Mansfield Magazine: The Devil You Don’t Know

SOURCE: Mansfield Magazine

Lumedia Musicworks debuts 'The Devil You Don't Know'
The online performance showcases the work of French composer Antoine Forqueray, who was known for playing viola da gamba "like the devil."

Lumedia Musicworks will debut “The Devil You Don’t Know” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 16, online as part of its 2020-21 season. Viola da gamba player Christopher Phillpott of Dallas will perform the music of a much-neglected French composer known for playing “like the devil.” Phillpott is accompanied by Molly Hammond of Houston on harpsichord and fellow viola da gamba players Stephanie Noori of Westworth Village and Martina Kroll of Arlington. 

Tickets are $10 for adults and registration is at https://www.lumediamusicworks.com/forqueray. Student tickets are offered at no charge. The performance is available until 11:59 p.m. Friday, May 7. 

“Antoine Forqueray was a major virtuoso of the viola da gamba, and King Louis XIV was a huge fan of his music,” said Julianna Emanski of Frisco, Lumedia’s artistic director. “Forqueray and his son Jean-Baptiste, who arranged and published Antoine’s surviving work, were rock stars of their day.” Forqueray lived from 1671 to 1745.

Dallas-based nonprofit Lumedia Musicworks is committed to sharing and performing early music before 1750, and most of its 2020-21 season’s performances are online.

“There are not many concert performances of Forqueray’s music because of its difficulty,” Emanski said. “It’s rare to hear a whole concert of it, especially by an American player.” 

Phillpott performs regularly on viola da gamba and baroque and modern cello. Phillpott, who has a master’s degree in musicology from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and a certificate in early music from Florida State University, performs with Dallas Bach Society, American Baroque Opera Company and Orchestra of New Spain, as well as Austin Baroque Orchestra among others. He maintains a cello studio of more than 60 students in the Frisco Independent School District.