The Raritan Players: Music and Friendship in 18th-Century Philadelphia

In this program, the Raritan Players, led by Rebecca Cypess, explore music in private circles in 18th-century Philadelphia--especially in the salon of Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, hostess of the first literary salon in America. Graeme was friends with professional and amateur musicians, including Francis Hopkinson (signer of the Declaration of Independence) and James Bremner (a Scottish musician and music teacher who had settled in Philadelphia but retained strong connections to Britain), as well as other writers and intellectuals in the mid-Atlantic region. This program features her poetry as well as music from Hopkinson's collections, preserved at Penn, likely played with Bremner in Graeme's home in the 1760s and early 70s.

Pre-concert lecture by Rebecca Cypess begins at 6:15, followed by the concert (no intermission) at 7:00 pm.