UK Early Music Collective
About the UK Early Music Collective
The University of Kentucky (UK) early music program was re-established in 2013 by Dr. Jason Dovel when he created the UK Baroque Trumpet Ensemble. In 2019, he teamed up with UK associate dean and professor of voice Dr. Elizabeth Arnold to form the UK Early Music Collective, which consists of faculty and students from the string, keyboard, voice, brass, and percussion faculty. They perform music from the Renaissance and Baroque, on period instruments in period tunings and temperament. They recreate the sounds of earlier times with gut strings, valveless trumpets, harpsichord, organ, and other period instrument features. In 2019 the UK Early Music Collective ensemble presented a concert with prizewinning baroque violinist Augusta McKay Lodge, a member of France’s celebrated early music group Les Arts Florissants In 2021 they teamed up with the UK Department of Theatre and Dance for “The Art of Exchange,” a three-night festival of interdisciplinary collaboration of musicians and dancers. In 2024, Dr. Scot Buzza joined Dovel and Arnold’s efforts in the leadership of the UK Early Music Collective.
The UK Baroque Trumpet Ensemble has performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, Historic Brass Society International Symposium, North American Baroque Trumpet Conference, and in 2018 were featured artists-in-residence with Mountainside Baroque in Cumberland, Maryland. With 17 Baroque trumpets in Fall 2024, UK currently boasts the largest such group in the world. The UK Baroque Trumpet Ensemble has recorded three critically acclaimed compact discs. The group’s first compact disc, “Music for Natural Trumpets” is the top Baroque Trumpet Ensemble recording on Spotify. (Search Spotify for “Baroque Trumpet Ensemble” and see!) Moreover, the UK Baroque Trumpet Ensemble is the only university Baroque trumpet group to ever record a compact disc. In addition, these UK Baroque Trumpet Ensemble discs have received airplay on National Public Radio and have been featured alongside the world’s top ensembles in Classical programming.
About the Program
The UK Early Music Collective’s program is scheduled to include Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, Bach’s Cantata No. 51, Zelenka’s Missa omnium sanctorum, dances from Susato’s La Danserye, as well as a rare performance from Fantini’s 1638 Entrata Imperiale. The concert will also feature works by Johann Crüger (1598 - 1662) and David Buhl (1781-1860).