Pan Harmonia makes its first appearance at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, and the new Asheville Baroque Concert Series continues.

Music and Wine Interlude

Sunday, January 10

Pan Harmonia is pleased to be making its first appearance at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall in West Asheville. Join us for a warm late afternoon offering of fine wine and music, as Kate Steinbeck and Ivan Seng offer finely crafted French music for flute and piano by Claude Debussy, Germaine Tailleferre, Reynaldo Hahn, and others.

Pairing beautiful music with delicious food and wine, Sunday, January 10 at 5:30 p.m. Kate Steinbeck, flute, Ivan Seng, piano. Tickets $15, $7.50 for students. Food and wine extra. ISIS Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. (828) 575-2737, www.isisasheville.com

Mediterranean Blues

Sunday, January 17

Ardent laments, passionate love songs and fiery dance rhythms from the warm Mediterranean regions of Spain, France and Italy are key elements in this program, the second concert in Asheville Baroque Concerts’ premiere season. Add the sumptuous, expressive voice of Venezuelan soprano Salomé Sandoval accompanying herself on Renaissance guitar and the warm, expressive strings of the Muses’ Consort and the formula for a sizzling program is complete.

This concert of Renaissance and early Baroque music will be presented Sunday, January 17 at 3 p.m. at Oakley United Methodist Church, 709 Fairview Road, Asheville. Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door, $5 students, available at www.panharmonia.org.

The Muses’ Consort, under the direction of Gail Ann Schroeder, is comprised of the various sized instruments of the viola da gamba family. “This concert is a first for Asheville,” says Ms. Schroeder. “Many audience members may have heard the bass viol but are unaware that there are also treble- and tenor-size viols, which correspond in their range to the modern violin and viola. The result of the three instrument sizes playing together, a consort of viols, is similar to a string quartet but with the lush, dark tone of viols.”

Also featured in this concert is soprano Salomé Sandoval, who now resides in the United States. Sandoval has performed with renowned ensembles here, such as the Newberry Consort and the Boston Camerata. In 2010 Ms. Sandoval co-founded El Fuego Early Music Ensemble, which specializes in Hispanic Baroque vocal music.

Mediterranean Blues will feature music of composers Luis de Narváez, Diego Ortiz, Nicolas Gombert, Étienne Moulinié and Salamone Rossi. Ms. Schroeder elaborates: “Although these composers are for the most part unknown to mainstream concert-goers, we hope that the novelty of the program and instrumentation will pique people’s curiosity and entice them to attend. I am convinced this wonderful genre can take hold and become popular in Asheville, as it is in many other parts of the world.”

Pan Harmonia, directed by flutist Kate Steinbeck and based in Asheville, brings professional chamber music performances to audiences of all ages in diverse settings ranging from traditional concert halls to homeless shelters and prisons.

Now in its 16th season, Pan Harmonia has been awarded grants from the North Carolina Arts Council, The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts for its artistic excellence.

Asheville Baroque Concerts is sponsored by the Pan Harmonia chamber music series. Please visit ashevillebaroque.org for more information. Tickets are available at www.panharmonia.org

For more information about Pan Harmonia, please visit www.panharmonia.org, or call (828) 254-7123. If price is a barrier, contact us at write office@panharmonia.org to volunteer.