EarlyMusicNews.Org

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The Early Music Group Kalenda Maya, whose name goes back to the spring celebrations of twelfth-century France or "Kalends of May" is a vocal and instrumental group that has been dedicated since its inception in 1997 to study, research, interpretation and dissemination of music produced between the Middle Ages and the Baroque. The repertoire includes medieval European dances of the twelfth century, through romances, carols and other Renaissance vocal forms, dealing with the European court music from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, and culminating with the musical production held in America during the colonial ages. An important part of the group’s work is dedicated to exploring traditional music such as airs of Spanish or Sephardic Jewish and Celtic music. …” (Translation aided by Google Translation)

Added on: Feb 27, 2012 | Hits: 186

“Ganassi is a group dedicated to the dissemination of Renaissance and Baroque music, which brings together musicians who have played and loved period music for over a decade. Its name comes from Silvestro Ganassi (1492 -?), One of the most important theorists of the Renaissance, who also has the merit of being the first to write a treatise devoted exclusively to the recorder: The Fontegara, printed in Venice in 1535.

Since its founding in 2004, Ganassi has distinguished itself by reviving the sounds of Renaissance and Baroque music through the use of reproductions of original instruments from different eras, as well as respect for the canons of interpretation of the same .”

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Added on: Feb 27, 2012 | Hits: 168

"Collegium 419 is a vocal ensemble specializing in music of the 16th to 18th century. It performs in different casts, depending on type of project, from vocal ensemble (5 singers) to a chamber choir (16 - 24 singers). The ensemble features lesser known works of the Renaissance and Baroque polyphony with particular consideration for coherent dramaturgy. Collegium 419 cooperates with leading instrumentalists, who follow historical performance praxis of early music. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 12, 2008 | Hits: 419

"Since it was founded in 1997, the Prague ensemble Collegium Marianum has focused on   revitalising the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One of the few professional companies specialising in this field in the Czech Republic, it not only gives concerts of works in particular by composers who were born or active in central Europe, but also regularly performs unique musical drama and dance productions. Several modern day world premieres are presented each year. The ensemble has collaborated with renowned European directors, choreographers, conductors and soloists such as: Andrew Parrott, Simon Standage, Chiara Banchini, Benjamin Lazar, Sergio Azzolini, Peter Kooij, Peter van Heyghen or Sigrid T´Hooft.

Since 1999 the company has been under the artistic leadership of flautist Jana Semerádová, whose active research together with her study of baroque gesture, declamation and dance, has enabled her to gradually broaden the profile of the Collegium Marianum ensemble and present operas and intermezzos in the authentic surroundings of Czech baroque theatres.... "

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Added on: Jul 12, 2008 | Hits: 317

"Since their foundation in 2000, the vocal-instrumental "Ensemble Inégal" has profiled as a unique group, interpreting music from Renaissance to Romanticism. Inégal - unequal - means, besides variableness of the cast, versatility in styles, dramaturgical resourcefulness and unconventional approach to searching for interpretation values. Our advantage is a refined selection of members - the best Czech and foreign singers and instrumentalists. Today, Ensemble Inégal belongs among the top musical ensembles and, since its beginning, it has roused interest among music-loving public and received many enthusiastic reviews from expert critics in Europe and the USA. Ensemble Inégal has released a number of very successful CDs. The first CD record Mass in D-major, op. 86 "Lužanská" by Antonín Dvořák was made in 2001 in the Chateau chapel in Lužany, whose consecration Dvořák composed this Mass for. In 2003, Ensemble Inégal had their world recording premiere of sacral compositions by the Czech baroque composer Jan Josef Ignác Brentner (1689-1742), who used to be one of the most successful composers in central Europe during his life, yet he was forgotten almost completely during the following centuries. We managed to bring back to life his musical works, charged with extraordinary resourcefulness, original and unmistakable style and unusual inward emotionality. Several weeks ago, Ensemble Inégal has finished the latest CD record, which is a world premiere again. The star cast recorded the oratorio Il serpente di bronzo (Bronze Snake) by one of the greatest personality of European baroque music, phenomenal composer Jan Dismas Zelenka. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 13, 2008 | Hits: 388

“ENSEMBLE TOURBILLON, founded in 1998 by Petr Wagner, brings together outstanding musicians from various parts of Europe who specialize in baroque and early classical performance practice on period instruments and are devoted to chamber music. Through its members the Ensemble Tourbillon combines the very best of European early music schools with outstanding musicianship, which lends the ensemble distinctively virtuosic style and refined sound colours.

Ensemble Tourbillon‘s repertoire spans a period from the seventeenth century up to C. F. Abel, C. Ph. E. Bach, with works of virtually unknown composers to familiar masterpieces of the baroque and early classical periods. Its formation ranging from 4 musicians (2 violins, viola da gamba, theorboe or harpsichord) to large instrumental and vocal forces enables the ensemble to perform major secular and sacred vocal repertoire. ..“

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Added on: Jul 14, 2009 | Hits: 269

"Hofmusici is a period-instrument ensemble of young musicians specialising in the performance of baroque music. The German-Latin name Hofmusici (which means Court Musicians) reflects the ensembles at aristocratic courts in the former Habsburg Monarchy. The ensemble's repertoire harks back to the domestic tradition as well. Apart from Czech music pieces it also includes works by Austrian and Italian composers, who were employed in the first half of the 18th century at the imperial court in Vienna. Hofmusici frequently perform modern world premieres of compositions, which have until now lain unknown in Czech and foreign music archives.

The orchestra was founded in Prague in 1991 under the name of Cappella Accademica and soon became one of the leading early music ensembles in the Czech Republic. The orientation of the ensemble towards fully staged period-style performances of baroque opera led in 1995 to the begining of cooperation with the Foundation of the Baroque Theater in Český Krumlov. Hofmusici regularly perform at concerts and festivals in the Czech Republic and abroad: Prague Spring (Czech Republic), Printemps des Arts in Nantes (France), Feste Musicali per San Rocco in Venice (Italy), Intenationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen (Germany), Baroque à Saint-Roch Liège (Belgium). The Music Director of the ensemble is harpsichordist Ondřej Macek. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 24, 2008 | Hits: 360

"The Karmína Ensemble concentrates on the interpretation of old Czech folk songs and music of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods - both secular and sacred.

The wide range of different replicas of historical musical instruments that are used by the ensemble give the performance authenticity and richly coloured interesting sound. The atmosphere at concerts is emphasised by folk or period costumes and it can be also accompanied by the historical dance group.

Miroslav Sekáč, the founder and artistic leader of the ensemble searches old collections for music that he arranges in an unusual and non-traditional way. Miroslav Sekáč works closely with Czech Radio and Czech Television. " See website for more details. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 403

“The Musica Florea ensemble was founded in 1992 by the cellist and conductor Marek Štryncl as one of the first serious initiatives in the field of stylistically-informed performance in the Czech Republic. The indispensible foundation of the ensemble`s work and the guarantee of its reputation lie in playing on original instruments or copies thereof, undertaking historical research based on studies of period sources and aesthetics, and creative revival of forgotten performing styles and methods.

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 443

“Recorder trio TRE FONTANE was formed in the spring 2008 to perform early and contemporary music, namely the music of middle ages, renaissance, early and high baroque times and music written during 20th and 21st centuries. In the interpretation the ensemble is using various period recorders e.g. consort of renaissance recorders (this including three tenors and treble in g) and copies of baroque recorders built after the original instruments preserved in museums and private collections. This allows the using of adequate „authentic“ pitch and various scales of temperaments (meantone, unequal temperatures). The repertoir of Tre Fontane consists not only of compositions written right for three recorders (exact intrumenation notes were introduced in later 17th century) but according to early performance practice plays also the compositions for other instruments (e.g. transcriptions of organ pieces or vocal compositions).“

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Added on: Mar 30, 2012 | Hits: 129

“Alina Rotaru studied piano and choral conducting at the music conservatory in her hometown Bucharest. There she came into contact with Early Music and founded her first ensemble. After moving to Germany in 1999, she studied harpsichord with Siegbert Rampe and Wolfgang Kostujak in Duisburg, Carsten Lohff and Detlef Bratschke in Bremen and Bob van Asperen in Amsterdam. She is the winner of the 6th Biagio Marini Early Music Competition. The debut CD of her ensemble LUXURIANS with works by G. Ph. Telemann was released in 2009. Her debut solo CD with harpsichord works by J. P. Sweelinck was released in October 2010. She plays concerts and gives master classes inside and outside Europe.

Alina Rotaru is currently working at the University of the Arts in Bremen as a harpsichord instructor.“

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Added on: Jan 18, 2010 | Hits: 302

"The history of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin reaches back to 1982 when young members of the various former East Berlin orchestras joined forces to set up an independent orchestra specializing in early music. Set apart from the state sponsored music institutions of the former GDR, the ensemble's efforts at achieving authentic performances were rather timid at first. However, since 1984, the ensemble has had its own concert series at the Berlin Konzerthaus (Schauspielhaus) on the Gendarmenmarkt, and by 1986 the ensemble were already guests at the Tage für Alte Musik in Herne, West Germany. Their first recording was released in 1987, appearing simultaneously on the Eterna label in the East and on the Capprccio label in the West. Further CD productions followed for Cappriccio and Berlin Classics, and from 1994 onwards the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin has had an exclusive contract with harmonia mundi france. The recordings of the Akademie have been regularly awarded prizes, including the Deutschen Schallplattenpreis, the French Diapason d'Or, the Cannes Classical Award, the British Grammophone Award and the Dutch Edison Award. The international concert engagements of the ensemble have developed continuously since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, with the Akdemie now regularly appearing as guests in Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, London and Brussels, and other musical centers of Europe. " ...

Added on: Aug 14, 2007 | Hits: 385

"The ensemble anima mea, founded by the Berlin Barocktrompeterin Ute Hartwich, is composed of internationally popular soloists. The goal of the young ensemble is to perform little-known works of chamber music for trumpet and strings. The first CD of Anima Mea - Musik der Hofkapelle zu Kremsier - gained international excellent reviews and awards. " (Google tranlsation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 03, 2008 | Hits: 287

"In spring 2008, a group of young musicians came together in North Germany under the direction and initiative of Florian Benfer to perform a programme consisting of motets and cantatas from the 17th and 18th centuries. This group developed into the ARTON Ensemble, which now performs in varying sizes and combinations and is made up of young professional singers and instrumentalists, some of whom are still completing their studies, but all of whom bring with them a wealth of experience in renowned ensembles and as soloists on the international concert circuit. One special feature of this ensemble is the wide range of nationalities to be found among the ensemble members. This project includes musicians from France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Austria, England and Germany. Concert tours in the short history of this young ensemble have already led these excellent musicians to stages in Germany, Sweden and France.”

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Added on: Feb 03, 2012 | Hits: 213

"Camerata Köln is an ensemble devoted to baroque and classical chamber music, with a special focus on works with woodwind instruments.

Since its foundation in 1979, the ensemble has performed in almost all European countries and at important early music festivals such as the Internationale Festtage Alter Musik Innsbruck, Flanders Festival Bruges, Tage Alter Musik Herne, Arolser Barockfestspiele or Tage Alter Musik Köln. International touring has also taken Camerata Köln to countries outside Europe including Israel, North and South America, India, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, mostly in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. In North America, the ensemble has already performed in such places as the Frick Collection In New York, Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Vancouver Early Music Festival, the Pittsburg Renaissance and Baroque Society, the Tropical Baroque Festival sponsored by the Miami Bach Society and, more recently, the Edmonton Chamber Music Society, the Calgary Millenium Foundation and the Women's Musical Club of Toronto, Canada's oldest music series.

From the start, the idea underlying the ensemble´s activities has been to have early chamber music performed by musicians with a virtuoso command of historical instruments as well as proper attention to style combined with the greatest possible spontaneity, pleasure and artistic independence. Over the years, public and critics alike have continued to recognize this idea as being the distinguishing and outstanding feature of Camerata Köln. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 17, 2008 | Hits: 441

"CAPELLA CÆSAREA was founded in 2002 by six musicians who completed their studies in historically informed performance practice in Basel, Trossingen and Würzburg.

Well-versed and stylistically aware, they have established themselves in the concert world as interpreters of music preceding the 19th century, performing on copies and original instruments of the period. They can be heard regularly in performances and recordings with internationally well known ensembles such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Köln, Musica Fiata and Concerto Palatino. In addition to this, some of the ensemble members work as accompanists at the Early Music Festival in Innsbruck, Austria, as well as accompanying and teaching at the Early Music Week and Early Music Department in the Music College in Trossingen.

The name CAPELLA CÆSAREA points to the music chapel at the imperial court of Habsburg: their members played an important part in shaping European musical life in the C17th by keeping up an animated musical exchange at the highest level. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 420

"With music of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the orchestra, founded in 1985, has earned itself a unique image. Every musician of this independent ensemble may contribute his or her own ideas and each piece is worked through in detail by all involved, This concertanre, or "co-operative collaboration" is the trademark of Concerto Köln. On e can hear it and experience it! " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 17, 2008 | Hits: 297

"Dulce Melos” was founded in 2003 by lutenist Marc Lewon (Germany), hammered-dulcimer specialist Margit Übellacker (Austria) and multi-instrumentalist Yukiko Yaita (Japan), who met while pursuing graduate studies in medieval music at the renowned Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. Since then their virtuosity has earned them high-profile performances in European festivals including “Freunde Alter Musik Basel”, Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and “innovantiqua Winterthur”. They were involved in a recording of music of the Lochamer Liederbuch (published with Naxos in Jan 2008), a source contemporary with the earliest treatises mentioning the hammered dulcimer or “dulcemelos”. They regularly work with other Early Music-specialists for concert projects and CD productions, who complement the ensemble's characteristic sound with that of bowed strings: the fiddle and gamba-players Uri Smilansky (Israel/England), Elizabeth Rumsey (Australia/Switzerland), and Silvia Tecardi (Germany). “Dulce Melos” sees instrumental music of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance as a repertoire which calls for dynamic skills in both performance and composition. This they do featuring instruments such as the eschequier or chekker, dulcemelos, guiterne sounds which are little-heard in modern concerts but were precious to fifteenth-century cognoscenti in the highly refined courts of Europe. "

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Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 387

"Dorothee Oberlinger, Recorder player, is one of the most astonishing discoveries of recent years, an expressive virtuoso who has received numerous awards. She is a professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Founded by Dorothee Oberlinger, Ensemble 1700's main focus rests on currents of European music of the 17th and 18 Century. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 03, 2008 | Hits: 349

“alla polacca was founded by three music graduates who came together at the Cologne Conservatory. Here they continued to develop their expertise in historic performance-practice, especially in the realm of chamber music and honed their skills under the direction of such distinguished artists as Konrad Junghänel, Barbara Schlick, and Kai Wessel.

The basic group is formed by Iwona Lesniowska-Lubowicz (soprano), Paulina Kilarska (harpsichord, organ) and Stanislaw Gojny (theorbo, lute, baroque guitar) of whom all can draw upon year-long experience in collaborating professionally with leading specialists in the field, in and outside of Germany.“

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Added on: May 09, 2009 | Hits: 255

“Recently founded by four of the most promising young period instrument players in Europe, Ensemble Diderot is already renowned for its lively virtuoso interpretations of 17th- and 18th- Century music, and is rapidly evolving into one of Europe's most ingenious chamber music groups.

Named after the brilliant, versatile, and prolific writer of the Enlightenment, Denis Diderot, the Ensemble devotes itself to the performance and research of the trio sonata repertoire in its original and most sonorous combination: two violins, harpsichord and cello. ..“

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Added on: Jun 17, 2010 | Hits: 580

“Ensemble Mediolanum was founded in 1999 by Sabine Ambos, Felix Koch and Wiebke Weidanz with the aim of conveying the expressive and versatile power of early music.“ (Google transl.) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 27, 2009 | Hits: 359

"Ensemble Phoenix Munich was established in 2003 by Joel Frederiksen, leading early music specialist, after moving to Munich, Germany. Munich is the resident city of the ensemble and the ensemble is proud to put the name of the city into its name. The ensemble is heir to Mr. Frederiksen’s previous group, the well-known L’antica musica New York (1989-2001). Ensemble Phoenix Munich presents early music at international standards using top international players and singers. The group is planning a concert series for 2007-8 in Munich and already has invitations to perform at international festivals. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 16, 2008 | Hits: 491

"We met in the spring of 2004 in the state academy of music in Trossingen, a small town which lies in the Black Forest in the south of Germany. Four musicians from four different nationalities: Germany, France, Transylvania and Israel. We soon found that we share a common language and a common fascination with the polyphonic music of the late Middle Ages. Music that manages to express the deepest human feelings in a delicate, poetic manner, in a way that, in our belief, has not been surpassed. Through playing together we have learnt to know each other, to develop our own language and our own approach to this wonderful music which, in all of its complexity, leaves much freedom to the performer.

The use of instruments reconstructed based on medieval iconography allows us to approach the original soundscape. We attach great importance to the understanding of the musical language of the period, now having become foreign of today's classical musicians. Thus, a bit in the manner of a performer facing a contemporary work with a new language, it is a matter of decoding little by little the written page, to try to understand the essence of a piece, and to discover its meaning with our personal modern frames of mind

Santenay
The ensemble draws its name from the castle of Santenay, in Burgundy, seigniorial residence from the XIth to the XVIth century, belonging in the XIVth century to Philippe le Hardi, son of the king of France Jean le Bon and first duke of Greater Burgundy. Thus this castle constitutes for us in a way a symbol of the apogee of the culture at the Burgundian court. Today the lands of the castle of Santenay are also known for their excellent wine production."

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Added on: Mar 13, 2008 | Hits: 423

"SARBAND means connection - just as the name, which stems from Oriental music theory and denotes to an improvised linking of two compositions within a musical suite. Musical director Dr. Vladimir Ivanoff, who founded SARBAND in 1986, both as a scholar and a musician, connects cultures, people and epochs: His programmes unite musicians from the most different cultures and backgrounds and mediate between past and present, Early Music and living traditions.

In the world of SARBAND, musicians from Bulgaria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and Germany perform together. The co-operation in the ensemble is no fashionable crossover session, but conceived as a continuous dialogue on equal terms. All artists unrestrictedly contribute their native traditions, their personal histories and their own creativity to the programmes. While today the religious, economic, cultural and political differences between the Orient and Occident are in the focus of attention, Sarband endeavour to show that music was always not only mere decoration, but an enlightened means of mutual respect and can still be that today: an example for understanding and acceptance, a model of peace. The ensemble takes its audience on a journey through space and time, through religions and cultures. It is a journey, on which you can leave behind the customary ways of thinking and the traditional concert experience. ... "

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Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 332