Jürgen Hirt, the founder of the group, says that the program is centered on the concept of the elements, as presented in the concert's central work, the ballet Les Élémens composed in the 1730s by Jean-Féry Rebel. 'It's a musical story,' explains Hirt, 'about the creation of the universe and the elements that came along with it. So you hear the earth aspect, you hear the water aspect, you hear fire, and air as well.' All are illustrated in music, in the manner of Antonio Vivaldi's famous The Four Seasons.
Hirt sees the entirety of the program as an outgrowth of that idea of the elements. The Orchestral Suite No. 4 by Johann Sebastian Bach, which Hirt describes as 'just standard, elegant, and I think earthly,' opens the concert. After that comes a Concerto for Recorder and Bassoon by Georg Philipp Telemann, in which Hirt serves as bassoon soloist and Eric Fassbender, University of Nevada, Reno professor and member of the Reno Phil and Reno Chamber Orchestra, the recorder soloist. Telemann, says Hirt, 'is very fluid, and he likes bringing lots of different styles, like the French overture style, but also the counterpoint from Germany, and also Italian flair to it,' almost like 'converging rivers. So Telemann is water.'
Also on the program is a piece by Pietro Locatelli, who was one of the most acclaimed violinists of his time. 'Locatelli is very flashy,' Hirt says, 'and fire-like. And he was actually known as the eighteenth-century Paganini,' referring to famous violinist Niccolò Paganini. The final work on the program is Rebel's The Elements, in which 'there's some movements that are just so pleasant to listen to, like birdsong, and you'll hear it with the flutes and violins, and that just reminds me of air.'
Hirt founded the Sierra Nevada Baroque Ensemble – which specializes in the music of the Baroque era, roughly 1600-1750 – last year, with its first concert taking place in May 2025. 'I started this ensemble due to the fact that there is a lack of Baroque music being played in this area … I saw that void in the art scene here, and I wanted to fill that void with Baroque music and creating a Baroque ensemble.' The Ensemble features musicians that perform with the Reno Phil, Reno Chamber Orchestra, and other local groups, as well as professors from the University of Nevada, Reno.
The Sierra Nevada Baroque Ensemble's concert The Elements is on Friday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Reno. Admission is free, with donations accepted.
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Support for 'Arts on the Airwaves' comes from The Nevada Arts Council… a state agency that provides public funding and support to artists and organizations, that benefit Nevadans in cities and rural communities statewide. More at NVArtsCouncil.org.
