EarlyMusicNews.Org

"My name is Olve Utne, and I play the Baroque Violin and the Baroque Viola. I have a Cand.Philol. degree (roughly equivalent to an advanced thesis MA) in Musicology from the University of Oslo (1996), with Arvid Vollsnes as my advisor and Richard Gwilt as my Baroque Viola teacher. I have also studied one year as a guest student at the Early Music programme of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Royal Conservatory of Brussels) in Belgium on a Flemish State Scholarship (1997/98).

My main teacher in Brussels was François Fernandez — a violinist with a truly stunning technique, great musical insight and an open mind. I consider it a true honour to have had the chance to learn from him.

Orchestral practice includes playing the viola in the Oslo Baroque Orchestra, leading the 2nd violins and violas in Lofoten og Vesterålen Orkesterforening, and participating in various orchestral projects during my year in Belgium. Of those projects, the three that I feel I learned the most from were the Beethoven concert (4th Symphony, 5th Piano Concerto, Egmont Ouverture) conducted by Phillippe Herreweghe; the C.Ph.E. Bach concert (two symphonies and two cello concertos) lead by the impressively virtuoso Baroque cellist Hidemi Suzuki; and Haydn’s oratorio Die Schöpfung, conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken — a baroque violin pioneer and conductor whose orchestral leading skills and insight in Haydn’s music is truly exceptional. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 30, 2008 | Hits: 336

"Lex Eisenhardt is one of Europe's foremost experts on early guitars, like the Vihuela, the Baroque- and Romantic guitars. He currently teaches both classical guitar and historical plucked instruments at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

He has been a soloist in the Holland Early Music Festival in Utrecht. He also has given concerts in the Early Music network, both as a soloist and together with soprano Maria-Luz Alvarez. He was invited for concerts and classes throughout Europe, the United States and Australia. He has made extensive study of the vihuela literature and playing technique, as well as of the very specific technique of the baroque guitar. As a result he made recordings of vihuela works by the sixteenth century Spanish composer Luys de Narvaez and several with music for the baroque guitar (see discography).

Lex Eisenhardt has also made recordings of music by Fernando Sor on an original period instrument. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2008 | Hits: 338

“Alfonso Marin began his musical studies in the “Conservatorio Superior de Tenerife” (Spain), and afterwards in the “Conservatorium van Amsterdam” were he continued his classical guitar and vihuela studies under Lex Eisenhardt.

From 1998 he devoted himself entirely to the study of early plucked instruments as the lute, theorbo and vihuela, continuing his studies in the same conservatory for five more years with the lutenist Fred Jacobs. ..

His collaboration with the soprano Valeria Mignaco is one of his most rewarding and fruitful musical activities, having performed with her in numerous recitals and festivals in Holland, Germany, England, Belgium and Spain. ..”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Dec 27, 2009 | Hits: 338

"Bill Taylor is a specialist in the performance of ancient harp music from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and is one of very few players investigating these repertoires on medieval gut-strung harps, wire-strung clarsachs and harps with buzzing bray pins.

He is the foremost interpreter of the Robert ap Huw manuscript, containing the earliest harp music from anywhere in Europe, employing the fingernail technique specified in the manuscript, whilst reading from a facsimile of the tablature and using modern copies of historical harps. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 10, 2008 | Hits: 339

Federation of Viola da Gamba Societies.

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 11, 2009 | Hits: 339

“Harp Spectrum is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization dedicated to gathering and sharing information about all kinds of harps and harp music. We are mainly composed of a group of harp players and harp music fans. Our article contributions come from harpists all over the world and we are continually seeking additional material.  ..“

There is a section on Historical Harp.

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 04, 2010 | Hits: 340

“The Hurdy-gurdy Forum was started as an online forum for hurdy-gurdy enthusiasts on the 31st of May 2006 by Scott Marshall, then a newcomer to hurdy-gurdies. Although there was an existing hurdy-gurdy mailing list in the US, Scott wanted to contact and meet players from the UK. Somehow the idea of meeting up grew into the First UK Hurdy-gurdy Festival, which took place on the 20th-22nd of April 2007 in Lancaster. Ever since the Forum has been growing and thriving, and we have new subscribers every week! It has become an important hub for friendship, discussion, resources and trade for hurdy-gurdy fans worldwide. ..“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 05, 2010 | Hits: 342

"Ex classical guitar player, after this I dedicated at Lute (Renaissance and Baroque), Theorbo and Baroque Guitar with T. Stone, T. Bagnati and F. Torelli. I hearned my Diploma in Lute at the Italian State Conservatory "A. Pedrollo" in Vicenza under the guidance of T. Stone. I attended several courses with Nigel North, R. Cicero, A. Curtis and D. D. Sherving. With bursarship I attended a course with J. Lindberg by G. Cini Foundation in Venice. I make an intense concert activity as soloist and with little ensemble and orchestras. I'm member of Ensemble Foscarini, NovArt Baroque Ensemble and in the "Ancient Orchestra" of the Conservatoire in Vicenza directed by M. Paolo Faldi. I Work with the theatre company "Bel Teatro" in Padua for which I play the music, with original instruments, in the production af ancient theatre. Since four years I teaching guitar and lute at "Centro di Educazione Musicale Beethoven" in Padua where I've founded the "Accademia di Musica Antica del Centro di Ed. Mus. Beethoven".

I make an intense research activity working on ancient musical manuscript, besides I make pubblications by the editor "Armelin" in Padua. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 29, 2008 | Hits: 345

"1st prize in cello playing under André Navarra at the Paris Conservatory. Completes his studies in early music in Vienna with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and viola da gamba with Jordi Savall at the Schola Cantorum in Basel.

Together with Erich Höbarth, Andrea Bischof and Anita Mitterer, he founded the Quatuor Mosaïques in 1984. The quartet is specialised in music from Vienna classic repertoire.

Besides activities as a chamber musician, Christophe Coin is regularly invited as a soloist and conductor in France and abroad.

Since 1991, he has directed the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges in a repertoire of 17th and 18th century music.

Musician and research worker, he has organised international Symposa to examine playing techniques and fabrication of early instruments since 1992 in Limoges.

His recordings have been well-received by the critics; two Gramophone Awards successively for Haydn's Opus 20 and Opus 33 quartets played by the Quatuor Mosaïques, and a Classical Music Victoire Award for his recording of the “cello piccolo” cantatas by Bach with the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges.

Christophe Coin teaches at the Paris Conservatory and at the Schola Cantorum in Basel. "

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 04, 2008 | Hits: 345

"The "Liuto" (or "lute") derives both in name and form from the Arab instrument known as "al 'Ud" (in spanish "laúd"), which means literally "the wood". Normally a lute is described as a musical instrument which has a body with a round back and a flat top, a long neck and strings which are played with the fingers. We associate this instrument with the classic painting of the renassaince with an angel playing a "lute" while fliying. Is not so simple but is a good first contact with the lute.

We would consider a "lute" or "liuto" as a concept more than a single instrument.

Liuto com want to be a full web resource of lute, old plucked instruments and early music. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 31, 2008 | Hits: 346

"Debra Lonergan performs with the early 17th century ensembles La Gente d’Orfeo and Anaphantasia, as well as Milwaukee's Ensemble Musical Offering, and the period string quartet Mirabel. She has played continuo in concert for several of today’s leading soloists, among them, Enid Sutherland, Jaap Schroeder, Stanley Ritchie, Marilyn McDonald and John Holloway.

Ms. Lonergan has made an extensive study of string pedagogy, and with nearly 30 years of experience teaching all ages, maintains an active studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 03, 2008 | Hits: 351

"The members of the Quatuor Mosaïques, Erich Höbarth, Andrea Bischof, Anita Mitterer and Christophe Coin, met in Vienna when they were playing with Concentus Musicus Wien, and it was the great names of the classical Viennese repertoire that brought them together as a quartet.

Right from the beginning of the Quartet’s career in 1985, the Mosaïques performances were marked by both a new clarity stemming from their use of period instruments, and a poetic attention to detail that was typical of the central European tradition of chamber music.

The Mosaïques have forged ahead ever since, concentrating on the core of the classical repertoire with Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 04, 2008 | Hits: 351

“Lutenist/theorbist Andreas Martin is perhaps best known for his recent splash in the early music world with his recording of Bach works for lute in 2004. This Harmonia Mundi disc, rated 5/5 stars in Goldberg magazine, represents a culmination of years of his close musical study and interest. It has led to comments such as “[Martin]...shows a deep knowledge of Bach’s music...an intensive Bach, brilliantly and marvellously distinguished...“(Pablo Vayón), „Meditative…subtle dynamics and evident lyricism…dance-like” (Michael Ullman, Fanfare Magazine), or “his phrasing [is] almost vocal in nuance” (Anna Picard, The Independent on Sunday).

Native to Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Martin’s early studies include the classical guitar in the Musikhochschule with Mario Sicca (Stuttgart), in the Conservatorio de Musica Giuseppe Verdi with Ruggero Chiesa (Milan), and Anglo – Saxon and Romance Languages and Philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. In order to expand upon his interest in Renaissance literature and music, he next enrolled in the esteemed Schola Cantorum in Basel, under the tutelage of lutists Eugen Dombois, Hopkinson Smith and Peter Croton. There he was also influenced by such artists as Emma Kirkby, Evelyn Tubb, Anthony Rooley and Nigel North.

His current life as a concert artist has taken Martin round the world. Recent highlights of solo appearances include the Festival de Musica Antigua, Barcelona (2004) or the Europabachfestival of Paris (2005).

He has also performed on television (Arte, Südwest 3) and radio (SWR 2 and BBC 3--concerts in Wales 2005 “Bach by Candlelight at Ewenny”).“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 20, 2009 | Hits: 352

"British lutenist Nigel North has been sharing music with audiences for nearly 30 years. His quiet and gentle personality goes, literally, "hand in hand" with his choice of instrument; the lute is one of the most gentle, subtle yet technically demanding of "ancient" instruments. Through this medium, as soloist, accompanist and ensemble musician, Nigel has inspired appreciation from concert public and recording listeners ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 16, 2008 | Hits: 358

"Cette Association a pour buts :

• de promouvoir l'étude de la Viole de Gambe ;
• de promouvoir l'étude des techniques anciennes et modernes de facture des instruments de la famille de la Viole de Gambe ;
• de promouvoir l'étude de la musique pour les Violes et de ses sources, en particulier par la publication d'index et de catalogues, de maintenir le contact avec la recherche musicologique dans ces domaines ;
• de publier de la musique pour les Violes au nom de l'Association et encourager les publications faites sous d'autres auspices ;
• d'encourager la composition de musiques nouvelles pour les Violes par concours ou autres manières ;
• de produire du matériel d'enseignement pour les interprètes et les luthiers ;
• d'organiser des rencontres périodiques, conférences, concerts, démonstrations ainsi que des stages d'interprétation ou d'ensembles, etc ;
• d'éditer périodiquement un ou plusieurs journaux pour établir un lien entre les Sociétaires et disséminer les informations concernant les buts et fonctions de l'Association ;
• d'établir des liens à l'échelle internationale entre musiciens professionnels, amateurs, musicologues, luthiers et toutes les personnes intéressées par les buts de l'Association." ...
  

Added on: Aug 05, 2007 | Hits: 359

"Donatella Galletti studied guitar with Aldo Minella and lute (Renaissance, Baroque, Archlute, Theorbo and Baroque guitar )with Paolo Cherici , and she got the two Diplomas at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi of Milan. She has taken part in International Master Classes (Jakob Lindberg, Paul O' Dette, Nigel North and others).She recorded CDs for Stradivarius Editions with Euterpe Group , playing musics by G.Croce and A.Willaert . She gave lectures on English music for the British Council. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2008 | Hits: 360

“Composer-lute player Jozef Van Wissem is renowned for his unusual approach of the Renaissance and Baroque lute. He cuts and pastes classical pieces, reverses melodies, adds electronics and processed field recordings made at airport lounges and train stations. The unusual wedlock of composition and improvisation creates an unheard amalgam of contemporary folk and late Renaissance music. He has accomplished the strange feat of bridging the idiom of seventeenth century lute literature and twenty-first century composition. Although Van Wissem uses subtle electronic sound manipulation, he has largely stayed faithful to the particular timbre, resonance and playing technique of the lute. Van Wissem first came to be noticed a few years ago because of his radical conceptual approach to Renaissance lute music: he deconstructed existing compositions, for instance by playing them backwards. He also composes his own pieces for lute, using palindromes and mirrored structures. His music therefore does not have a traditional linear progression, nor leads to a climax, it rather stays on the same level of intensity. ..“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2009 | Hits: 360

"... Fascinated by the Baroque period, Louis began the lute- he was not yet fifteen. He started out by poring over musical research documents describing the antique music, gleaning whatever practical information he could. On the eve of his confirmation, he received what would become a lifelong passion: his first baroque lute. Working with another young enthusiast, Kleber Besson, his technique grew. Three times a day all through high school, the lute was as regular as meals. Louis played lute, theorbo and a 1927 folk guitar he had adopted on his first visit to New York to play blues. ...

In 1984 EMI records chose him to be their lute master of their Treasury of Bach; this box set included pieces with every instrument Bach has written for. By then, Louis was playing in the Saint Chapel in Paris. He then recorded the Dufaut disc in a small chapel in Switzerland. Louis also started playing harpsichord, organ and french hunting horn on the side. In 1989, a subsidiary of Universal Music requested a worldwide first: the recording of the "Divine Rhethoric", by Gaultier. The same year, national television produced a 30 minute documentary about Louis, the "Musician Minister": Louis was indeed a minister, but also an engineer and a PhD. in philosophy. ...

For the past ten years, Louis has been working incessantly on his latest masterpiece, the "Book of Perrine", recorded in Switzerland, which will finally be released in a few months. This recording is the apotheosis of his work, and is impatiently awaited by his fans. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 28, 2008 | Hits: 361

“My name is Lucia Domenegati. I can play harpsichord (and piano), french baroque lute and solo theorbo. I believe that early music instruments must be studied and played with their proper techniques. For instance, Piano and modern guitar with their techniques have nothing to do with early music, specially with early baroque solo music. This website is intended to be a small contribution to this point of view.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)
 

Added on: Jul 11, 2009 | Hits: 361

"After several years of freelancing, Angela, in 1979, acquired a baroque cello and became co-principal cello with the English Baroque Soloists under Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Since then she has become a well-known continuo players and concerto soloist with a number of baroque orchestras such as the Brandenburg Consort and the Gabrieli Consort. She has performed at La Scala, Milan, the Sydney Opera House, the Carnegie Hall, the Palace of Versailles, the Presidential Palace in Portugal and ancient ruins of Pompeii and Athens. She performed in Handel's birthplace (Halle, East Germany) on the tercentenary of his birth and in 1989 undertook a world tour visiting the USA, Australia, Japan, Taiwan ad Hong Kong. She also played Principal Cello in the first performance on original instruments at Glyndebourne with Sir Simon Rattle. Her performances have included many radio broadcasts, recordings and television appearances, notably for the Open University. She has contributed articles to Early Music Today magazine and has been awarded and ARAM for he distinguished services to the music profession.

As one of the early pioneers of historical performance practice, her enthusiasm extends beyond the conventional parameters of early music in to the nineteenth century. To this end from 1990-2006 she founded and directed the Revolutionary Drawing Room, a multi-instrumental ensemble with the Revolutionary String Quartet as its core. She has now handed this group over to the leader, Adrian Butterfield.

She is member of Red Priest, the surrealist and theatrical baroque ensemble with Piers Adams (recorder). This group performs about 70 concerts annually, all over the world. It has founded its own recording company, Red Priest Recordings." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 12, 2008 | Hits: 362

"Rebecca Rosen began learning cello at the age of 9 in Los Angeles. In 2000, after she graduated summa cum laude from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music theory, she began studying baroque cello with Professor Elisabeth LeGuin. Her education was broadened through her participation in intensive baroque workshops in San Francisco, Boston, and Amherst where she enrolled in masterclasses with Phoebe Carrai and Sarah Cunningham.

In 2002, Ms. Rosen was awarded the J. William Fulbright grant to study baroque cello with Jaap ter Linden at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Netherlands. There she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in early music performance.

She performs with such distinguished ensembles as Les Musiciens du Louvre, B'Rock, New Dutch Academy, La Scintilla (with Cecilia Bartoli), Al Ayre Espanol, La Stravaganza Köln, and a new orchestra of which she is co-founder, Collegium Musicum Den Haag.

This May, Ms. Rosen will perform two solo suites by J.S. Bach in the opening concert of the Internationale Barocktage Festival in Melk, Austria. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 27, 2008 | Hits: 362

“ Solo-CD, Music by Carl Friedrich Abel ( www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67628 ), winner of Editor's Choice Gramophone Award 2008 .. .

Susanne Heinrich studied at the Meistersinger Conservatory of Nuremberg, and at the Frankfurt State Academy of Music, where she passed her recital diploma with the highest distinction. She was then granted the prestigious DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship to study with Wieland Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She has performed and recorded with many leading period-instrument ensembles of Europe, and has made over 15 recordings with the award-winning ensemble  “Charivari Agréable“. Susanne has been a member of the“Palladian Ensemble” (the “Palladians” from 2007) since 1994 and she has written for various journals, including “The Consort“, and  “Chelys“. Sought after as a teacher, her last position was Professor for Viols and Violone at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London; Susanne is now devoting some of her time to the chief editorship of  “Charivari Agréable Publications”. The revised New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians refers to her as one of the 'leading players' of this generation.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 13, 2009 | Hits: 363

“Fred Edelen performs throughout the US and Europe on both modern and Baroque cello as orchestral cellist, chamber musician, and recitalist.   Currently a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he was formerly cellist with the Houston Symphony and Principal Cellist of the San Antonio Symphony.  Described as a "masterful soloist"  with "astonishingly expressive style and gorgeous tone,"¹ he has appeared as soloist with the Phoenix, San Antonio, and Houston Symphony orchestras, and was a prize winner at the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition.  An avid performer on Baroque cello, Mr. Edelen studied at the Early Music Institute at Indiana University and continued his Baroque studies as a Fulbright scholar in The Hague.  He has performed with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center, and returns to the US each summer to teach and perform at the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio.”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 365

"Since starting his professional career as lutenist and theorbist in 1982, he has participated in a great number of concerts and early music festivals in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Israel, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Brasil. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 10, 2008 | Hits: 366

“For thousands of years, the sound of the lyre dominated European and Celtic music.  Today it is almost unknown.

Rediscover the sound of this captivating instrument, and of the bone flutes, skin drums and songs that shared its musical world.

Thor Ewing, the Lyre Man, is deeply versed in the lyre’s history, and in the music and song of the Early Middle Ages, from Anglo-Saxon and Viking times to the last days of the lyre in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  The repertoire can include music from as far apart as Ancient Greece, and modern British and Scandinavian folk traditions.

He is also an accomplished exponent of the storytelling traditions and verse of early Britain and Scandinavia.

The Lyre Man can call on other musicians where appropriate, to create a unique Ancient Ensemble.“

Visit webiste for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 11, 2009 | Hits: 367