Folger Consort and the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series collaborate on "Virtuosos of Violin and Verse," an evening of Baroque music and poetry

This series marks the first-ever collaboration between these celebrated Folger programs

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, Folger Consort, the award-winning early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series, one of the nation's longest-running and renowned poetry reading series, are producing the opening program of the 2025-26 season together. Virtuosos of Violin and Verse, which celebrates the relationship between poetry and music during the 17th and 18th centuries, will take place at the Folger's Elizabethan-style Theatre on Capitol Hill, Friday, November 7, through Sunday, November 9.

"Music and poetry have a natural partnership and storied history together that has yet to be explored on our stage," shared Folger Music and Poetry Producer Jaleelah Thompson. "With these performances, we are inviting both early music and poetry enthusiasts to experience a true conversation between virtuosos across centuries and artistic mediums." 

"We are eager to kick off the Consort's season with wonderful music and poetry," shared co-Artistic Director Robert Eisenstein. "The music ranges through settings of poetry by Renaissance Italian poet Torquato Tasso and amazing songs by Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi, and even Handel's most famous opera aria."

The program includes works by Italian composers Biagio Marini, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Michelangelo Rossi, and others. Highlights include Strozzi's Che si può fare? and 18th-century German-English composer George Frideric Handel's Lascia ch'io pianga. The evening will also feature Italian violin music, including Giuseppe Tartini's sonata depicting Queen Dido's abandonment by Aeneas, based on the Ancient Roman poet Virgil's The Aeneid, and dramatic episodes from Baroque musical theater.

"Robert will be joined on stage by four terrific virtuosos," says co-Artistic Director Christopher Kendall. "These include Rose Solari, who has composed beautiful and illuminating new poems that she'll perform from stage along with the music that's inspired them. We've been having a great time creating this program and cannot wait to share it!"

Folger Consort's lineup of guest artists includes Folger Consort's co-founder Robert Eisenstein (viol, violin, and recorder), Tatiana Chulochnikova (violin), Paula Maust (harpsichord), and Rebecca Myers (soprano). DC-based poet, playwright, and actor Rose Solari joins the Consort's musical ensemble, presenting original poems inspired by and responding to Strozzi's works and literary legacy.

On Wednesday, November 5, at 6pm, Eisenstein leads a lively virtual seminar that offers a sneak peek at the music performed in the Consort's Virtuosos of Violin and Verse concerts. The event will be hosted on Zoom; $10, free for Folger Members and Subscribers: www.folger.edu/whats-on/early-music-seminar-virtuosos-of-violin-and-verse/.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.folger.edu/consort or by contacting the Folger box office at (202) 544-7077. Tickets are $20-$50, with discounts available for Folger members and subscribers, seniors, students, educators, military and their families, and groups. Federal employees affected by the government shutdown may reserve $20 tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening performances of Violins and Verse with the code FEDERAL. More information online at: folger.edu/virtuosos .

Members of the press who would like to cover the performance may reserve tickets through Colleen Kennedy, Senior Communications Manager, via email at [email protected].

Selected images are available here: folger.edu/consort-presskit.

Folger Consort wishes to thank Premier Season Sponsor Andrea "Andi" Kasarsky, Associate Sponsors Mary Augusta and George D Thomas, and Artist Sponsors Karl K. and Carrol Benner Kindel. (Sponsor list as of October 14, 2025.)

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Robert Eisenstein
Artistic Director, Viol, Violin, and Recorder
Robert Eisenstein has led over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years, including Measure + Dido at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Strathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Recently retired as the Director of the Five College Early Music Program; Music Director for the Five College Opera Project production of Francesca Caccini's La Liberazione di Ruggiero; Mount Holyoke College faculty emeritus, where he taught music history and performed on the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in Five College Medieval Studies. Recipient of Early Music America's Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a college early music ensemble. 

Christopher Kendall
Artistic Director
Christopher Kendall is the founder of the Folger Consort. He is Dean Emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor. In Washington, in addition to his work with Folger Consort, since 1975 he has been Artistic Director and conductor of the 21st Century Consort, the new music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Mr. Kendall served as Director of the University of Maryland School of Music from 1996 to 2005. Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1987 to 1992 and Director of the Music Division and Tanglewood Institute of the Boston University School for the Arts from 1993 to 1996, Mr. Kendall has guest conducted many orchestras and ensembles in repertoire from the 18th to the 21st centuries. His recordings can be heard on the Bard, Delos, Nonesuch, Centaur, ASV, Arabesque, Innova, Bridge, and Smithsonian Collection labels. 

Tatiana Chulochnikova
Violin
Praised for her "thrilling technique" and "dark plush romantic violin sound," Tatiana Chulochnikova enjoys an international performing career as a soloist, recitalist, guest concertmaster, chamber musician, and recording artist. Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tatiana began playing violin at the age of seven and made her debut as a concerto soloist at fourteen with the Kharkiv Philharmonic. Tatiana received her professional training at the Juilliard School, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and the Oberlin Conservatory. Highlights of her 2024/25 season include appearances as a soloist with Folger Consort, American Bach Soloists, Washington Bach Consort, Pratum Intergrum, and 21st Century Consort performing works spanning three centuries, including one world premiere. A critically acclaimed international recording artist, Tatiana released her second solo CD album Meditations and Reflections (Steinway & Sons Label) in 2019. 

Paula Maust
Harpsichord
Paula Maust is a performer, scholar, and educator dedicated to fusing research and creative practice to amplify underrepresented voices and advocate for social change. She is the creator of Expanding the Music Theory Canon, an open-source collection of music theory examples by women and composers of color. A print anthology based on the project was released by SUNY Press in December 2023. Paula also researches the pejorative language used to describe early modern women on stage, and harmony books by 19th-century women. She has published articles in Women and Music and the Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music, and she is an early modern area editor for Grove Music Online Women, Gender, and Sexuality project. 

Rebecca Myers
Soprano
Philadelphia based soprano Rebecca Myers is a soloist, vocal chamber singer, collaborator, recording artist, and creator in high demand. Indulging and specializing in vocal repertoire, spanning from the Medieval to scores written especially for her, Rebecca has gained a reputation for her "timbral clarity and flawless pitch," and "nimble coloratura" (South Florida Classical Review). In recent seasons Rebecca has appeared as a soloist with the New World Symphony, Tempesta di Mare, Verità Baroque, Portland Baroque, and Apollo's Fire. She appears regularly with Seraphic Fire, Lorelei Ensemble, and The Crossing. She is proud to be the Artistic Director, and a founding soprano for the cutting-edge vocal chamber music ensemble, Variant 6. 

Rose Solari
Poet
Rose Solari is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, The Last Girl,Orpheus in the Park, and Difficult Weather; the one-act play, Looking for Guenevere, and a novel, A Secret Woman. She has lectured and taught writing workshops at many institutions, including Arizona State University's Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing; the University of Maryland, College Park; St. John's College, Annapolis; the Jung Society of Washington; and the Centre for Creative Writing at Oxford University's Kellogg College. As an actor, she has appeared in staged readings as the title character in two Grace Cavalieri plays: Anna and Mary Wollstonecraft: Hyena in Petticoats. In her writing for the stage, she has collaborated with modern dance artists, composers, and musicians. Her awards include the Randall Jarrell Poetry Prize, and Academy of American Poets' University Prize, The Columbia Book Award, an EMMA award for excellence in journalism, and multiple grants. 

About Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library makes Shakespeare's stories and the world in which he lived accessible. Anchored by the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger is a cultural organization where curiosity and creativity are embraced, and conversation is always encouraged. Visitors to the Folger can choose how they want to experience the arts and humanities, from interactive exhibitions to captivating performances, and from path-breaking research to transformative educational programming. The Folger welcomes everyone to connect in their own way—from communities throughout Washington, DC, to communities across the globe. Learn more at www.folger.edu.

About Folger Consort
For 49 seasons as the early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Folger Consort has delighted audiences with a stunning repertoire of early music spanning roughly 800 years. With world-class guest artists, from virtuoso soloists to large choirs and period orchestras, Folger Consort has performed masterpieces of the most renowned composers and hidden treasures from those who might otherwise be lost to history. Performing in the intimate setting of the Folger's Elizabethan-styled Theatre, as well as such grand spaces as Washington National Cathedral, Strathmore Hall, and the Kennedy Center, Folger Consort has also toured nationally and internationally to Shakespeare's Globe and other prestigious venues.

Among other awards and critical acclaim for its performances and recordings, Folger Consort has received Best Classical Chamber Ensemble from the Washington Area Music Awards multiple times. For more on Folger Consort, please visit www.folger.edu/folger-consort.

Folger Consort recordings are available for purchase and digital download at iTunes and available for streaming on Spotify.

About the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series
The O.B. Hardison Poetry Series, one of the nation's most established poetry reading programs, is noted for featuring an extensive range of outstanding poets. The series was founded in 1970 when the late O.B. Hardison, Jr., a renowned teacher, scholar, and poet, became director of the Folger Shakespeare Library and established many outreach programs to make the resources of the extraordinary research library available to the Washington community. For more on the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series, please visit https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/events/poetry/www.folger.edu/about-us/what-we-do/about-the-o-b-hardison-poetry-series/.

SOURCE Folger Shakespeare Library