American Antiquarian Society
185 Salisbury Street
Worcester, MA 01609
United States
This evening of music will be a celebration of the Society’s online resource Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads: Verses in Vogue with the Vulgar. With over 800 images and 300 mini-essays, the site offers a unique and comprehensive view of the broadsides that Isaiah Thomas collected in early nineteenth-century Boston. The site is the culmination of decades of work by Kate Van Winkle Keller and is the result of a generous gift left to AAS by Arthur Schrader. We will honor their work, as well as celebrate two new features to the site: musical accompaniment and full-text transcriptions.
Our musical guests David and Ginger Hildebrand specialize in researching, recording, and performing early American music. Their most recent focus was on that of the War of 1812 and the bicentennial of "The Star-Spangled Banner." They present concerts and educational programs throughout the country for museums, universities, and historical organizations. They have consulted for and provided soundtrack materials for numerous documentaries, including the PBS series Liberty!--the American Revolution, Rediscovering George Washington, and Anthem.
David and Ginger have issued seven full-length recordings, including CD/music book sets focused on George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. In 1999 they founded The Colonial Music Institute. Ginger holds an M.M. from the Peabody Conservatory; David's M.A. is from George Washington University and his Ph.D. from Catholic University. David is also an author for the Johns Hopkins University Press, and they both teach privately in addition to performing widely.
