The Dryden Ensemble Returns!


Sunday, February 16, 2025 at 4:00 pm

A 26-course Feast: Baroque Lute Duets


A program of 17th- and 18th-century duets for the Baroque lute

featuring lutenists Daniel Swenberg and Dušan Balarin.

While performances of Baroque lute duets are extremely rare,

there is a significant repertoire from the early 17th century

to the close of the 18th. The concert includes music

by Falkenhagen and Hagen from the court of Bayreuth, Telemann,

Conti, Sammartini, DeVisée, DuFault, and Purcell.


Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton

50 Cherry Hill Road, located off Hwy. 206


Admission is free, though donations will be gratefully accepted.



Please consider making a donation to the Dryden Ensemble.


Donate now!


If you are interested in sponsoring a musician or a concert,

please send an email to: drydenensemble@gmail.com.

Meet Dryden's New Artistic Director,

Lutenist Daniel Swenberg

Daniel Swenberg plays a wide variety of lutes and guitars: baroque, renaissance, classical/romantic--small, medium, and large. He has been a regular with the Dryden Ensemble for over 15 years. Daniel schleps instruments throughout North America and Europe to play with a wide range of ensembles: the Metropolitan Operan, Carmel Bach Festival, Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations, on Broadway with Mark Rylance in Farinelli and the King, Mr. Jones & the Engines of Destruction, Opera Atelier/Tafelmusik, The New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Catacoustic Ensemble, Handel & Haydn, and many others. He has also accompanied Renee Fleming and Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall.


Daniel is on faculty at Juilliard’s Historical Performance program. He received awards from the Belgian American Educational Foundation (2000) for a study of 18th century chamber music for the lute, and a Fulbright Scholarship (1997) to study in Bremen, Germany. His programing integrates and emphasizes music with the history, sciences, economics, politics, and broader culture of its time—from Weiss to vice.

Meet Lutenist Dušan Balarin

Dušan Balarin is a versatile soloist and accompanist on historical lutes and guitars. His curiosity has led him to collaborate with leading artists and ensembles across Early Music, Jazz, and Contemporary Arts. Notably, he has worked with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Les Art Florissants, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Emerson Quartet, Rachel Podger, Bruce Dickey, Lionel Meunier, Stephan MacLeod, Tessa Lark, and Reginald Mobley. Dušan regularly performs with leading early music organizations, including the Washington Bach Consort, ARTEK, TENET, Chatham Baroque, Harmonia Stellarum, and EMNY. A Juilliard graduate and recipient of the prestigious Historical Performance Scholarship, Dušan first developed his craft under lute virtuoso Nigel North, earning his MM with highest honors from Indiana University. Originally from Lima, Peru, previous studies took him to Brazil and Texas.  


Upcoming Concerts:


Sunday, March 16 at 4:00 pm

En Concert: The Marvelous Mr. Meusel

Daniel Swenberg, Lisa Terry, Webb Wiggins, and guests

offer a glimpse of 18th-century courtly entertainments:

Couperin, Dieupart, Meusel, DeVisée

Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel


Saturday, April 19 at 4:00 pm

Baroque Passion: Music for Holy Week

Sacred arias featuring lute and viola da gamba

from the Baroque Passion repertoire.

Princeton Theological Seminary Chapel


Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email List