(ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.) – Pioneering early-music presenter Aston Magna marks its 41st year with five concerts on Friday evenings, June 14, 21, and 28, and July 5 and 12 at 8 p.m. in Olin Hall at Bard College. The season’s repertoires includes works by Bach, Marais, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi among others. A preconcert lecture by Daniel Stepner will be featured one hour before each concert, and audience members are invited to “Meet the Artists” after the concerts. Concerts will also take place on Saturdays, June 15 and 22 and July 6 and 13, at the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, in Great Barrington, Mass., at 6 p.m.; at Slosberg Auditorium at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., on Thursday evenings, June 13, 20 and 27, and July 4 and 11 at 8 p.m; and at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on Saturday, June 29 at 8 p.m.

The season will be under the musical direction of Daniel Stepner, artistic director and violinist, and will feature many prominent artists, including sopranos Sharon Baker, Dominique Labelle, and Kristen Watson; clarinetist Eric Hoeprich; oboist Stephen Hammer; gambist Laura Jeppesen; theorbist Catherine Liddell; harpischordist Peter Sykes; and trumpeter Josh Cohen.

For the first concert on June 14, “The Art of the Chalumeau” (early clarinet), clarinetist Eric Hoeprich will introduce the unfamiliar but hauntingly beautiful chalumeau. The program will highlight this once-popular instrument, a relative of both the recorder and the clarinet, in works by Handel, Vivaldi, and others, including Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Stephen Hammer, baroque oboe, and Kristen Watson, soprano, will also join Stepner, who will lead a small ensemble.

The second concert, on June 21, “J. S. Bach: The Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord,” will be devoted to music of Johann Sebastian Bach for harpsichord and violin, and will feature all six sonatas for violin and harpsichord. Violinist Daniel Stepner and keyboardist Peter Sykes will perform.

The June 28 concert, “Masterworks by J. S. Bach and Marin Marais,” will present music by Bach and French composer Marais, whose life was portrayed in the film Tous les matins du monde. Soprano Dominique Labelle will solo in works by Marais as well as in Bach’s “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen.” The second Brandenburg concerto will also be performed. The ensemble will include gambist Laura Jeppesen, theorbist Catherine Lidell, baroque trumpeter Josh Cohen, and a chamber orchestra led by Stepner.

“Shades of Love Lost—Madrigals of Monteverdi and Wert” will be performed on July 5together with works by Giaches de Wert. Masterful and imaginative musical settings from the 16th and early 17th century will be the fare, with Aston Magna’s Madrigal Singers performing.

The final concert, on July 12, is titled “Music from the Library of Thomas Jefferson.” Aston Magna will explore the musical library of America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, illuminated by excerpts from his writings. An accomplished musician himself, Jefferson collected a good number of musical gems, including music of Corelli, Mozart, J. C. Bach, Maria Cosway, and Francis Hopkinson. Performing will be soprano Sharon Baker, violinist Daniel Stepner, and harpsichordist Michael Sponseller.

Individual tickets purchased in advance for concerts are $35 ($30/seniors). Students with valid full-time student ID, or under the age of 25, may purchase up to two $5 student rush tickets on the day of the performance. Student rush tickets are subject to availability. Tickets to these concerts are not available online and can be ordered in advance by calling 845-758-7887. For more information about these concerts go to Aston Magna.