If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!

Iglese de Santa Barbara, Barichara, Colombia
sits on a hill overlooking the city and was the
first church built here.

Ha ha! Bad joke, but this is the Second year for the Musica Baroque en Barichara (http://la-rocinante.blogspot.com/p/programacion.html) and if you click on the link you can find out the entire program. It is in Spanish, but you'll get the general idea from the names of the composers... some of my favorites: Handel, Vivaldi, Bach and Buxtehude. (I know a few of my readers are adept in this language, so  enjoy!)

Not only do I have a chance to get dressed up a little bit (wearing sensible shoes, however) but I will have the enjoyment of listening to music that was created about the same time that Barichara was just getting started.

Friday night there was a performance in the Chapel of Santa Barbara, the first church built in this old city. The acoustics of this recently renovated historic building are quite impressive. It was well attended including various representative sponsors of the three-night event. I found it interesting that all the reserved seats were up front in the old wooden, very straight (and hard) pews. So I wasn't sad to be excluded from that august group to sit in the white plastic, somewhat form-fitting chairs instead.

Saturday evening there was another concert in the Arts Park, which is a fairly new semi-circle of local stones laid out in a form reminiscent of European amphitheatres with a broad stage that has decent acoustics even without microphones. The moon was full, a few clouds hung around it for effect and the slight cool breeze didn't stop the rocks from radiating the earlier sun-heat into our derrieres, making a soothing environment for listening to violins, oboes and harpsichords delivering music from the Baroque period. It was a night of 'free' music, drawing a fair number of families with small children, allowing exposure to music they might not otherwise have, and because of the more casual nature of the outdoor arena, the younger ones were able to get up and move about. Amazingly they were not as big a distraction as little children sometimes can be when they aren't focused on the central activity. A pleasant evening.

Today- Sunday - the final concert will be at the Iglese of San Lorenzo, also known as the Cathedral. Expecting a fairly decent crowd, I will try to find a seat closer to the front as I don't think the acoustics in the Cathedral are as good as the smaller chapel of Santa Barbara. I'm sure the reason for choosing this venue is that it will accommodate a larger crowd, it is a Sunday evening at the end of a sunny holiday weekend,  and probably - even out of boredom - lots of visitors will decide to come and listen.