Though little-known today, Ferdinand VI was Spain's most musical monarch. At their palaces at Aranjuez and Madrid, Ferdinand and his Portuguese-born wife Queen Maria Bárbara de Braganza employed an army of Spanish and Italian musicians and artists that easily rivaled those at the equally music-obsessed courts of Louis XV or Frederick the Great. Among the king's musical entourage was Farinelli, the famed castrato who had originally come to Spain to assuage Ferdinand's father's melancholy with his voice, and Domenico Scarlatti, who had been the Queen's harpsichord tutor since the age of ten. This program will offer a glimpse into the public and private musical life of the royal couple, with operatic and orchestral music by Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian composers including Scarlatti, José de Nebra, Carlos de Seixas, Nicola Conforto, Luigi Boccherini, and others, presented by a full orchestra and featuring sopranos Julianna Emanski and Shari Wilson.

Saturday, November 6, 2021 – 7:30PM
St. Martin's Lutheran Church
606 W. 15th St. • Austin, TX 78701 (map)

Sunday, November 7, 2021 – 3:00PM
St. John's Lutheran Church
502 E. Nueva St. • San Antonio, TX 78205 (map)

As always there will be $5 student tickets available at the door, and K-12 students are free with parent/guardian admission.

A limited number of pay-as-you-can tickets are available at the door at both programs; patrons are asked simply to simply what they can afford, with no questions asked and no judgment passed. We believe the arts are our collective cultural heritage and should be available to all regardless of financial means.

Please feel free to join us 30 minutes before the show for an informal talk by the artistic director about the program.

Please review our COVID-19 policies and protocols (click here) before purchasing tickets.