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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Sebastian is young, handsome and sensitive, and stars in two local concerts this weekend. Affectionately nicknamed in honour of 18th-century German composer J.S. Bach, Sebastian is the baby blue harpsichord donated anonymously to the classical music community last winter.

The harpsichord is featured on stage tonight and Saturday for Invoke the Baroque, a musical tour of early classical and pre-classical music at Calvary Community Church. The concerts are organized by Classics On Stage Yellowknife (COSY).

Bacchus, pictured above, is a work by baroque bad-boy Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who ushered in the baroque period in painting in the early 17th century. - photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Pianist-turned-harpsichordist Anita Kuzma practised the instrument all winter in preparation for this weekend's performances, having played harpsichord for the first time only last year. She said the harpsichord demands a gentle touch, lest the strings be broken by baroque.

"It's a very fragile instrument so you have to play lightly in order not to destroy it," she explained, adding the strings are plucked when the keys are pressed, rather than struck with tiny hammers as occurs inside a piano. "When I'm playing on the harpsichord it's a very lively, joyful experience."

St. Pat's student Johnathan Raine will enjoy a turn on the harpsichord, as will pianists Sharon Chynoweth and Amy Hendricks, who also plays piano parts during the concert. Flutist Maureen Crotty will accompany some of the many vocalists on the program. The Tone Chimes Choir from St. Joe's school performs under the direction of Jackie Boersma.

"During the baroque period there were fewer and different instruments than in modern classical music," said multi-instrumentalist Joanna Russell. She compares the rhythm of baroque music to the chugging of a sewing machine, with the same melody-building momentum through improvisation with various instruments. Russell will contribute alto and bass recorder accompaniment tonight.

"The harpsichord is very interesting, but the bass recorder is very rare, as well, and it's a pleasure to have that instrument in the concert," said vocalist and Sissons music teacher, Louise Drapeau. "It's a very special sound."

A music scholar who moved North from Quebec last year, Drapeau is making her first appearance with COSY during Invoke the Baroque.

"Baroque music is very appealing because of the emotions it bares through the use of dissonant notes," she said, contrasting the genre with the more reserved classical music that followed later in the 18th century. "Baroque music is an adventure into intimacy, sensuality and eroticism – the love of courting and the pleasure of being with one another. However, at the beginning of the classical period emotion, I feel, is expressed through 'bees and flowers'."

Sebastian and the rest of the COSY ensemble invoke the baroque at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday.