Music From St. Mark's presents: Parker Ramsay performing Bach's 'Goldberg Variations'
Free
- Parker Ramsay, harp
Music from St. Mark’s presents outstanding young American harpist Parker Ramsay in a live performance of J.S. Bach’s masterful Goldberg Variations. The work will be performed in its entirety in the acoustically vibrant sanctuary of St. Mark's historic downtown church.
Long known as an iconic work for piano or harpsichord, Ramsay chose the Variations as the repertoire for his debut recording, released in 2020, to "... show the world that the harp is an instrument of beauty, sincerity, and transcendence, standing alongside the keyboards and string instruments as a worthy vehicle for the music of J.S. Bach." It also captures the best elements of the two instruments traditionally used to perform the Variations: "the raw pluckiness of the harpsichord, but with the expressive qualities of the piano," says Ramsay. Commenting on the recording, the Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page notes, "[Parker Ramsay’s new recording] is both brainy and beautiful, its easy-on-the-ear timbres stimulating, paradoxically, an even more intense analysis than usual."
Parker Ramsay is a performer, writer, and public speaker. Equally at home on modern and period harps, he spends his time tackling new and underperformed works and bringing the instrument to new audiences. He regularly commissions and premieres new works, co-directs A Golden Wire, a period instrument ensemble based in New York, and has been published in VAN Magazine, Early Music America Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Recordings include the Goldberg Variations and an October 2022 release featuring The Street by Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman. Ramsay holds degrees from Cambridge University (UK), Oberlin, and Juilliard, and is the first American to hold the post of Organ Scholar at King's College, Cambridge.
Music from St. Mark’s is offered free of charge to the community through the generous support of the St. Cecilia Guild of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. 315 E Pecan St – free parking available.