The Four Nations Ensemble is known for bringing together diverse musical styles, multinational traditions, and distant eras with their unique and innovative programming.

The Ensemble has performed its innovative program at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as in the intimate rooms of chamber music societies around the nation.

On Monday, June 7, the Recital Hall of the College of Staten Island’s Center for the Arts (CFA) will be added to their illustrative list of venues.

By playing authentic instruments and capturing period performance styles, Four Nations revitalizes every music lover’s relationship with Bach and Handel, Mozart and Beethoven, while opening up long silent musical treasures.

As the Ensemble plays, the sounds shimmer and music lovers listen in quiet astonishment to the timbre of a gut strung violin and cello, as well as a quilled harpsichord. In essence, the audience experiences “musical time travel” by hearing the notes as the composer envisioned them: on the period instruments of their era.

Thanks to the generosity of Michael Shugrue, a patron of the arts dedicated to bringing sophisticated, world class performances to Staten Island, this “musical time travel” is available at no cost to almost everyone.

A pre-concert talk will be an integral part of the Four Nations concert at CSI. The music will be placed in context though allusions to society, history, art and literature, while humorous and often shocking anecdotes convey serious and illuminating information.

The group’s artistic director will challenge the audience with questions, while directing listeners with signposts to deepen their appreciation for the repertoire, which features a program of Baroque quartets and trios by Telemann, Handel, Leclair, and Bach.

The musicians of The Four Nations Ensemble include Charles Brink, flute; Claire Jolivet, violin; Loretta O’Sullivan, cello; and Andrew Appel, harpsichord.

Tickets are $20 per person, which includes a post-performance reception with the artists. The evening is free for all high school students, private music teachers and their students, as well as CSI students and alumni. For more information and to reserve your seat, please call the CSI advancement office at (718) 982-2365.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Photography available, call Ken Bach at 718-982-2328.