Behind the Keyboard: Jane Austen’s Musical World
Join us for an evening of candlelight, history, and music as we step inside the elegant world of Jane Austen. Behind the Keyboard: Jane Austen’s Musical World is an immersive concert experience featuring selections from the Austen Family Music Collection, performed on a newly restored Broadwood fortepiano—an instrument identical to the one Austen herself played in her home at Chawton, making its public debut after decades of silence.
Presented by Empressa Ensemble and hosted in the 18th-century ballroom of the Hammond-Harwood House Museum, one of America’s finest examples of Georgian architecture, this concert offers a rare and resonant encounter with Austen’s era. The program includes expressive English ballads, spirited dances, and elegant operatic transcriptions—music Austen herself copied and cherished—capturing the spirit of Regency parlor music, where artistry, wit, and emotion converged at the keyboard.
The performance features soprano Elissa Edwards, praised by Gramophone for her “pliant, seductive, free-ranging voice,” and Thomas Sheehan, Cathedral Organist at Washington National Cathedral and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. Together, they bring this historic repertoire vividly to life in a setting as intimate and authentic as the music itself.
Whether you’re an Austen enthusiast, a lover of classical music, or a fan of historic homes, this unique evening promises to be a richly transportive experience.
A complimentary wine reception begins at 6:00 p.m. in the garden, with seating in the ballroom opening at 6:50 p.m. The performance begins promptly at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Wine Reception at 6:00 p.m. | Concert at 7:00 p.m.
- Concert supported by Nancy L. Harrison
