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This week, the area around 10th and Carpenter streets is one musical scene. Classical sounds resonate from living rooms. Musicians carry their instruments out on the streets, heading for rehearsals in a nearby church at 10th and Ellsworth.
The members of Tempesta di Mare, a chamber orchestra specializing in baroque styles, are busy preparing for two concerts this weekend – one at the University of Pennsylvania, the other at Swarthmore College.
Half the musicians are from out of town, but spend prep time in South Philly. Tempesta di Mare is deeply rooted in the area. Its founders, husband-and-wife team Gwyn Roberts and Richard Stone, have a Bella Vista home that serves as orchestra headquarters.
And for the past several years, their neighbors have hosted the out-of-town musicians.
"There’s a whole network of South Philly residents eager to host our musicians," Roberts said. "Without them, we couldn’t do what we do."
The visiting musicians love the novelty of the neighborhood base.
"They can roll out of bed, go to the Italian Market for coffee, then go around the corner for rehearsals," Roberts said, "and we all go out to dinner together between rehearsals. They love eating in South Philly!"
Roberts and her husband live and work in a cheerful home that hums with activity. Upstairs, each has their own office. A larger office on the third floor serves as orchestra headquarters with two part-timers on staff.
THE WEEK PRIOR to the concerts is abuzz. First, on Sunday, there’s the arrival of concertmaster Emlyn Ngai, all the way from Hartford.
Monday, the out-of-town principal players arrive. The following day, the other visiting musicians hit town, settling into homes on Carpenter, Latona, Anin and Federal streets.
"A number of families have hosted the same musicians for every concert and they’ve developed lasting friendships," Roberts said.
Not only do the neighbors offer hospitality, but many are fans. Some are so devoted they braved a brutal storm last January for a concert in St. Mark’s Church in Center City.
Many will attend the concert Jan. 28 at the Irvine Auditorium on the Penn campus. It’s part of a series of concerts focusing on sounds of the major European orchestras of the Baroque era, which date from 1600 to 1760. Saturday’s concert is "Ambassador Franklin in London." The tribute to Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday focuses on music from l8th-century London, a city the Founding Father often visited. The musicians will play instruments authentic to the era.
"We want to use the right tools to play this music," Roberts said.
For instance, Roberts will play the baroque flute, which has six holes and one key, compared to the modern version with 23 keys. Also true to the era will be the previous versions of trumpets and horns. These instruments will make a difference in what the audience hears.
"There’s an incredible variety of color that you don’t normally hear," said Stone, who will play the lute.
The orchestra this season is made up of 23 members – the largest number ever. The group was able to expand thanks to a grant from the Presser Foundation, as well as funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Stone and Roberts were experts in baroque music long before founding Tempesta di Mare. Roberts, 42, specializes in the recorder and baroque flute and can play other wind instruments of the era. Stone, 45, is an expert on the lute.
They met in l989 when she was a member of Piffaro, a Renaissance wind band, and he was a guest artist at one of the concerts.
"I thought he was the best lute player I’d ever heard," she said.
Their bond evolved musically and personally and they married in l994. Two years later, Tempesta di Mare was created after Roberts was invited to do a CD of sonatas for the recorder. She chose four musicians to accompany her. When the disc was about to be released, the recording company CEO asked her the name of her group.
"We all sat around our kitchen table and came up with a name," she said.
They chose Tempesta di Mare, the name of a favorite Vivaldi concerto. Translated, it means "storm at sea."
"Our approach to baroque music is quite theatrical," Roberts said of the name selection.
From its modest beginnings, Tempesta di Mare has blossomed. One milestone came in 2000, when they were invited to perform at the prestigious Prague Spring Festival in the Czech Republic. They presented the world premiere of four lute concertos and two lute-flute duets by Silvius Leopold Weiss, a composer from Bach’s time. It was music Stone helped restore.
South Philadelphians heard the music without ever leaving the city, let alone the country. On the eve of their departure, the group gave a preview concert as a benefit for Bel Arbor, a tree farm at 1000 Kimbal St.
In Prague, the ensemble performed for a full house of 700. It was broadcast on Czech National Radio and then on the Web and NPR.
"That event put us on the map," Stone said of the performance.
It paved the way for the musicians to produce a CD of their music for Chandos, the largest independent classical label. They were the first U.S. baroque group to record for Chandos.
All rehearsals and recording sessions took place in St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi Church at Seventh and Montrose streets.
"We wanted a palatial sound, not the dry sound of a recording studio," Stone said, "and the priest was very receptive to the project."
To play this, the ensemble expanded to 14. After the disc dropped in summer 2002 to glowing reviews, Tempesta di Mare launched its first Greater Philadelphia Concert Series. Now in its fourth season, the group soon will record another disc for Chandos. In addition, their concerts are carried regularly by NPR and WHYY, which has produced three short documentaries on the group.
As busy as they are with Tempesta di Mare, the two artistic directors have other activities, as well. Roberts teaches at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and directs the Early Music Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Stone has solo recitals and performs with groups such as the Handel and Hadyn Society based in Boston.
But their main focus is Tempesta di Mare.
"It’s so rewarding to be able to produce music exactly the way we imagine it and to play it with the ensemble of our dreams," Roberts said.
"And we absolutely couldn’t do it without the support of this community," Stone added. "Even though we’re international now, our base is South Philly, a place we love. For us, this is still a local group."
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For more information, visit www.tempestadimare.org.
