MADISON – Resident Maestro Robert Butts, founder and conductor of the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, was honored for 30 years of teaching Minicourses with the Friends of the Madison Public Library during the Friends’ gala on Saturday, March 21.
Butts, a professor at Drew University, mostly teaches about the history of music and how it’s all related. Through the Minicourse program, he and other local professors teach shorter, less expensive classes which are open to the public and don’t count towards college credit.
Currently, Butts is teaching a Minicourse about three of his favorite baroque composers, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
“I get a chance to explore and share things that I really love,” Butts said about the Minicourses. “But most of all, I’ve made some really, really good friends through working here at the library. And I think that if I were to say one thing I cherish the most, it’s the friendships that I’ve made because of being here.”
Butts founded the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey 30 years ago to perform baroque music from the 18th Century, but they have since expanded to play music from the 16th Century to 21st Century.
The orchestra also premieres pieces written by Butts and others. In 2011, they performed the modern debut of a 1692 piece by Alessandro Scarlatti, the manuscript of which was discovered at Morristown National Historical Park.
The orchestra plans to perform some pieces in conjunction with the United States’ 250th anniversary this year. Among these are performances at Jockey Hollow on Saturday, April 18, Washington’s Headquarters on Saturday, May 9 and at the Morris Museum on Thursday, July 9.