Our Mission

The purpose of the Seicento Baroque Ensemble is to educate, inspire and foster music appreciation on the part of the public through historically informed performance of baroque chamber music. The Seicento Baroque Ensemble emphasizes education for singers, instrumentalists, and the public of all ages about the Baroque period in history, in particular its music, composers, compositions and performance practices.

Meet the Seicento Baroque Ensemble

Professors and Pilates instructors. Students and scientists. Our members are a diverse crew, but they’re united in their love of singing and playing the music of the Baroque era. You can meet them here.

Seicento, past and present

Founded in 2011, Seicento Baroque Ensemble is a semi-professional auditioned chamber choir noted for its performances of lesser-known music of the 17th and 18th century, using historically informed performance practices and period instruments. With its primary emphasis on music of the Baroque period, the ensemble occupies a unique niche in the Colorado choral music scene. Audiences experience and learn about inspirational and intriguing baroque music, usually by western European composers.

Seicento Baroque Ensemble’s concerts are performed with vocal soloists as well as musicians on baroque strings, violas da gamba, harpsichord, recorders, sackbuts, baroque flute and oboe, all of whom specialize in historic performance. Our concerts and pre-concert talks offer a more in-depth look at the highlighted composers and instruments, and incorporate creative connections such as baroque artwork and history.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia lists numerous early music ensembles around the world, including in Serbia, South Korea, Latvia, Western Europe, Israel, Japan, Colombia, and Australia. The United States boasts nearly 50 baroque ensembles, with Seicento standing as the only early music vocal ensemble in Colorado.,

About Artistic Director Evanne Browne

Seicento’s Artistic Director Evanne Browne is also the founder of Seicento Baroque Ensemble. During her tenure, Browne has displayed creativity in researching and programming exciting but rarely performed choral works. Previous Seicento concerts include music from the Kremsier archives (Czech Republic); a scripted play/concert about the arts patron Queen Christina of Sweden; early oratorios of Charpentier and Carissimi; music of Colonial Latin America and the New World; music for voices and viols (violas da gamba); Handel’s Dixit Dominus; and the Western Hemisphere premiere of the scrumptious De Lalande Dies Irae. Browne is the only person in Colorado to have conducted the challenging Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 (in 2015 with Seicento); and the first person in Colorado to conduct Bach’s St. John Passion with historically accurate instruments (2023).

In Colorado efforts outside of Seicento, Browne was director of music at Boulder’s First United Methodist Church and Community United Church, and was founding artistic director for the Colorado Masterworks Chorale. She has performed as soloist with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Boulder Bach Festival, and as a soloist and chorister with Ars Nova Singers.

A career-long educator, Browne maintains a private voice studio, and coaches singers and conductors on baroque performance techniques. She developed Seicento’s Apprentice Artist program to work with developing professionals, and is a frequent guest speaker and conductor for groups that include the Academy of Lifelong Learning, the American Recorder Society, and the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Viola da Gamba Society.

Seicento Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Seicento Baroque Ensemble values all people as unique individuals, and we welcome the variety of experiences they bring to our organization. As such, we have a strict non-discrimination policy: We commit to treating everyone equally regardless of race, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, native language, religious background, age, education level, disability, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other characteristic of diversity, whether protected by law or not. We oppose discrimination of any kind, and we pledge to be inclusive as an ensemble, in serving diverse audiences, and in the administration of the organization. We welcome feedback from those with whom we engage to help us keep and honor this policy.