Violinist Carol Lieberman and harpsichordist Mark Kroll have been performing together for over fifty years. Lieberman, recognized as one of America’s leading exponents of Baroque violin performance, is equally acclaimed for her command of the violin repertoire from the 19th to the 21st centuries. The scope of her versatility can be seen by her performances of the complete Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord of J.S. Bach throughout North and South America, the Mideast, and Europe, and her recordings of Baroque and contemporary music. The first violinist to receive a DMA in violin from the Yale School of Music, she has taught in universities and conservatories throughout the world, and is currently professor emerita at the College of the Holy Cross, where she also served as Director of the Holy Cross Chamber Players.

Mark Kroll also enjoys a long and distinguished career as a performer, scholar, and educator. He has appeared worldwide in recital and as concerto soloist, served as harpsichordist for the Boston Symphony for 30 years, and made numerous recordings, including a recent release of the complete Pièces de clavecin of François Couperin. Kroll has published eight books and numerous chapters and articles on a variety of subjects, and is professor emeritus at Boston University, where he founded the Departments of Harpsichord and Historical Performance. He continues to teach and lecture in universities and conservatories throughout the world.

By Mark Kroll

The harpsichord used in the concert today was built by the late Robert Brooke (1938-2022) in 2016. I commissioned it from Rob, with whom I had become a close friend, and whose instruments I greatly admired. Except for one notable exception (a French double-manual harpsichord built in 1975), Rob concentrated on Italian-style instruments, and more specifically, those made in the seventeenth century. These traditionally had a limited keyboard range suitable for the repertoire of that era, but I asked him to expand the number of keys of his standard instrument (to be honest, it took some convincing) so that I would be able to play the keyboard works of Bach and many other composers of the eighteenth century. Rob graciously agreed to do this (after the requisite number of beers), and we worked closely together in matters of voicing, registration, and decor. It is, in my opinion, the best harpsichord Rob ever built. Sadly, it is also the last one; illness and age prevented him for making another. It therefore gives me great personal and musical pleasure to play it again, especially in its new home of Princeton University, and with a sampling of beautiful Italian music for this beautiful Italian harpsichord.