Sugarloaf Mountain: An Appalachian Gathering

Next tour: January 2020

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“a triumph… an absolutely joyous achievement”
–ClevelandClassical.com
Read the full review of the Cleveland premiere (originally titled “Glory on the Mountain.”)


About the Program

“Sugarloaf Mountain” is created and directed by Jeannette Sorrell, creator of Apollo’s Fire hit crossover programs “Come to the River” and “Sephardic Journey,” both Top 10 bestsellers on BILLBOARD Classical. The program has toured to New York City, the National Gallery in Washington, Pittsburgh’s Renaissance & Baroque Society, and universities up and down the East Coast, in addition to over 15 sold-out performances in Cleveland. The CD recording on British label AVIE debuted at no. 5 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart (2015). The tour program will debut in the UK and Ireland in August 2018.

Long ago, the sparkling fiddle tunes and haunting ballads of the British Isles came across the water,
taking root in the hills of Virginia.

They mingled with Southern hymns and African spirituals –
creating the soulful music we call Appalachian.

The people of the mountains raise their voices in celebration of daily life –
LOVE, SINGING, DANCING AND PRAYER.

[Download the complete program playlist, performers’ bios, and Ms. Sorrell’s program notes.]

Listen to the CD – debuted at #5 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart! (2015)

Sugarloaf Mountain

What the Critics Say

“Sorrell and a hand-picked band of eight musicians… tap into America’s hardscrabble Southern roots with grace and power… with music that asks questions about life and death, and bores into the American national psyche at visceral and emotional levels. Beautiful and eloquent… infectious energy. Every song signifies a personal response… Sorrell’s magical, rapt harpsichord riff on ‘I wonder as I wander’ reveals how profoundly spontaneous this folk music is at its core.”
– GRAMOPHONE [read the full review]

“Wonderfully fresh… exuding utter authenticity, contagious kinetic energy, and a totally free-wheeling spirit to the nth degree while shedding not a whit of their phenomenal technical polish, exemplifying the kind of art that conceals art. A must-have item; highest recommendation.”
– FANFARE Record Magazine [read the full review]

“Entirely compelling, by turns funny, tragic, and even grisly. This release should continue to gain international attention for this forward-thinking group. Sorrell, who came of age as a musician partly in the rural South, has a way with this music.”
– ALLMUSIC.COM

“Spectacularly fine singing and instrumental playing… full of energy and life. Terrific sweep from the ensemble who really swing. A first rate recording.”
– THE CLASSICAL REVIEWER, UK

“Authenticity and that most elusive of desirable qualities, exquisite taste.”
– THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

“Haunting melodies, foot-stomping jigs and reels, stories, and a healthy dose of comedy, all with musicianship of the highest order. The audience sang, clapped, shed a few tears, and laughed, ultimately enjoying a taste of the good times that our mountain forebears must have had. The program is an ingenious conception of Apollo’s Fire director Jeannette Sorrell, the fruit of considerable research… A rich tapestry of the dark, the joyful, the sad, and the humorous, all of which the deep treasury of Appalachian music encompasses. At times songs segued seamlessly into one another to add to the sense of a journey through time. The logic of song sequence and changes of moods were beautifully placed and yielded a powerful effect… An absolutely joyous achievement.”
– CLEVELANDCLASSICAL.COM

 

CLICK HERE for more Sugarloaf videos

Meet the Cast

  • AMANDA POWELL
    AMANDA POWELL
    soprano vocals
  • KATHIE STEWART
    KATHIE STEWART
    wooden flutes & penny whistle
  • ROSS HAUCK
    ROSS HAUCK
    tenor vocals
  • JEANNETTE SORRELL
    JEANNETTE SORRELL
    artistic director & harpsichord
  • TINA BERGMANN
    TINA BERGMANN
    hammered dulcimer
  • BRIAN KAY
    BRIAN KAY
    lute, guitar, banjo & long-neck dulcimer
  • SUSANNA GILMORE
    SUSANNA GILMORE
    fiddle
  • RENÉ SCHIFFER
    RENÉ SCHIFFER
    cello

“The U.S.A.’s hottest baroque band.” –CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK)

AMANDA POWELL
soprano vocals

has been praised as “the star of the evening” (Seen and Heard International, UK) and “charismatic and theatrically arresting” (San Francisco Chronicle). A highly versatile musician, she is at home in repertoire from Monteverdi to Mozart to Ravel, and has toured internationally as soloist in baroque opera, oratorio, and crossover folk programs. Her tour performances with GRAMMY®-winning baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire (Jeannette Sorrell) include such venues as the National Concert Hall of Ireland in Dublin, the Irish National Opera House, the Aldeburgh Festival (UK), the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, and Zellerbach Hall in San Francisco, among others. Her 2019 debut as Messiah soloist with the Calgary Symphony won kudos as “the soloist of the night… singing to perfection.”

As a recording artist, Ms Powell has been featured on several Apollo’s Fire albums including Sugarloaf Mountain, Sephardic Journey, and Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain, all of which received rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic and debuted in the top ten on the BILLBOARD Classical Chart. Her 2015 solo debut album, Beyond Boundaries, is an intimate program of folk, jazz, and global music. She is a fluent improvisor and has collaborated with such artists as Bobby McFerrin and Sheila Jordan.

WEBSITE

KATHIE STEWART
wooden flutes & penny whistle

is a founding member and principal flutist of Apollo’s Fire. A faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music, she is also a Kulas Visiting Artist at Case Western Reserve University, as well as Curator of Harpsichords at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she taught baroque flute for nearly 20 years. She is an avid proponent of Celtic music, playing Irish flute on several AF recordings. She has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, ARTEK, and the Bach Sinfonia in Washington, D.C.

ROSS HAUCK
tenor vocals

grew up in Ohio, but currently lives in Seattle with his wife and four children. He specializes in early music, sacred oratorio, and premieres of new works. A regular with Apollo’s Fire, Mr. Hauck has been heard as a soloist in Messiah, as Tamino in The Magic Flute, and as Johnny in the Come to the River tour, as well as being featured in the 2012 and 2013 Irish Countryside Concerts and  Sugarloaf Mountain. He has sung with the symphonies of Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Baltimore, Portland, Grand Rapids, Kansas City, and the National Symphony. An alumnus of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he undertook further training at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Aspen Festivals and at the Wolf Trap Opera Company. He can be heard on the AVIE label on the Apollo’s Fire recording of Messiah and on the Naxos label in the world premiere of the song cycle Vedem by Lori Laitman. He is also a cellist and serves as a professor of voice on the faculty of Seattle University. He frequently programs sacred concerts for churches and Christian universities, and leads an arts ministry at his church in the Northwest.

JEANNETTE SORRELL
artistic director & harpsichord

Award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell has been credited by the U.K.’s BBC Music Magazine for forging “a vibrant, life-affirming approach to the re-making of early music… a seductive vision of musical authenticity.” Sorrell made her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2013 as conductor and soloist in the complete Brandenburg Concertos. With standing ovations every night, the event was hailed as “an especially joyous occasion” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Other guest conducting engagements include the Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the New World Symphony (Miami), Utah Symphony, Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), the Opera Theatre of St. Louis with the St. Louis Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and the Houston Early Music Festival where she filled in for British conductor Richard Egarr on five days’ notice, leading the complete Brandenburg Concertos and playing the harpsichord solo in Brandenburg No. 5.

Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire record for the British label AVIE RECORDS, and have released 24 commercial CDs, of which seven have been Top 10 bestsellers on the Billboard Classical chart. Her recordings include the complete Brandenburg Concerti and harpsichord concerti (with Sorrell as harpsichord soloist and director), which was praised by the London Times as “a swaggering version… brilliantly played by Sorrell.” She has also released four discs of Mozart, and was hailed as “a near-perfect Mozartian” by Fanfare Magazine. Billboard bestsellers include the Brandenburgs, the Monteverdi Vespers, and Sorrell’s 4 crossover/folk programs: Come to the River – An Early American Gathering; Sacrum Mysterium – A Celtic Christmas Vespers; Sugarloaf Mountain – An Appalachian Gathering; and Sephardic Journey – Wanderings of the Spanish Jews.

Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious “American Masterpieces” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the research and production of early American music. Her awards include an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, the Bodky Award from the Cambridge Society of Early Music and the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, given for her work in reconstructing early American repertoire. As a teenager, Ms. Sorrell lived in the rural Shenandoah Valley, where she grew to love Appalachian music and Southern harmony.

TINA BERGMANN
hammered dulcimer

is one of the world’s leading exponents of the instrument and was described by folk musician Pete Seeger as “the best hammered dulcimer player I’ve heard anywhere.” Playing in the aural tradition as a child, she made her solo debut at age 12 and led her first string band at age 16. Since then, she has been in demand at folk festivals and has performed as soloist with several symphony orchestras. Her contradance bands, Strings & Things and Hu$hmoney, have explored traditional American and Celtic music. She can be heard on the Apollo’s Fire CDs Come to the River, Scarborough Fayre, and Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers.

BRIAN KAY
lute, guitar, banjo & long-neck dulcimer

is a modern-day troubadour. He holds a Master’s degree in music from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied lute and theorbo. He specializes in historical plucked instruments and ancient songs of various world traditions. He is a songwriter and poet, and also paints and plays a variety of percussion and wind instruments. Cleveland Classical.com called him “far-ranging,” “brilliant,” and “exciting,” and Early Music America called his work “phenomenal.” His newest album, Three Ravens, was released in January 2015.

SUSANNA GILMORE
fiddle

enjoys a multifaceted career as solo artist, chamber and orchestral musician. She is concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony, a position she previously held with the Memphis Symphony for fifteen years. Her chamber music performances have been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, A Prairie Home Companion and America’s Music Festivals. Her recent classical solo performances include Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms (for violin, choir and orchestra) in Paris at the invitation of Ms. Higdon, as well as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Prokofiev and Korngold violin concertos with the Omaha Symphony. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from Oxford University (UK) and a Master’s degree in violin performance from the New England Conservatory (Boston). She learned to play Celtic fiddle in her youth through sitting in on Irish sessions during her years in Nashville and England, and for several years performed regularly with the Memphis-based Irish band Planet Reel.

RENÉ SCHIFFER
cello

is a composer in historical styles as well as a leading baroque cellist in the international early music scene. A protégé of the great baroque cellist Anner Bijlsma, he toured internationally for 16 years as a member of La Petite Bande under Sigiwald Kuijken. He has also performed with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman), Les Musiciens du Louvre (Marc Minkowski), and in over 50 projects with Tafelmusik (Toronto). His compositions and reconstructions in historical styles have been performed by orchestras in North America, Europe and Australia, and appear on several Apollo’s Fire CD recordings. He can be heard on the Harmonia Mundi, Philips, Virgin Classics, Erato, Sony and AVIE labels.

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