EarlyMusicNews.Org

RAYUELA was founded in spring 2004 by Claudia Gerauer, Martina Joos and Thomas Engel. The three recorder-players had studied with Kees Boeke and Matthias Weilenmann at the Zurich School of Music, Drama and Dance. As the "Trio O'Henry" they toured many European countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Russia) and north Africa (Morocco), and won several prizes at international competitions (International Recorder Competition in Calw, Germany, Kiwanis Prize for Chamber Music, Switzerland, the Swiss Orpheus Prize, the Migros-Genossenschaft Chamber Music Prize, Switzerland, and the International Chamber Music Competition on Period Instruments "Premio Bonporti" in Rovereto, Italy). ..

In the spring of 2004 the trio's many years of intensive work with other musicians culminated in the formation of the RAYUELA ensemble. Its programmes always include the three recorders, while other instruments are added depending on the particular programme.

RAYUELA made its debut with the programme "Changes" (in the monastery church of St. Gerold, Austria) in May 2004, which was recorded by Austrian radio. It delighted the audience and critics alike . ..“

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Added on: May 18, 2009 | Hits: 323

“GALATEA, founded and directed by Paul Beier, has performed in prestigious European festivals, and has recorded several CDs dedicated to Biagio Marini (Emanuela Galli, soprano; Monica Huggett, violin), Barbara Strozzi (Emanuela Galli, soprano), and Giovanni Battista Buonamente (Monica Huggett, violin and Bruce Dickey, cornetto). The repertoire of Galatea is centered on innovative Italian music of the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, experimental and virtuosic, of high artistic level, a bridge between the mature Renaissance and the Baroque period. The group comprises different instruments or voices according to the program, giving particular importance to the lute and other plucked stringed instruments for a rich and varied continuo. The name, recalling the legend of Pygmalion, who through his love transformed the marble statue of Galatea into a living person, symbolizes bringing Renaissance and Baroque music to life according to the spirit and practices of the period.“

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Added on: May 18, 2009 | Hits: 229

“Florida Pro Musica was founded in 1998 by George F. Gramling, III and Larry Kent. We presented our Inaugural Concert at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida in May of 1999.

Our concerts over the first ten years have included some wonderful highlights, from large-scale works like Mozart's Requiem and Handel's Messiah to intimate offerings such as the complete Masses by William Byrd, baroque trio sonatas, madrigals in costume, and a whole spectrum of choral and instrumental programs. We have performed in Largo, Clearwater, Sun City Center, and Ocala, as well as in St. Petersburg and Tampa. Our main performance home since 2002 is Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown Tampa.  “

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Added on: Jun 10, 2009 | Hits: 343

“Ensemble Harmonia Musicae, recently formed, brings together musicians sharing a love for early music repoertoire. The group comes in various configurations, depending on the programs, while paying special attention to vocal music / instruments of the period at the turn of the'600 and'700.“ (Google translation)

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Added on: Jul 03, 2009 | Hits: 310

“Quadriga Consort – the Early Music Band on an expedition to the origins of pop music: early ballads and tunes from the British Isles, ranging from rollicking dance music to the Celtic-Gaelic and the courtly song traditions. The archaic melodies provide the basis for authentic music of today and tomorrow, so typical for Quadriga – with interpretations so fresh, that they make many a pop song of today pale in comparison to the enduringly moving ancient songs of love, yearning, joy and sorrow. ..“

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Added on: Jul 05, 2009 | Hits: 516

“Ensemble Ricreation d’Arcadia was formed in 2001 by four young leading Japanese musicians (Ayako Matsunaga and Yukie Yamaguchi, violin, Takashi Kaketa, violoncello and Takashi Watanabe, harpsichord & organ) who regularly play with several baroque ensembles and orchestras in both Europe and Japan such as Bach Collegium Japan, La Venexiana, Il Giardino Armonico and Academia Montis Regalis. The group’s aim is to explore the diverse instrumental music and vocal music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly focusing on the vast repertoire for the “trio sonata”. Since 2003, they have also taken part in the annual performances of the “Handel Festival Japan” in Tokyo as core members of the orchestra, conducted by Takashi Watanabe. Their diverse repertoire ranges from works by Monterverdi and Carlo Farina (Capriccio Stravagante, 1626) to Handel’s operas and even early Mozart's symphonies, joined by fellow musicians who share the same ideal.

In 2004, Ricreation d’Arcadia won the first prize at “Premio Bonporti” (President of Jury: Gustav Leonhardt) in Rovereto, Italy and also received the Audience prize and the ORF recording prize. Since 2005, they have been invited to several early music festivals in Europe, including Accademia Filarmonica (Bologna), Associazione Filarmonica (Rovereto), Amici della Musica, Musica e Poesia a San Maurizio, MITO Festival (Milan), Festival di Brezice (Slovenia), Festival Internationale di Musica Antica (Urbino), Grandezze & Meraviglie (Modena), Trento Musicantica (Trento), Nuove Settimane di Musica Barocca (Brescia). Their concerts have been received with universal acclaim.

In 2006, the ensemble performed with Gunar Letzbor in Mejiro Ba-Rock Music Festival in Tokyo. In 2007, they were invited to music festivals in Austria, including Internationale Barocktage Stift Melk, INNtöne Festival, Schlosskonzerte Eckartsau and Konzertreihe FIORI MUSICALI in St. Florian. In Mejiro Ba-Rock Music Festival 2007, they collaborated with Enrico Gatti and La Venexiana, which was filmed and broadcast by NHK. Some of their live concerts have also been broadcast by RAI and ORF. In May 2008, their recording of chamber works and sacred motets of F.A. Bonporti was released from the ORF label.

Future plans include performances of Biber’s complete Harmonia Artificioso-Ariosa, as well as trio sonatas by Locatelli, Caldara, Corelli, Leclair and C.P.E. Bach.“

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Added on: Jul 05, 2009 | Hits: 349

“Ensemble Phoebus Amsterdam was founded in 1996 by students of Bob van Asperen, Marten Root and Wouter Möller. The ensemble followed a special old-music course in France, organized by UNESCO and received lessons from Chiara Banchini and Barthold Kuijken. ..“

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Added on: Jul 14, 2009 | Hits: 338

“ArsAntiguaPresents.com, directed by Jerry Fuller, is a series of monthly, free audio web cast programs of music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras performed on period instruments with engaging and enlightening commentary by Peter Van De Graaff. Programs focus on one composition or a few short works.“

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Added on: Jul 14, 2009 | Hits: 473

“The Callipygian Players are an ensemble of Chicago's finest period instrument musicians and singers under the leadership of Director and Baroque Violinist Martin Davids.

We present innovative and exciting concerts of music from the Baroque era (approximately 1600-1750). Known for our interesting programming, our concerts feature music of well known composers as well as lesser known masterpieces. ..“

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Added on: Jul 14, 2009 | Hits: 361

“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: 251

“At the core of the ensemble is the duo of singer Donna Stewart and lutenist Ron Andrico. One of the few professional lutesong duos in the United States, their unique and immediate sound blends respect for authenticity with solid musicianship and a flair for improvisation. Their fresh and engaging approach imparts the immediacy of folk music to renaissance music. ..

Mignarda - Donna Stewart and Ron Andrico - perform historical music that transcends history. Ron Andrico is a lute specialist with publication of several important music editions and scholarly articles to his credit. Mezzo soprano Donna Stewart has a long background in research and interpretation of Gregorian chant and the renaissance choral repertory. Together, the duo specialize in performing music that resides in the grey zone between folk and art music, with interpretations that follow the renaissance ideal of 'moving the passions' of the listener.   ..“

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Added on: Jul 25, 2009 | Hits: 307

“Created in 1995 with the help of harpsichordist Isabelle Ramona and her twin sister Catherine Ramona (gambist and cellist), La Ménestrandis is an association of professional musicians who perform already with many great French baroque ensembles.

The focus of the ensemble is to relive the great vocal or instrumental works of  of the XVII and XVIII centuries in their purest traditional form. ..“

Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 371

“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: 416

“In the Middle Ages, the paladins were knights, who roamed in search of adventure.

In 1760, Rameau composed Les Paladins, considered as the ultimate masterpiece of the French Baroque genre, characterised by fantasy and imagination.

Taking their name from a work by one of the greatest composers of the French Baroque period, Les Paladins explore the neglected repertoires as well as the greatest works of the Baroque musical period. The ensemble is associated with the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles where they gave performances of previously unperformed works such as Iphigénie en Tauride by Desmarets or The Elements by Destouches. They are also regularly invited at the Ambronay Festival, where they performed Histoires Sacrées by Carissimi, Serpentes in Deserto by Hasse, at the Jean de la Fontaine festival where they sang Actéon by Charpentier and The Bourgeois Gentilhomme by Lully and at Musiques d'Automne in St Genest Lerpt. They also participate in the Semaines Musicales de Quimper where they performed Dido and Aeneas and the Ode to Santa Cecilia by Purcell. ..“

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 300

“Founded by Martin Gester in Strasbourg in 1990, Le Parlement de Musique is an ensemble of solo singers and instrumentalists which may be expanded to the dimensions of orchestra with choir. It champions the Baroque and Classical repertoire in all its forms, alternating modern premieres and new interpretations of standard repertoire.

Le Parlement de Musique has produced a large number of significant modern recreations, most of which have been recorded and have met with an enthusiastic response from the press. Among these are works by Charpentier – the early Leçons de Ténèbres; several Histoires sacrées; and the Te Deum and Grands Motets (which despite the large number of recorded interpretations available was hailed by Diapason and a number of critics’ panels as the ‘benchmark version’); premiere recordings of works by Sébastien de Brossard and Samuel Capricornus; the Lamentazioni of Alessandro Scarlatti and the Vespers of Giovanni Battista Bassani (which won the Prize of the Fondazione Cini, Venice); organ concertos by J. S. Bach;  .. .“

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 326

“The ensemble Il Seminario Musicale is founded in 1985 by Gerard Lesne, countertenor and musical director. ISM is today renowned to be one of the leading French ensembles in baroque musique. Its residency, since 1990, is the prestigious Foundation at the Abbaye de Royaumont, thirty kilometres in the north of Paris.

Since its creation, ISM is composed by first rank European musicians : Marc Minkowski, Fabio Bondi, Blandine Rannou, Bruno Cocset, Patrick Cohen-Akénine, Florence Malgoire, Benjamin Perrot, Florence Bolton, Anne-Marie Lasla, Angélique Mauillon or Violaine Cochard have all participated or still participate in the ensemble musical and artistic excellence. ..“

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 372

“In 1987, Hugo Reyne decided to form an ensemble devoted entirely to reviving France’s musical heritage of the 17th and 18th centuries. The name he chose combines the word "simphonie", which at the time was used to denote an instrumental ensemble, and the Marais, one of the most beautiful areas of Paris, typical of the Baroque period.

Hugo Reyne and La Simphonie du Marais perform a repertoire that ranges from the early baroque period to the classical period, with special emphasis on French music from Lully to Rameau. This ensemble brings together the most eminent musicians of the young baroque generation, giving Hugo Reyne the opportunity to bring his musicology research to life and to illustrate the innovative aspect of his interpretation.

The ensemble explore avenues of chamber music with flute or oboe, orchestral symphonies with between 15 and 30 musicians, open-air music with oboe band, side drums, trumpets and timpani and the birth of French opera. ..“

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 339

“Nuada is a duo/trio playing Celtic, Folk and Early music.

Nuada are...

• Ruth Bramley -- Hurdy gurdy, vocals, guitar, banjo, Appalachian dulcimer and percussion.
• Sam Burke -- Vocals, bouzouki, guitar, laud, percussion, chalmeaux, lute and crumhorn.
• Ferris Jay -- Bagpipes, recorders, flutes, whistles, gemshorn, ocarina and vocals.

Nuada... the Duo

• Sam and Ferris, playing a wide range of traditional Irish, Celtic and Folk music.

Nuada... the Trio

• has more emphasis on the French, Folk and Early music. ..“

Added on: Jul 29, 2009 | Hits: 334

“Valeria Mignac, soprano
Alfonso Marin, vihuela
Alfred Fernández, vihuela

The sweet and yet intense sonority of two “vihuelas” is the main ground of an ensemble that performs early repertoires from a subtle and intimate perspective. El Canto del Caballero presents its performances as a musical and poetical space, unveiling the many nuances and timbric possibilities offered by two early plucked instruments and a voice.

In Europe during the XVI century, transcriptions of vocal polyphonic masterpieces were an important repertoire source for instruments such as the vihuela and the lute. In the Iberian Peninsula, vihuela players adapted pieces by the most notable composers of the time to their instrument. The intimate knowledge of such music encouraged a new way of approaching the repertoire; intimate feeling, subtlety and introspection were the main expressive and dynamic assets employed by the old vihuelists.

In that same spirit, El Canto del Caballero uses their own, as well as original transcriptions to devise their concert programmes.“

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Added on: Dec 27, 2009 | Hits: 294

“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: 283

“Baroque flutist Mary Oleskiewicz and harpsichordist David Schulenberg have been performing together since 1997. Specialists in Baroque music for flute and keyboard, each has an international reputation not only as a performer but as a scholar. They have presented recitals, public lectures, and demonstrations throughout Europe, North America, and Japan.

The world-premiere recording of the Six Flute Quartets by Johann Joachim Quantz by the Oleskiewicz-Schulenberg Duo and Friends was released in 2004. ..“

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Added on: Feb 08, 2010 | Hits: 275

“Brandywine Baroque is Delaware’s premier early music ensemble, offering concerts of chamber music on period instruments and featuring many national and international guest performers. They have also brought to the stage a number of rare and previously unpublished manuscripts and performed music often unheard by modern audiences. Their energetic performances evoke the mood of the era. Brandywine Baroque sprinkles repartee throughout the program, commenting on anything about the music and times that strike their fancy. Expect the unusual with these outstanding musicians! The members of Brandywine Baroque are Karen Flint, harpsichord & artistic director; Laura Heimes, soprano; Tony Boutté, tenor; Eileen Grycky, flute; Cynthia Freivogel, violin; Martin Davids, violin; and Douglas McNames, cello.“

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Added on: Mar 19, 2010 | Hits: 372

“Musica-Humana Ensemble was formed in 2006.  It is devoted to the interpretation of music from the 14th to the 17th century with the aim of exploring areas of the repertoire that have until now mostly been ignored.   Beginning with academic research, Musica-Humana presents innovative programs and instrument combinations.  By adapting and recreating repertoires from often fragmentary source.”

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Added on: Mar 19, 2010 | Hits: 361

“Ensemble Impromptu rotates its musical artists, providing a unique experience for each event. Michelle D. Cosgrove is the founder of Ensemble Impromptu. Her experience with creating a variety of different chamber ensembles led her to developing a home base for each project- Ensemble Impromptu. Each concert features rotating guest artists, fashioning a new texture of instrumentation for each ensemble. This provides an opportunity for audiences to hear chamber music that is not regularly found in the mainstream classical venues.“

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Added on: Apr 14, 2010 | Hits: 286

“Artistic director, Slobodan Vujisic has gathered some of the top early music specialists from Austin and around the nation for a premier appearance by his newest ensemble, Austin Troubadours! Featuring Medieval and Renaissance Mediterranean instrumental and vocal music, Austin Troubadours combine various well known and obscure historical instruments with lush vocals. They produce a unique kaleidoscope of sound and texture, lending the audience an ever changing pallet of musical delights for the senses. Historically informed and inspired by years of musical experience, each member of the Austin Troubadours will delight and move audiences to tap their feet and hum tunes of antiquity. ..”

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Added on: Apr 16, 2010 | Hits: 317