"Turn on original sound." That's a button you might notice when teleconferencing on Zoom. It's used by musicians, allowing their instruments to flow forth freely without the Zoom speech filters that often get confused by music.
But it's also an appropriate description for Lyra Baroque, the Twin Cities-based chamber orchestra that performs in the "HiP" style.
What is "HiP"? It stands for "historically informed performance," meaning the musicians use instruments similar to those played in the Baroque era of the 17th and 18th centuries. Gut strings, wooden flutes, harpsichords — Lyra aspires toward the original sound.
Yet they're presenting it using 21st-century technology through a series of Zoom concerts and livestreamed performances. On Saturday, Lyra's artistic director of 20 years, Jacques Ogg, will perform a solo harpsichord concert from a chapel in his hometown of Maastricht, the southernmost city in the Netherlands.
Then, on Jan. 29 and 30, the baroque orchestra will present its latest in a series of Zoom chamber music concerts, with works by J.S. Bach from three time zones and two continents.
Music via Zoom can be tricky, but Lyra has figured out a way to make it work.
"I have loved watching Zoom concerts because there is a true live interaction with musicians," said Tami Morse, Lyra's executive director and one of the Twin Cities' most prominent harpsichordists. "It's great to hear them talking and playing and know that it's happening right at that moment.
"As a musician having performed a Zoom concert, it was surprising to me that — even though I could not see the audience [while playing] — I could feel their presence. This was moving to me, because I had not felt it since March."
