EarlyMusicNews.Org

“I am a viol player and teacher based on the South Cumbria/North Lancashire border. I travel all over the North West of England performing and teaching - both private pupils and also viol consort coaching. Performing can either be as a soloist or as a bass continuo player.

I am also a renaissance and baroque dancer and am much in demand as a dance teacher and choreographer. My particular interest is the relationship between the dance and music.

In addition to the teaching already mentioned I lecture for adult education classes, run early music workshops, teach recorders and present Tudor workshops for schools. ..“ Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2009 | Hits: 291

"David Parsons studied at the Royal College of Music as a pupil of Diana Poulton. Since his Wigmore Hall debut he has performed at many of the principal European Early Music events as well as touring in the USA. His recent recordings include a critically acclaimed CD of Elizabethan Lute Music from Robert Dowland’s Varietie of Lute Lessons (Metronome) which was followed by the Haydn Lute Trio’s recording of 18th century German Galant chamber music (ASV). Most recently he has recorded a programme of Guitar Music and Songs by the Catalan guitarist and composer, Fernando Sor together with soprano Evelyn Tubb. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 17, 2008 | Hits: 314

“Dante Ferrara specialises in music, song and entertainment of renaissance Europe.

Professional since 1984, he is established throughout the UK for all kinds of themed events such as festivals, weddings, banquets, charity events, school workshops and concerts.

He also co-ordinates other similar performers, all of high standard, to ensure that any event includes the best available.

The Dante Ferrara website complements his full information pack which includes a sample CD. Dante will be pleased to send a copy on request. You can also contact Dante Ferrara to check availability and to discuss your requirements by leaving your details in the contact section of the site.”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Dec 28, 2011 | Hits: 188

“  I studied instrument making for five years at the London Guildhall University (the former London College of Furniture).  During this time I trained firstly to make early plucked instruments (lutes, baroque guitars) then moved on to hurdy-gurdy making in the last three years of my course.  This led to me obtaining a degree in Music Technology in 1999.

After college, I went on to further my knowledge by joining a woodcarving and sculpture class for two years with Mike Leman, and by working in London for leading boxmaker Andrew Crawford.

I set up my own workshop in Ramsgate during the summer of 2001, and have been a full time hurdy-gurdy maker ever since. I share my workshop with my husband the mandolin & bouzouki maker Kai Tönjes.”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 11, 2009 | Hits: 401

"London born gambist Claire Bracher, completed her undergraduate studies with Hille Perl in Bremen Germany, and her postgraduate studies with Richard Boothby and Reiko Ichise at the Royal College of Music (RCM), London.

Claire's postgraduate studies were supported by a Douglas & Hilda Simmonds Study Award and a Hester Laverne Award. At the RCM, Claire received the 'McKenna Baroque Prize'.

With her ensemble 'Amaranthos', she reached the final of The York Early Music Young Artists Competition 2007, and with the trio, 'Musici Infaticabili', Claire won first prize at the 2008 Fenton House Chamber Music Competition.

Claire now teaches the RCM viol consorts, and in 2007 organised the first 'International Festival of Viols', held at The Royal College of Music.

Claire has performed with many renowned early music specialists, including; Ton Koopman, Hille Perl, Harry van der Kamp, Harold Vogel and Peter Holtslag. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 22, 2008 | Hits: 390

“I have been making Hurdy Gurdies for over 20 years. They are all hand built in my workshop.  ..“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 29, 2009 | Hits: 293

“Formed by Lynda Sayce, whose research forms the basis for much of its repertory, Chordophony is a new ensemble bringing together four of Britain's finest lutenists, cutting-edge musicological research, and the only full, matched consort of lutes in the world, to create a revolution in renaissance music. We do not rely on the tiny surviving repertory for lute ensemble, but prefer to take it as a precedent for arranging other works and improvising our own material, as our renaissance colleagues did. Chordophony's players are all experienced and accomplished soloists in their own right, bringing virtuosity and risk-taking improvisatory skills to the concert platform. Personnel vary depending on the project, but the core players are Lynda Sayce (treble lute), Eligio Luis Quinteiro (alto lute), Edward Fitzgibbon (tenor lute) and Richard Sweeney (bass lute). Chordophony has already collaborated with some of the finest ensembles, recording with His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts, and the Purcell Quartet, appearing at the prestigious York Early Music Festival, and recording for BBC Radio 3.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 11, 2009 | Hits: 398

"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: 338

"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

"Alison Crum is one of the best known British exponents of the viol. As teacher, performer, and moving-spirit behind several well-known groups, she travels all over the world giving recitals and lectures, and teaching on summer schools and workshops.

She got her first viol while studying music at Reading University, and went on to study it in Brussels with Wieland Kuijken and, later, with Jordi Savall in Basle. She has made around eighty recordings - mostly with the Consort of Musicke, the Dowland Consort, Musica Antiqua of London, and the Rose Consort of Viols - but also featuring as a soloist on two discs of Marais, and most recently with Laurence Cummings, on a recording of the three Bach gamba sonatas, and playing Italian Virtuoso divisions on renaissance viols with Musica Antiqua on their latest release 'Word Play'.

She is President of the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, and is Professor of Viol at Trinity College of Music in London.She directs many courses for viol players, including the International Viol Summer School, attracting players from all over the world, and has had published a series of graded music books centred around her highly acclaimed textbook 'Play the Viol' - now in its fifth reprint. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 18, 2008 | Hits: 378

"Lynda Sayce is one of the UK's leading lutenists, and is noted both as a performer and as a musical scholar with a strong interest in history, literature and the visual arts. She studied at St. Hugh's College, Oxford, where she matriculated in History and graduated in Music. She then studied lute with Jakob Lindberg at the Royal College of Music, and also took continuo classes with Nigel North. She holds a Ph.D for her research on the history of the theorbo, which is to be published as two books in 2005-6. Lynda has contributed articles to Early Music, the Revised New Grove Dictionary of Music, and the art journal Apollo, and has edited many music publications. She performs regularly with leading period instrument ensembles, including The King's Consort, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Musicians of the Globe. For many years she was lutenist with the award-winning ensemble Charivari Agréable. Lynda appears on more than 100 CD recordings, and has broadcast on radio and TV stations throughout Europe, and in the USA, Japan and South America. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 328

“Sergei Istomin (violoncello, viola da gamba, musical direction) is much in demand throughout Europe and North America as soloist and chamber musician. His repertoire includes baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary music on both period and modern instruments.

He performs in solo and chamber music concerts with artists such as: forte-pianists Jos van Immerseel, Viviana Sofronitsky and Claire Chevallier and in chamber music with Midori Seiler, Rachel Podger and Gary Cooper and others. He regularly works with Anima Eterna Orchestra, Tafelmusik Orchestra, Il Gardellino Ensemble and many other prominent European and North American groups. Recently he recorded for the Passacaille Records, Belgium the Haydn’s Cello Concertos with Apollo Ensemble. …”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 27, 2012 | Hits: 121

"The Swedish Guitar and Lute Society, SGLS was founded 1968 by Jörgen Rörby. It is a non-profit organization open to all those interested in guitar and lute. A magazine is published four times a year, Gitarr och Luta. The SGLS arranges a course (Liten Gitarrakademi) every year with well known guitar and lute personalities as guest teachers. The Society works towards qualified guitar and lute playing and supports ensembles in varioes ways in Sweden. The SGLS has many members in differents countries and strives for broad international contact. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 324

"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

"Voixhumaines is the alias of Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks, a successful Dutch soloist on the viola da gamba or bass viol. Ralph performs in solo and ensemble settings, giving solo concerts thoughout and outside Europe.

"Les Voix Humaines" is a famous piece by the renowned French viola da gamba player and composer Marin Marais (1656-1728). It is also the name used to envelope professional musical activities of Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 23, 2008 | Hits: 415

"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

“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

“Jonathan Talbott began to play the violin at the age of 4, made his solo debut at 16, and now performs a repertoire that spans more than 800 years. He has led baroque orchestras on four continents and is known for his performances on renaissance and  baroque violins, rebec and medieval fiddle.

As co-director of the violin consort Ensemble Braccio, his research into early violins, their repertoire, and playing styles has led to concerts and recordings which have generated acclaim throughout the world, as well as to a redefinition of the sound of early stringed instruments.  

His distinctive playing can be heard on recordings by Il Concerto Barocco, Ensemble Braccio, The Boston Camerata, Super Librum and Currende. Also well known as a teacher, he gives lectures and masterclasses on such diverse topics as medieval improvisation and renaissance polyphony at universities and summer courses in his native United States, as well as in Africa and Europe.

Talbott holds degrees from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where he studied with Sigiswald Kuijken and Monica Huggett, and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he studied violin with Peter Salaff of the Cleveland String Quartet and early music with lutanist Paul O'Dette. His early training in Portland, Oregon was with Carol Sindell (a pupil of Jascha Heifitz) and Catherine Petersen (who followed the pedagogic approach of Paul Rolland). Further study was with the early violin expert David Douglass and the medieval strings guru Margriet Tindemans. …”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Nov 25, 2011 | Hits: 196

“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: 337

The Lute Society of Japan. Visit website for more information. (site is in Japanese with no English, ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 381

"The LGS is a lute and early guitar society with members in Japan and abroad.

The LGS has a newsletter, Nostalgia, appearing four times a year both in Japanese and in English.

The LGS organises concerts and workshops in Japan. It imports instruments and gut strings for its Japanese members and publishes cds and music for all. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 231

“Why 'Edo Land'? Because my name is Edo. Well, actually it's Ed but Japanese people pronounce it as Edo. Edo is also the old name for Tokyo and I've lived in the Tokyo area since 1982. Finally, Edo is the name of the period 1600-1850 when Japanese culture blossomed and reached the masses, a Japanese Renaissance. I'm very interested in the European Renaissance and its music. How's that for a tenuous connection?

Here you will find information about my musical activities, my family, a page of musical jokes and interesting/useful links. I like to compose many styles of music, sing, play guitar (electric and acoustic), Renaissance & Baroque lute, archlute, Baroque guitar and of course, use my computer to play synthesizers and create and edit music. (You can see a sample of my Lute CD). 

Of particular interest for lutenists are the interviews found on the “Lute Information and Resources” page.“

View website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2011 | Hits: 213

"Dmitry Badiarov was born in Russia, lived and worked in Saint-Petersburg, Brussels and Tokyo. Dmitry Badiarov's career is a symbiosis of two professions: violin playing and making. As a luthier he made approx. 60 instruments, including the innovative violoncellos da spalla for players such as Ryo Terakado and Sigiswald Kuijken. In 2007 he made a set of innovative early baroque violins which have been played by La Petite Bande in March and October 2007. As a soloist on the violoncello da spalla he performed with Bach Collegium Japan and La Petite Bande. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 23, 2008 | Hits: 380

"Sergio Zigiotti and Fabiano Merlante Duo has been created in 1996 with the purpose of studing and performing the vast original repertoire for mandolin and guitar, that includes a large number of baroque sonatas – which manuscript are scattered everywhere in the european libraries – the 18th century’s works of the Italian and German instrumental schools, up to modern and contemporary music which research of the timbre pursuits go well with the crystalline sonority of these instruments. This stimulating historical sphere is on the same wavelenght as the musicological interests of the musicians that in this case have got the opportunity to have not only a techincal-executive musical approach with these works. All of this had led the Duo to an in-depth knowledge of the plucked instruments and to interest themselves to the execution – in particular occasions – of the 18th century repertoire with copies of instruments of those ages (Lombard, Brescian, Milanese, Genoese mandolin – Louis Panormo's guitar, London 1838). In 1997 the Duo had won the first award at the XI National Competition “Nei Giardini dell’Aulòs” in Rimini; in 1999 had been among the winners of the VII° Internationa Competition “Città di Cortemilia” (Cuneo), and had been shortlisted for the IX International Exhibition for young musicians in Macerata Feltria (Pesaro), had won the second prize (first prize had not been awarded) at the II International Competition Giacomo Sartori in Ala (Trento) on mandolin and guitar specific category. In 2000 had won had won the first award at the National Competition “Città di Castelfidardo” for guitar in chamber groups category and another first prize at the National Competition “G. Ansaldi” in Villanova Mondovì (Cuneo).

Sergio Zigiotti and Fabiano Merlante edit for Armelin Musica Edition the collection of music for plucked instruments "Conserto Vago". ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 29, 2008 | Hits: 329

“The Associazione Settimane Musicali di Stresa, from its beginings in 1962 until the managerial changes of 1998, is responsible for organizing the Festival bearing the same name on the banks of Lake Maggiore during the months of August and September.

In 1999, the Festival adopted the new identity Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore and increased its programming both in terms of concerts (from 16 in 1998 to 30 in 1999) and venues. New ancillary activities were introduced: promotional partnerships with other institutions and the extension of knowledge of classical music through involvement in other forms of artistic expresssion. ..“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 17, 2010 | Hits: 244