Jon Ciliberto | 22 OCT 2024
Lauda Musicam of Atlanta was formed in 2009 by members of the defunct Emory Early Music Ensemble, which had its roots in the 1960s, and its foundation by George Kelischek. The group’s founding members responded to a need to provide performance opportunities for amateur early musicians in the Atlanta area, creating what would soon be one of the largest performing early music ensembles in the Southeast.
I asked Lauda Musicam’s director, Jody Miller, about their upcoming season:
JM: I don’t know what the future holds, but a group in Austin, Texas, just formed “Lauda Musicam of Austin.” While not officially connected to our Atlanta organization, they consult with me and plan concerts that are similar to ours. I have traveled to Austin to conduct and rehearse their group several times, and I even conducted them for their inaugural concert in 2023. The Austin group (LMATX) was started by two Lauda Musicam of Atlanta members (LMA) who moved to Austin and missed having this type of opportunity. Interestingly, one of the discussion topics at last October’s Early Music America Summit was community engagement in early music. We’re doing our part and I hope this is a trend that continues across the country.
JC: Will any new musicians perform in the upcoming season?
JM: We almost always have a few new members. What many people don’t realize is that we rehearse on Monday evenings as an ensemble, but we also have an online version of LMA on Tuesday evenings. People from all over the country (and beyond) can join. We rehearse the concert music online using multitrack recordings and careful instruction. For each concert, the online participants are invited to travel to Atlanta and perform with us. Several do each time and we’ve had folks from New York, St. Louis, Austin, Nashville, and other locales.
JC: How many members are there?
JM: Officially, we have nearly 70 members. Of these, about half are in the in-person ensemble, and half are online members.
JC: My sense is that Lauda is as much a community as a musical ensemble. There is a long historical intermingling of “professional” and “amateur” groups. Where do you see Lauda in all of this?
JM: True words! For many of our players, this is their sole musical outlet. For others, it’s just one musical group they perform with. Within the ensembles, some of the homogenous instrumental groups (crumhorns, violas da gamba, brass, flutes) meet separately outside the regular ensemble. They play music on the concerts and we also give them more stage time at our annual Chamber concert (this year set for February 8). We’ve also participated in some of the farmers markets intown to hold instrument demos; we’ve also played for the Midtown International School Winter Arts Festival. Lauda music is an amateur ensemble, but it must be one of the highest quality groups of its kind. Several of our members have gone on to perform with professional ensembles, making me feel great that LMA can serve as a sort of training program for people whose sights are set beyond amateur music making.
JC: Will there be any lute works, especially solo, this season?
JM: Unfortunately, we have no lute players in the group, but we do have two that are learning. We have a Baroque guitar player, but this concert is likely to not need Baroque guitar.
JC: When is your once-monthly worship performance at Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church?
JM: This season we play preludes prior to the 10:30 services on November 3, February 9, March 16, and May 4. We will also play for the full 10:30 pm Christmas Eve service at St. Bartholomew’s.
I also posed some questions for all the members, which Mr. Miller distributed:
- What works are you learning? What styles do you enjoy and which styles present the most challenges?
- In a few words or sentences, how would you characterize the personality of Lauda Musicam? What are your main motivations for participation?
Here are some of the responses:
- From Joanne Mei (LMA Board President):
1. Preparing for each LMA concert is such a challenge and a joy. The music we play is hundreds of years old and it’s a blast learning not only how to play to the music but also trying to master it on historical reproductions of instruments. These instruments don’t behave like modern instruments, and you have to understand their limitations. Our Director, Jody Miller, is a conductor and educator. He does an amazing job of explaining how to play different styles and I think we manage fairly well for being a community ensemble of amateur musicians. I really enjoy Renaissance dances. The church controlled so much of daily life during this period, but composers and musicians found ways for people to have fun. Percussion added to Renaissance music makes it very sensual. I am learning the Renaissance flute, which is basically a wooden tube with an embouchure hole and six holes without keys. It is very difficult to tune, and each note needs to be tuned individually. It is the most challenging instrument I have ever played.2. An enthusiastic ensemble of musicians who love early music and historical instruments. I am always disappointed when I watch a historical movie, but the soundtrack contains no period music or the music played is played with modern instruments. It seems lazy.I spend all day telling people what to do. It’s refreshing to participate in a LMA rehearsal where someone else is telling me what to do and I enjoy it!
- From Barbara Bowman (Atlanta, GA):
1. I’m increasingly fascinated by the diversity of our repertoire. Gaining an appreciation of how the musical styles, harmonies, instrumentation, and sonorities developed and evolved over time and geographically makes music a lens for understanding this key historical period. With Lauda’s brass, viols, flutes, capped reeds, and percussion extending its musical range beyond that of a recorder orchestra, performance practice becomes even more important, also exciting.2. Lauda and its immediate predecessor have for decades maintained a welcoming, positive learning culture, without the cliques or competitiveness that too often derail amateur music groups. Players become friends making music together, building human and musical connections. Jody’s leadership, musicianship, humor, perspective, patience, and appropriate impatience continue to raise the musicality and cohesiveness of the larger ensemble as well as the specialty sections.
- From Cathy Slowik (John’s Creek, GA):
The most challenging part of Lauda isn’t necessarily the music but learning to listen. It’s a whole new language! It’s also great to have the chance to learn to play a variety of instruments, even the cornamuse.
- From Karl Rehmer (participates online from Mt. Juliet, TN):
I am one of the online (Zoom) participants, and I often travel to Atlanta for the rehearsal day and the performance.1. Jody does an excellent job with the Zoom sessions. First, he makes excellent recordings of the pieces that we will be playing and they are used during the rehearsals and can also be downloaded for individual rehearsal. In addition, the rehearsal sessions are recorded and can be watched for rehearsal and to revisit the playing information given. These online sessions allow us to be well prepared for the rehearsal day and then the performance. I will add the many of the online participants do not go to Atlanta for the performances, but get great tutoring on a number of different styles of music. Each semester, Lauda Musicam has a theme in the music it is rehearsing and performing. As such, we learn a great deal about how a particular style of music is played. The emphasis is not on merely playing the piece, but on giving it a proper interpretation that is appropriate for the style of music. This emphasis on style and technique is one of the most valuable things.2. I would say that the style of Lauda Musicam is friendly and accepting. There is no audition for joining, so players of different levels (and also of many different instruments) are welcome. Whenever we go to Atlanta, we are warmly greeted and accepted.I have two main reasons for participating in Lauda Musicam. First is that Jody Miller is an excellent leader and picks out some interesting music for us to play. The second is that while I play in a number of small groups, Lauda Musicam provides the opportunity to play in a large ensemble that has a variety of instrumentation.
- From Darcy Douglas (Ball Ground, GA):
One of the interesting things about this group of musicians is the variety of careers, abilities, and styles of the participants. Our career choices vary greatly — what we have in common is love of early music and the ability to make music in our different ways. Our director is quite flexible, incorporating different skill levels and the various instruments we play to make things work with the music choices each season. That flexibility keeps this fun and rewarding for us all!
- From Geoff Boyer (Decatur, GA):
1. I am learning that the desire to be a lifelong-learner is relentlessly challenged by the aging process. I am learning to grapple with the complexities of multiple instruments, fingerings and their variations, more archaic notation systems, and the peculiarities of capped reeds. I am also learning how fortunate we are here in north Georgia to have access to a host of resources like the Atlanta Early Music Alliance, and just across the border in North Carolina: the Kelischek Workshop for Historical Instruments, and the Mountain Collegium.2. My conviction and experience is that most musical organizations are shaped by the enduring characteristics and behavior of their director’s personality, and that is likely more true for a founding director. LMA therefore embodies a passion for teaching that is eager to promote a thoughtful and practiced understanding of early music along with the knowledge and skill to perform it well on period instruments. Since retiring and moving to the Atlanta area more than a decade ago, my wife and I found a warm welcome and ready acceptance into both Lauda, and its host congregation, for the reclaiming of our own passions for musical performance both vocal and instrumental. Participation in each of these organizations seems to have been a tailor-made way for us to transition into a new community and our new life of retirement.
- From Laurie Meyers (Decatur, GA):
1. The German pieces that we are learning are quite interesting and differ style wise from other pieces we have played. I really enjoy the focus on the style points as something I have not been exposed to in the past. Though I am familiar with Pretorious the other composers I have not really been exposed to, and I am glad for this opportunity.2. Lauda is a high-level performance group in my opinion, with expected work to be done outside of the weekly practice. The members are very encouraging, inclusive, and willing to share what they know, along with sharing music, a stand, or pencil where needed.
- From Linda Rising (Mt. Juliet, TN):
1. I’ve been playing recorder for nearly 60 years but I have learned more since being a part of Lauda than in all my previous time of playing. OK, that might not be true, but the scale is definitely tipped in that direction. Jody brings expertise and information about history, language, musical style, ornamentation, technique, all rolled up into one 90 minute session. Most of the time I can just jump in and do it but there’s always at least one piece where I have to work hard. I appreciate that. The challenges are usually in timing and fast notes.2. The folks in Lauda are really good, hard working and concerned. I feel privileged to be a remote part of the group and will continue to Zoom in as long as the online rehearsals continue. It’s a lot of work for Jody — making recordings and taking time for an extra rehearsal. He does it all with good humor and patience. We love him.- From Andrea Reiter (East Stroudsburg, PA):
1. I am learning a lot about Renaissance music performance practice. At the moment, I am working on getting from duple rhythm to triple rhythm smoothly as well as making proper phrases and articulations. I am also working on learning all the parts of the pieces so that I could change lines and instruments smoothly and easily. The style of music that I most enjoy is Renaissance, with Medieval and Baroque being close seconds.2. The personality of LMA, as far as I could tell, is that of people who are serious about early music and who want to play it very well no matter how much practice it takes. My main motivations for doing this fit in with the character of the group as I see it. All the music in my favorite musical eras is challenging. Each era, though, presents joys and hurdles unique to itself.See Lauda Musicam’s season details below, or visit laudamusicam.org for more information. ■
Lauda Musicam of Atlanta 2024-25 Concert Season
- Sunday, November 3, 2024, at 3:00 pm: A Musical Banquet: Celebrating the Sounds of Germany
- Sunday, December 24, times TBD: LMA performs as part of St. Bart’s Christmas Eve services
- Saturday, February 8, 2025, at 7:00 pm: Lauda Musicam Chamber Concert
- Sunday, March 16, 2025, at 3:00 pm: Perform as part of the Atlanta Recorder Society Consort Day, Location TBD.
- Sunday, May 4, 2025, at 3:00 pm: The Ties that Bind
- Monday, June 2, 2025, 7:00–8:30 pm: LMA Annual Member Meeting and Playing Session. The Annual Member Meeting is open to both members and non-members for no fee.
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Lauda Musicam of Atlanta: laudamusicam.org
This entry was posted in Education & Community, Symphony & Opera and tagged Jody Miller, Lauda Musicam of Atlanta on .About the author:Jon Ciliberto is an attorney, writes about music and the arts, makes music, draws, and strives at being a barely functional classical guitarist.
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