Nash Baroque: French Baroque Treasures with Soprano Victoria Fraser

With Victoria Fraser, soprano; Vicki Melin, traverso; Pauline Kempf, baroque violin; Farley Pearce, viola da gamba; Matthew Xie, theorbo, lute

Artist Profiles

Victoria Fraser is an Alaska-born soprano and composer.  Fluent in multiple languages, Victoria holds dual Irish & United States citizenship.  She has performed to acclaim throughout the world including: under Paul Flight; San Francisco new music ensemble, with Robert Geary; the Vocalensemble Frankfurt Dom, in Frankfurt, Germany; the Berwick Chamber Chorus at the as chorus member and step-out soloist; grammy-nominated under Eric Holtan in Tucson, Arizona; , directed by Noah Horn in Detroit, Michigan; Il Coro del Duomo in Florence, Italy as a soloist and in the chorus; and the choir in Thuringia, Germany.  She has sung under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, Helmut Rilling, Matthew Halls, John Nelson, JoAnn Falletta, Craig Hella Johnson, Jeffrey Thomas and Kathy Romey.  Victoria is a featured soloist on 10 time Grammy-winning Jazz trumpeter , Emerson Eads’ album, and on ’s release of newly composed works.

 Victoria holds a Bachelor’s  degree in Music from where she graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and with high honors. She went on to complete a Master of Music in vocal performance from the , and a where she studied under Kiera Duffy and Stephen Lancaster. She completed the program at the University of Limerick, Ireland where she also studied Irish song with , , and Eamonn Costello. https://www.victoriafrasersoprano.com/about

Vicki Melin Baroque and Renaissance Flutes, has performed in early music groups throughout the U.S. and the Bay area such as the American Bach Soloists, with the ABS Academy in the San Francisco Bach Festival, Voices of Music, Musica Angelica (L.A.), Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, California Bach Society, Jubilate Orchestra, MUSA, and her ensemble, Nash Baroque. Ms Melin attended Boston University for her Masters of Music, studying with Christopher Krueger and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Hague, The Netherlands, where she received an Advanced Diploma in Performance, studying with Wilbert Hazelzet.  She has performed with early music orchestras and chamber ensembles in the United States, The Netherlands, Italy, and is a frequent  guest soloist with International Organ and Chamber Music Festivals in Poland.  Ms. Melin lives in San Francisco and teaches baroque flute privately and at UC Berkeley. https://www.nashbaroque.org/founders

Originally from Paris, France, Pauline Kempf is now based in San Francisco where she studied baroque violin with Elizabeth Blumenstock at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In June 2022 Pauline was selected to participate in EMA’s Emerging Artist Showcase and performed an all 17th century program during the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition. She was recently invited by the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and the Oregon Bach Festival to perform the “Spring” season by Vivaldi as a soloist. She is a co-founder of Ensemble Affect and frequently performs with several other period instrumental ensembles such as Third Coast Baroque, Haymarket Opera Company, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and Lumedia Musicworks.  Pauline hold musical degrees from the Music Universities of Geneva and Vienna and received her Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University.

Award winning historical plucked string specialist, Matthew Xie focuses on the repertoire of the theorbo,lute, baroque guitar and 19th century guitar.  He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Taiwan.  Matthew has recently graduated magna cum laude with a Masters in Historical performance Lute/Theorbo degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, The Hague under the mentorship of Joachim Held and Mike Fentross.  Matthew also holds graduate and bachelor degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and UC Irvine. Matthew is currently active in San Francisco Bay Area as a continuo player, chamber musician, soloist, instructor and clinician. https://www.sirplucksalot.com/

Farley Pearce is a performer on both the various sizes of viola da gamba and the baroque cello. As a cellist he has performed widely in the Southeastern region of the US, most notably with the Spoleto Festival, with whom he has also played in Italy. For five years he was a member of the Charleston Pro Musica, and he has performed as a recitalist in Brazil and Uruguay. Since moving to San Francisco Farley has been an active free-lance performer with many of California’s orchestras and chamber ensembles. In the Bay Area he has performed on viola da gamba, violone, and baroque cello with Magnificat, the Jubilate Baroque Orchestra, the Sex Chordæ Consort of Viols, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Airs and Graces, and many other period instrument groups.

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• Hand sanitizer will be available, and is encouraged.
• Whenever weather permits, we will ventilate our spaces to the maximum degree possible, and employ the use of air purifiers.
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Event Venue

St Alban's Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Avenue, Albany, United States