06/15/2026
We're off and running - it's FESTIVAL WEEK!
The final installment of our series is devoted to our headliner this year - Resident Artist Charlotte Mattax Moersch.
Harpsichordist Charlotte Mattax Moersch has performed worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician. Since capturing top prizes in the Paris and Bruges International Harpsichord Competitions, she has appeared in solo recitals in New York, London, Edinburgh, Rome, Geneva, Paris, and Amsterdam, and at historic venues, among them Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Mozarteum, and the Palazzo della Cancelleria. Called a “nonpareil harpsichordist” by Early Music America, she has received critical acclaim for her playing, at once “dashing yet intelligent” (Classical Times, London), and “fluent and expressive” (Fanfare Magazine). As a guest artist, she has performed at the Festival of the Associazione Musicale Romana, Festival Estival de Paris, Tage alter musik Regensburg, and the Bethlehem and Boulder Bach Festivals. She toured Europe with American Baroque and Orpheus, and performed in Grande Bande’s production of Rameau's opera Platée at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with Pilobolus dancers and renowned soprano Renée Fleming.
She has recorded for Koch, Dorian, Amon Ra, Newport Classic, Analekta, and Centaur Records. Her solo harpsichord discography includes Bach’s Goldberg Variations, W.F. Bach’s sonatas, and the complete Pièces de clavecin of D’Anglebert, Armand-Louis Couperin, Noblet, and Février. Her recent release, of Bach’s violin sonatas and partitas transcribed for harpsichord, played here on the lautenwerk, a lute-harpsichord beloved by Bach, received a rave review: “Moersch continues to etch every musical gesture while sweeping the listener off their feet” (The Diapason). She studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam and with Kenneth Gilbert at the Conservatoire in Paris.
On Thursday night, come out to Holy Cross Catholic Church in Champaign for The Five Cities Baroque Festival: Resident Artist Recital - a dazzling recital of harpsichord music from the Couperin dynasty by Dr. Mattax. We are proud to present this event absolutely free and open to the public. You won't want to miss it.
