Deborah Fox: On a Mission to Promote Baroque, Renaissance Music

May 3, 2025 admin

By Joe Sarnicola

Deborah Fox is the artistic director of both New York State Baroque and Pegasus Early Music. She is a lutenist with a span of repertoire ranging from medieval to baroque music. She has performed with major early music ensembles and festivals from Newfoundland to Australia.

Deborah Fox started playing guitar as a teenager and listening to the music of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and other folk singers.

Eventually she developed a lifelong love of early classical music and instruments, which led to her current position as the artistic director of both New York State Baroque and Pegasus Early Music.

As part of that work, she partners with the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and works with young artists who are interested in early music.

As a performer, Fox has played music ranging from medieval to the baroque and has performed in the United States, Canada, Australia and more. She graduated cum laude from Smith College and she received a certificate of advanced studies in early music at the Guildhall School of Music in London. She has also studied privately with Pat O’Brien, Paul O’Dette and Nigel North.

“When I was going to grad school I became very interested in the lute. I liked the instrument because it combined my love music with my love of European history,” she said. “After grad school I started working and I was privileged to play all over the world. I developed a circle of friends who were interested in early music.”

Some of the people Fox has met or played with over the years have been invited to perform with NYS Baroque or Pegasus Early Music. The fall 2025 season will be the 37th year since NYS Baroque was founded by oboist Peter Hedrick and his wife, Elizabeth, a bassoonist. NYS Baroque presents concerts of renaissance, baroque and early classical music on period instruments or handcrafted reproductions. The 2025-26 concert series will be announced in the spring.

Each season, which runs from September to May, features a series of weekend concerts. The Friday concert is held in Syracuse, Saturday’s is in Ithaca and the Sunday performance is in Rochester as part of Pegasus Early Music.

“In 2005 I was tired of traveling. I had been playing with NYS Baroque for a while and I wanted to start a Rochester-based concert series. That was how Pegasus Early Music began,” she said.

The two groups have separate boards, but they share the concert series and the expenses.

“This allows us to pay the artists more, which is very important to me,” she explained.

Being the artistic director of both groups has given her the flexibility to focus on the individual communities where the concerts are performed. “I base the concerts on themes I am interested in and people I want to work with,” she added. “I like to collaborate with the artists. When you involve them, they feel more committed to the program. I try to offer a mix of musical periods and styles.”

Deborah Fox (right) with musicians David Morris and Christa Patton. Morris is the founder and musical director of the Bay Area baroque opera ensemble Teatro Bacchino. Patton is an early harp specialist with a particular focus on the repertoire of the early 17th century.

In an attempt to reach broader audiences as well as to network with other musical groups, members of NYS Baroque have performed at the Skaneateles Festival, the Indiana Early Music Festival and have accompanied the New York Baroque Dance Company and the choirs of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo.

As with any nonprofit organization, funding is an ongoing process. NYS Baroque and Pegasus Early Music have been fortunate to have received grant funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, private foundations, sponsors, individual donors and the patrons of their concerts.

“Fundraising is a part of this job and we have been very fortunate. We can’t do this without our volunteers, our donors and our patrons,” Fox said.

NYS Baroque and Pegasus Early Music offer several creative ways to promote early music and the musicians who continue to play it and share it with the world. Donating to the general operating fund provides essential support to keep the programs going. Sponsoring a concert is one way to honor a loved one or just to support the music. Sponsoring a musician provides money to pay the performers and helps the groups to attract top national talent, and in-kind donations are always welcome, such as expertise, resources or being a volunteer.

Legacy giving opportunities are also available.

Although her work as the artistic director of both groups can be demanding, Fox finds time to perform with each one. She is a very skilled performer on several types of lutes. A lute is an instrument with anywhere from six to 14 strings that has its origins in the ancient Arabic instrument called the oud (ood), meaning “the wooden one,” but it is similar in appearance to a guitar. She also plays the theorbo, which is essentially a lute with very long neck that produces a beautiful, full-ranging sound.

NYS Baroque has a companion project called NYS Baroque Young Artists, which its promotional materials describe as “a series of free concerts by the next generation of young emerging performers of early music.”

Fox is very proud of this series.

“One of my responsibilities is to nurture young artists. They must be committed to playing early music and they must apply and submit an audio performance. We select several of the applicants and give them a concert. For some of them this is the first time they’ve been paid for playing music. I try to involve them in every aspect of the show, including publicity,” she said.

The Pegasus Early Music portion of this concert series is called Pegasus Rising.

The remaining concerts of the 2024-25 season will be marches and minuets on the weekend of May 9 at the sanctuary located within the Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh St. in Rochester. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Free parking is available in the lot across the street. The church is ADA accessible.

The marches and minuet concert will feature a selection of music from the French court of the early 1700s. Each performance is preceded by a pre-concert talk that provides more information about the pieces, their history and things to listen for.

“I have found that if people come to one of our concerts, they like it, even if they were not familiar with it,” she said.

To get tickets for the May 9 show “Marches and Minuets” at the sanctuary located within the Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 N. Fitzhugh St. in Rochester, visit www.pegasusearlymusic.org. For more information about the fall season and the NYS Baroque, visit https://nysbaroque.com or email info@nysbaroque.com.