The world music-leaning period instrument band L’Arpeggiata, led by theorbo player Christina Pluhar, celebrates nature in a mostly Baroque program (Monteverdi, Bononcini, Biber and Handel) coupled with traditional songs and ballads including eden ahbez’s “Nature Boy.” In Terra Mater (meaning Mother Nature), Pluhar writes, “You will hear the chirping of the nightingales, sweet birds, cuckoos, frogs and chicken, the whispers of the winds, heavy storms and the rumbling of the seas.”
The ensemble is joined by the charismatic Swedish mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman, a former Eurovision contestant comfortable in genres ranging from cabaret and jazz to opera. On the verge of international stardom, Ernman paused her career when her then-11-year-old daughter, Greta Thunberg, was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Ernman has gone on to become an active supporter of climate policies, and with her husband, co-wrote the book Scenes from the Heart about her family, the environment, and sustainability.
