture, Les Arts Florissants has been awarded the national label « Centre culturel de Rencontre », which distinguishes projects associating creation, patrimony and transmission. In 2018, Les Arts Florissants becomes the Foundation Les Arts Florissants – William Christie.
Les Arts Florissants receives financial support from the State — the Regional Direction of Cultural Affairs (DRAC), the Département de la Vendée and the Région Pays de la Loire. The Selz Foundation is their Principal Sponsor. Aline Foriel-Destezet and the American
Friends of Les Arts Florissants are Major Sponsors. Les Arts Florissants has been ensemble in residence at the Philharmonie de Paris and is recognized as a “Heritage Site for Culture”.
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
“Performances so special that I feel a changed man from listening” [Gramophone]; “A stunner by any standard” [The Strad]; and “Mesmerizing” [The New Yorker] – these represent common reactions upon encountering violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte, who is rapidly emerging as a much sought-after violin soloist (on both baroque and modern instruments), chamber musician, recitalist, and conductor.
Recognition has come in the form of major awards, including the 2022 “Diapason D’or of the year” for his recording of Vivaldi, Locatelli, and Leclair concertos (harmonia mundi), and the 2022 “Ambassador of the Year” award from the European Early Music Network (REMA), along with multiple additional recording awards and a February, 2022 cover story in The Strad magazine.
In solo appearances on both Baroque and modern violin, de Swarte regularly offers concertos by all of the Baroque masters, along with those of Haydn and Mozart. He has appeared with Les Arts Florissants, Le Consort, Orchestre de l’Opera Royal, Holland Baroque, The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Les Ombres, and Orchestre National de Lorraine. His engagements have brought him to prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna’s Musikverein, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Hall, and the Shanghai National Art Center.
Théotime Langlois de Swarte studied at the Paris Conservatory under Michael Hentz, and became a regular member of Les Arts Florissants at William Christie’s invitation in 2014, while still a student. He has since appeared as soloist with the ensemble, and will perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with them on North
American tours in spring and fall, 2025. He has also appeared in recital with William Christie, including a 2021 recording of sonatas by Leclair and Senaille (Generations on harmonia mundi).
As co-founder - with harpsichordist Justin Taylor - of the baroque ensemble Le Consort, de Swarte can be heard on numerous highly-acclaimed recordings including Specchio Veneziano, Opus 1, and Philarmonica, all on Alpha Classics. Le Consort has performed widely throughout Europe, and their debut North American tours in 23/24 included Montreal, Boston, Washington, Kansas City, Berkeley, Chicago, St. Paul, Louisville, New Orleans, Vancouver, and Ottawa.
Besides William Christie, frequent recital collaborators include harpsichordist Justin Taylor and lute player Thomas Dunford, with whom he recorded a much-praised album titled The Mad Lover. Another notable recording, A Concert at the Time of Proust, was made on the newly-restored Davidoff Stradivarius at the Philharmonie de Paris Museum. His most recent recording –Antonio Vivaldi Concerti per una vita (harmonia mundi) –has garnerd wide acclaim, and early 2025 marks the release of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the work’s publication.
Alongside his instrumental work, de Swarte is emerging as a conductor. In 2023 he led performances at l’Opera Comique of Lully’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (with Les Musiciens du Louvre at Marc Minkowski’s invitation) and Gretry’s Zemire et Azor (at Louis Langrée’s invitation). He returns to l’Opera Comique to lead Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride in November, 2025.
Théotime Langlois de Swarte is a laureate of the Banque Populaire Foundation. He plays a violin of Carlo Bergonzi (1733) on generous loan from an anonymous patron.
A unique exhibition of Rock ‘n’ Roll memorabilia from the archives of editor, journalist, and radio disc jockey Ken Best Sat, Sep 27 – Sat, Dec 6 SCAN HERE FOR INFO
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135A Storrs Road, Mansfield• 860.786.7870
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