Pro Musica Rara History

About Pro Musica Rara

Pro Musica Rara (it means "for music seldom heard") began in 1974, when several Baltimore Symphony Orchestra members including trumpeter Rob Roy McGregor, oboist Joseph Turner, bassoonist Phillip Kolker, and violinists Bruce Wade and Karen Clarke participated in a concert of baroque music at Mt. Vernon Methodist Church (the performance was originally to have been a trumpet recital but more music was needed.) They found that they enjoyed playing this repertoire together and began performing professionally. Later, several of the wind players acquired renaissance recorders, crumhorns, and sackbuts, etc., and formed a band that became known for Christmas concerts with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society at the Walter's Art Museum.

Splendid, ground-breaking recordings on period instruments of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg concertos were released by Nicholas Harnoncourt's Concentus Musicus Wien in 1964; the four Orchestral Suites followed in 1966; Harnoncourt's group performed in Baltimore at Evergreen House in 1967. These performances inspired several members of the BSO to buy replica baroque-style instruments made using period designs and materials, and to play tuned down to the lower pitch of the era. The antecedents of modern instruments are exceedingly difficult to learn to play and control, but their timbre and their characteristics in ensemble can be revelatory to a contemporary musician. Players in Baltimore were part of a broad, growing interest in early music and informed performance practice that transformed what had been a curiosity into what is today a normal part of the experience of a listener, conservatory student, or professional musician.

With the support of an enthusiastic board of directors that included Jack Moseley (USF&G), E. Kirkbride Miller (T. Rowe Price), James M. Kramon, Esq. and Constance Baker, Esq., Pro Musica Rara was incorporated in the late 1970's, and players started a concert series at Lovely Lane Methodist Church. The eccentricity of the venue matched the ensemble's spirit. When the church closed for renovations, concerts moved to the church of St. Michael's and All Angels and the chapel at Loyola College. In 1983, PMR moved again, to the Baltimore Museum of Art following the completion of its new 350-seat Meyerhoff Auditorium. The group remained in residence there until 2003, then for three seasons performed at Towson Presbyterian Church. PMR became artists-in-residence at Towson University in 2006. Harpsichordist Shirley Mathews was appointed the first Artistic Director in 1987, a position she held until her retirement in 2003. She was succeeded by cellist Alan Whear, the current Artistic Director.

Pro Music Rara has given more than 150 performances since 1974, presenting music that ranges from the unusual, even the bizarre, to popular masterworks, covering the period from the Renaissance to the early 19th Century. Baltimore musicians have invited specialist performers as well as luminaries like violist Joseph Silverstein and cellist Anner Bylsma to join them on stage. Players direct their own performances; there has never been a conductor at a PMR concert. These performances have delighted audiences and become a familiar part of the cultural landscape in Baltimore through the years as Pro Musica Rara musicians have explored their past with insight and panache.

Shirley Mathews, Artistic Director Emerita
Freeport, Maine
July, 2006