EarlyMusicNews.Org

“ .. Masumi was a prize winner at the prestigious International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges in 2007 and became the first Japanese harpsichordist to reach the finals in 21 years. She was also a semi-finalist in the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig (2006), a runner-up in the Broadwood Harpsichord Competition in London (2007), and a finalist in the Fenton House Keyboard Ensemble Competition (2008) with her ensemble Corona Baroque.
 
After Masumi graduated with a University Medal from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in Brisbane Australia where she studied piano with Leah Horwitz, she was granted an Australian Postgraduate Award by the Australian Government and completed her Master of Music degree on a full scholarship. In the UK, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music and was later awarded “The English Concert” Junior Fellowship with ensemble Melopoetica. Masumi is currently working towards a PhD by Performance at the University of York. ..“

Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 349

“Originally from Bath, Claire studied piano, harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano at the Royal College of Music.  She graduated in 1999 with a BMus and two diplomas to her name, having won a clutch of prizes and awards along the way.

Since graduating from the RCM just over a decade ago, Claire has performed with a wide range of ensembles in both the UK and abroad.  She is a regular member of Baroque Encounter Trio, and has recently joined both Musica Secreta and Il Festino as their principal continuo player. As well as specialising in Baroque chamber music, Claire has worked with many orchestras and conductors, including Walter Reiter, Philip Thorby, Alison Bury and Steven Devine.
 
Claire has recently completed a Master’s degree at Trinity College of Music, studying harpsichord and chamber organ with James Johnstone, supported by a full scholarship. She is now putting her energies into other projects, and remains much in demand as a performer and educator. Claire teaches piano at St Dunstan’s College, is a staff accompanist at Trinity College of Music and is also a regular tutor on the Early Music For Youth Summer School. She can also occasionally be found shark diving, having recently qualified as a PADI Open Water Scuba Diver. ”

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Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 495

“Hailed as a "superb harpsichordist" by the  Kansas City Star, Christina Edelen brings a depth of experience, knowledge, and virtuosity to a career in early keyboard performance and teaching that has spanned two decades in the United States and Europe.  On harpsichord, organ, clavichord, and fortepiano, Ms Edelen has performed as soloist and in numerous ensembles and festivals, including Opera Atelier, Santa Fe chamber music festival, and the Berkeley, San Antonio,  and Bloomington Early Music Festivals. She studied at the Indiana University Early Music Institute and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and was a finalist at the Bodky International Competition. Ms. Edelen is a popular teacher and lecturer, and has served on the faculties of Baylor University and the University of Houston.  Ms. Edelen is also active as a church organist in Amsterdam and Haarlem as well as the United States. She is currently concluding doctoral research in musical treatises of 17th century England.  Recordings include the complete sonatas for Harpsichord and Flute of Boismortier and a selection of English Baroque Organ Concertos.“

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Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 291

“The International Organ Foundation (IOF) is a non-profit, privately-financed foundation, formed in 1990 and based in Spain. Its main objectives are to promote interest in all aspects of pipe organs, such as the conservation of historic instruments, the construction of new organs, and the training of organ builders and organists. “ This site offers a searchable database of nearly 6000 pipe organs in 71 countries.

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Added on: Apr 16, 2010 | Hits: 354

“Ana Paula Segurola Pita started her harpsichord studies with Eduardo Gilardoni (scholarship of the Mercedes Olivera Foundation, 1990-91), and has since then attended master-classes with renowned harpsichordists like Jacques Ogg, José Luis González Uriol, Mario Videla, Edmundo Hora, Alessandro Santoro and Françoise Lengellé among others, and with musicologists like Bruno Turner and Kelley Harness.

She studied with Edmundo Hora at the State University of Campinas and with professor Ilton Wjuniski and his assistant Maria Eugênia Sacco at the Magda Tagliaferro Foundation in São Paulo.

Former piano student of Raquel Boldorini, she took lessons with Eliane Richepin (Annecy, France, 1997), and attended master-classes with foreign pianists performing in Montevideo, between 1991 and 2000.

At present, she studies Organ as a disciple of Cristina García Banegas at the University in Uruguay. ..”

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Added on: Apr 12, 2010 | Hits: 581

“Arthur Haas is renowned throughout Europe and America as a peerless pedagogue and performer of Baroque and contemporary music. After receiving top prize in the 1975 Paris harpsichord competition, Mr. Haas remained in Paris from 1975 to 1983, performing in most major French early music festivals including le Festival Estival de Paris, Mai Musical de Bordeaux, and the Saintes Early Music Festival. Praised by Le Monde for his interpretation of French keyboard music, Professor Haas has recorded duo-harpsichhord music of Gaspard LeRoux with William Christie, solo CDs of music by D'Anglebert, Forqueray, and harpsichord music of the English Restoration. Prof. Haas is a member of the Aulos Ensemble and Musical Assembly, and has toured with such leading Baroque musicians as Marion Verbruggen, Julianne Baird, Stephen Preston, and Laurence Dreyfus. Much in demand as a teacher, Prof. Haas is a faculty member of summer early music music institutes in Berkeley, Amherst, and the Longy School of Music; he has also taught at the Eastman School and at Stanford University.“

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Added on: Mar 21, 2010 | Hits: 333

“Welcome to my website! I am a music historian and performer on historical keyboard instruments. I teach at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, where I am Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department. Welcome to my website! I am a music historian and performer on historical keyboard instruments. I teach at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, where I am Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department.  ..“

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Added on: Feb 08, 2010 | Hits: 315

“János Sebestyén was born into a musical family on March 2, 1931 in Budapest, Hungary. He began his musical education at the National Conservatory, where his mother was on the piano faculty. His father was a prominent pedagogue and principal cellist of opera orchestras in Göteborg and Budapest. In 1950, while waiting for admission to the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, he joined the staff of the Hungarian Radio. Upon entering the Academy of Music, he studied organ with János Hammerschlag and Ferenc Gergely, piano with István Antal and composition with Ervin Major and Ferenc Szabó. He graduated in 1955 with an organ diploma and later attended the harpsichord class of Zuzana Růžičková in Prague. Since that time he has performed regularly throughout Europe, Asia and the United States and has made more than 80 recordings for a number of international labels. In 1970 he established the first harpsichord class at the Academy of Music, where he was professor until 2009. At the Hungarian Radio he was senior music producer from 1969-94, and from 1962-2007 he wrote and hosted a regular series of broadcasts. ..”

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Added on: Jan 02, 2010 | Hits: 388

“ Maintaining an active concert schedule in North and South Americas, Europe, and the Far East, award-winning Canadian early keyboardist  Sonia Lee has been praised by critics for her "very high standard of playing" and her ability "to dazzle an enraptured audience."  She has been heard as soloist at festivals as well as regional and international conferences, including Boston Early Music Festival, Rome Festival, Early Keyboard Music Cycle of Buenos Aires, Early Music Colorado Fall Festival, Society for Historically Informed Performance Summer Concert Series, as well as the American Musical Instrument Society, Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society, Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society, Galpin Society, and International Committee of Musical Instrument Museums and Collections meetings. As a continuo player on both harpsichord and organ, she has collaborated with numerous soloists and ensembles, including Concerto Urbano, La Donna Musicale, the Rome Festival Orchestra and Opera, Dulces Exuviae, Sinfonia da Camera, Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal, and Musicerend Gezelschap, of which she is a founding member. ..“

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Added on: Oct 18, 2009 | Hits: 480

“Natalia Valentin began her musical studies at the age of six in Caracas, Venezuela. She studied Piano under Diana Franklin, Arnaldo Pizzolante and Cesar Rangel. She also completed courses in Harmony, Music History, Musical Aesthetics and Chamber Music at the Conservatory Juan Jose Landaeta. Parallel to her musical education, Natalia studied Arts at the Central University of Venezuela.

In 1998, Natalia Valentin settled in Paris where she began her musical studies at the Superior Conservatory of Paris (CRR). She studied with professor Billy Eidi and achieved a "Premier Prix" for her final piano performance.

Having successfully completed her piano studies at CRR, Natalia began specializing in Fortepiano, studying with professor Patrick Cohen at the CRR. In 2003, she obtained the Early Music Superior Diploma, and at the same time, she obtained the "Premier Prix" in Chamber Music at the Conservatory Gustave Charpentier where she studied under professor Odile Carracilly.

Subsequent studies took Natalia to the Conservatoire Superieur Nationale de Musique et Danse de Paris, and In June 2007 she obtained, by unanimous decision of the jury, a "Premier Prix" in Fortepiano performance with the commendation of excellence. She studied under professors Patrick Cohen, Pierre Cazes, and Kenneth Weiss and worked to perfect her fortepiano technique under the guidance of Susan Alexander Max and Arthur Schoonderwoerd.

Natalia Valentin has attended Fortepiano Master Classes by Malcolm Bilson, Alexei Lubimov, Andreas Staier, Claire Chevalier, Bart von Oort, Miklos Spanyi and Susan Alexander-Max. ..“

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Added on: Oct 18, 2009 | Hits: 299

“L’objet de l’association est de promouvoir
- la pratique du clavecin, du clavicorde et des instruments apparentés,
- la connaissance des musiques écrites pour ces instruments,
- la composition d’œuvres nouvelles pour ces instruments,
- les échanges entre les clavecinistes et entre toutes personnes intéressées par ces instruments. ..“

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Added on: Jul 28, 2009 | Hits: 407

“Les Amis du Clavecin  (The Friends of the Harpsichord) is an association founded in 1991 by the Belgian harpsichordist Betty Bruylants. Its purpose is to foster people's knowledge and love of the harpsichord, an instrument which was extremely important in the history of western music for over three centuries.

The renewed discovery of Baroque music has restored the harpsichord to its rightful place among ancient instruments. In addition, the works that many 20th-century composers wrote for it prove that it is also a modern one, which offers all kinds of opportunities for contemporary music.

Concerts, festivals, lectures and master classes have enabled many performers and their audiences to get together and to share their passion in a pleasant and genial atmosphere. ..“

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Added on: Jul 28, 2009 | Hits: 375

“Since his first clavichord performance in Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1972, Bernard Brauchli has entirely devoted himself to the performance, study and revival of early keyboard instruments. He has travelled extensively with his instruments in the United States, Canada and Europe, concertising, lecturing and introducing audiences to early keyboard instruments and historical performance practises.

Major appearances have included the Boston Early Music Festival, the Shrine to Music Concert Series (South Dakota), the Festivals of Santander and San Sebastian (Spain), the Festival do Algarve, (Portugal), the Salzburg Festival and the Internationale Musikwochen in Millstadt (Austria), the Festival of Valère (Switzerland), the Corso Internazionale di Musica Antica in Urbino and the Festival dei Saraceni in Pamparato (Italy). He has worked with national television and broadcasting stations in many countries including WGBH National Public Radio Network in Boston, France-Culture, Radio Nacional y Televisión Española, Radio Nacional y Televisión de Venezuela, Radio Difusão Portuguesa and Radio Suisse Romande. Bernard Brauchli has made six record albums and ten compact discs (for Titanic Records, EMI, Stradivarius, MAM) on historical instruments and copies.

Continual research has led Bernard Brauchli to publish numerous articles on both sides of the Atlantic and his book, The Clavichord was published by Cambridge University Press in 1998, for which he received the Nicholas Bessarabof Prize from the American Musical Instrument Society in 1999. In 1983 he was awarded the Julius Adams Stratton Prize for Cultural Achievement. ..“

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Added on: Jul 25, 2009 | Hits: 425

“The Boston Clavichord Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of the clavichord and its music. The society sponsors concerts, masterclasses, lecture/demonstrations and other clavichord-related events. Although these events are primarily local, through our bulletin and web site we serve a wider audience throughout North America. We also function as the contact point to other clavichord societies throughout the world.“

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Added on: Jul 05, 2009 | Hits: 426

"Studied:
piano & accompanying at the University of Montreal
harpsichord at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Bob van Asperen

Performed:
in France, The Netherlands, Canada & the USA

Focus:
Baroque/Classical performance & contemporary music"

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Added on: Jun 07, 2009 | Hits: 475

“Dr. Barbara Harbach, Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has toured extensively as both concert organist and harpsichordist.  Her appearances include recitals throughout the United States and Canada, Korea, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Russian Siberia, as well as solo and continuo roles with symphony orchestras. She holds academic degrees from Pennsylvania State University (B.A.), Yale University (M.M.A.),

Musikhochschule (Konzertdiplom) in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.).  In 2002, Harbach received an honorary doctorate in music, honoris causa, from Wilmington College, Ohio. 

Her lively performances and recordings have captured the imagination of many American composers, and the body of work written for and dedicated to Harbach is substantial.  Musical America has called her “nothing short of brilliant,” and Gramophone has cited her as an “acknowledged interpreter – and, indeed, muse – of modern harpsichord music.”  She was host of the weekly television music series Palouse Performance seen throughout the Inland Northwest. 

As a composer, Harbach has written symphonies, works for chamber ensemble, string orchestra, organ, harpsichord; musicals, choral anthems, a film score, a modern ballet, and many arrangements for brass and organ of various Baroque works.  In 2004, her first symphony, Veneration for Orchestra, was premiered at Wilmington College, Ohio, and her second symphony, One of Ours – a Cather Symphony, was premiered by the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra.

She is also involved in the research, editing and publication of manuscripts of eighteenth century keyboard composers.  Her work is available in both recorded and published form through Naxos Records, Gasparo Records, Kingdom Records, Albany Records, Northeastern Records, Hester Park, Robert King Music, Elkan-Vogel, Augsburg Publishing, Agape Music and Vivace Press.“

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Added on: Jun 07, 2009 | Hits: 288

“Born in Milan,where successfully graduated in organ, organ composition andharpsichord at the Conservatorio G.Verdi. Winner of several national contestshe began a deep activity of concertswhich led him to play all over Europe and USA for the most  prestigious concert societies.

Expecially keen in the literature of the XVII and the XVIII centuries performed on historical instruments, he already recorded several CDs as soloistand as a member of chamber music group.

He has edited the modern revision of some cantatas by Alessandro Melani and has published musicby Cima, Borgo, Falconieri and Monteclairin tablature for trumpet and continuo for Editions Bim (Bulle-Switzerland).

Since 1982 He plays in duo with Gabriele Cassone and in 1989 he founded the Ensemble "Pian & Forte".At the present time he is teaching Basso continuoby the Accademia internazionale di Musica in Milanand organist of San Francesco di Paola Church in Milan.

Antonio Frigé plays for Dynamic.“

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Added on: May 17, 2009 | Hits: 290

“Friends of Square Pianos is a sort of on-line club for owners, potential owners, and friends of - Square Pianos!

  We are also happy to welcome owners of very old grand pianos – say before about 1840 – as they do not seem to have a website of their own. 

Our aim is to encourage ownership and enjoyment of these historic instruments, and to help owners to keep them in playing condition.  There is a special pleasure in playing (and hearing) music played on the instruments for which it was composed. ..“

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Added on: May 14, 2009 | Hits: 859

“Léon Berben was born in 1970 in Heerlen (the Netherlands), but has been living for several years in Cologne (Germany). He studied harpsichord and organ in Den Haag (Koninklijk Conservatorium) and Amsterdam (Sweelinck Conservatorium) with Rienk Jiskoot, Bob van Asperen, Ton Koopman and Gustav Leonhardt, and finished his studies with solo-diploma for both instruments.

Since March 2000 he has been the harpsichordist with Musica Antiqua Köln (Reinhard Goebel). As such he has given concerts all over the world, travelling throughout Europe, Asia, North- and South America and has recorded several CDs for Deutsche Grammophon / Archiv Produktion. Musica Antiqua Köln dissolved at the end of November 2006, and Léon Berben has since focussed his work on chamber music and, increasingly, on the solo-repertoire.

He gives solo-recitals on harpsichord and organ. His solo-CDs on historic organs and harpsichords - above all with the labels Ramée and Aeolus - have been highly acclaimed in the press, and received numerous awards, including the »Vierteljahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik« and »Choc« of Le Monde de la Musique. ..“ Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 27, 2009 | Hits: 485

“ The  mandate of the Association Clavecin en France is to promote:

• the performance of harpsichord, clavichords and related instruments
• the repertoire available for these instruments
• the composition of newer works for these instruments
• the exchange of information between harpsichordists and all those interested in this field“
  

Added on: Apr 18, 2009 | Hits: 525

"Italian, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Claudio Di Veroli received his training from a distinguished group of European musicians: Ernst Epstein (piano and interpretation), Erwin Leuchter (harmony) and Ljerko Spiller (chamber music). Living in Europe in the early 70’s he was strongly influenced by his teachers Colin Tilney in London and Hubert Bédard in Paris. He was granted access and practised extensively on the antique keyboards in the Fenton House (London) and the Paris Conservatoire Musée Instrumental (now Musée de la Musique). ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jan 15, 2009 | Hits: 304

"Trevor Stephenson was born in 1959 in Kansas City, Missouri. He began piano studies at age ten, and at twelve decided upon a life in music. Following degrees in piano performance from the University of Missouri and University of Illinois, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Historical Performance of Eighteenth-Century Music from Cornell University. In 1990 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where, with Norman Sheppard, he began rebuilding and customizing a series of keyboard instruments ranging from Italian Renaissance harpsichords to Victorian pianos. In 1994 he founded the Light & Shadow concert and recording company in 1994 and has issued twelve recordings on that label. Since 2004 he has also served as harpsichordist and Artistic Director of the Madison Bach Musicians. He tours throughout the United States regularly giving concerts, lectures, and masterclasses. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Nov 23, 2008 | Hits: 459

"Michele Benuzzi studied the harpsichord with Ottavio Dantone and obtained the harpsichord Performing Diploma at the Royal College of Music in London. He also studied musicology at the University of Pavia.

He attended master classes with Andreas Staier, Andrea Marcon, Bob van Asperen, Ketil Haugsand, Jaques Ogg, Jan Whillelm Jansen, Christine Whiffen, and Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini. He was awarded scholarships for three consecutive years by Istituto Fernando el Católico of Zaragoza, where he followed courses on the eighteenth-century Iberian repertoire with Professor J. L. González Uriol.

In 2003 he won the third prize at the seventeenth Yamanashi International Harpsichord Competition in Japan.

He performs in Italy and abroad as soloist and with different groups of chamber musicians, and is invited to perform as soloist by different Italian orchestras. He plays for important music organizations such as Serate Musicali in Milan, the Festival of Aix en Provence, the Festival of Arles, Musica e Poesia a San Maurizio, the Ancient Music Festival at Massa e Carrara, the Foundation Querini Stampalia in Venice, the Castle of Annecy, the Bach Festival in Modena, Società dei Concerti in Milan, Tiroler Festspiele in Austria, Música Antigua de Daroca in Spain, the Tochigi Kuranomachi Early Music Festival in Japan, the Hakuju Hall - Tokyo, and the Esplanade Hall - Singapore.

In the UK, Michele Benuzzi has twice given solo recitals at the Handel House Museum, and also at St Anne’s, both in London. He has performed at Sheffield University, and is due to play at St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh, in both August and November of this year (2008).

He promoted, and played with other harpsichordists, the opera omnia of Domenico Scarlatti's Sonatas, which were performed from 1995 to 2002 in France.

He has founded Arcomelo, a group performing seventeenth and eighteenth-century music, and examining baroque music - especially problems concerning execution on ancient instruments. A great deal of effort goes into recovering and executing music from unedited manuscripts in European libraries.

He has recorded three harpsichord concertos by C. P. E. Bach for La Bottega Discantica: the CD had excellent reviews. In 2007 he recorded the harpsichord concertos and sinfonias by W. F. Bach, which is due for release at the end of this year. Next year will see the release of a Vivaldi CD with recorder-player Mitsuko Ota and Arcomelo. Michele Benuzzi’s first solo CD will be recorded in the autumn of this year, probably for release in Spring 2009. He recently signed a contract to record the complete W. F. Bach harpsichord works, which will be a substantial longer-term project. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 14, 2008 | Hits: 400

"A native of Santiago, Chile, Lionel Party studied with Elena Waiss at the Escuela Moderna de Musica, graduating in 1965. In 1966 he was awarded a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst scholarship by the West German government to study piano with Rosl Schmid and harpsichord with Hedwig Bilgram at the Musikhochschule of Munich.

In 1970 Mr. Party came to The Juilliard School to study harpsichord with Albert Fuller first as a Fulbright scholar and then as recipient of a Juilliard Alumni grant. He obtained his doctor of musical arts from Juilliard in 1976. Mr. Party has played solo recitals in New York City's major concert halls including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frick Collection, Alice Tully Hall, Abraham Goodman House, 92nd St. Y - as well as Boston, Washington and other U.S. cities. He has made numerous appearances with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Waverly Consort, Solisti New York, among other ensembles. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 370

"Hailed by New York Magazine as a "leading light of New York's original-instrument scene," Bradley Brookshire has emerged as one of the most noted Bach interpreters of his generation. His distinctive approach to Bach's harpsichord music has led to sustained critical acclaim by the New York Times ...

A member of the Purchase College (SUNY) faculty since 1998, Brookshire holds the position of Director of Graduate Studies in the Conservatory of Music, where he leads the Purchase College Camerata and teaches graduate courses in musicology and counterpoint. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 353