EarlyMusicNews.Org

“Zimmermann Ensemble was formed in 2001 and has since had a decisive influence on the Danish early-music environment. Based in Aarhus, the ensemble has spread its activities across the country and has also played in Sweden. Radio Denmark has regularly recorded the ensemble's concerts.

Ensemble Zimmermann has worked with guest conductors such as Jaap ter Linden, Lucy Russell and Peter Seymour. Moreover, the ensemble often invited by choir leaders who want to work seriously with the early music. …”

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 154

“For the past decade, Duo al Dente has been communicating to audiences the atmosphere, elegance and vitality of early music. The duo has made its mark through innumerable concerts throughout Denmark as well as in Germany, Britain and Sweden. With its historical instruments and present-day enthusiasm, Duo al Dente succeeds in creating a mood of intimacy in concert venues of all sorts and sizes, and the duo's performances have on a number of occasions been broadcast on radio and television.

In addition to their activities in Duo al Dente, Kirsten Lund Jensen and Per Weile Bak are members of the Renaissance trio Stella Nova and the Baroque ensemble Løvendahls Galej.
          
Duo al Dente has won several prizes, including the audience's award at the chamber music competition 8. Alte Musik-Treff in Berlin, 2003. The duo also won the audience's award in 2000 at the international Biagio Marini Competition for early music at Neuburg an der Donau, Germany.

Duo al Dente's first CD, A Taste for Baroque (DACOCD 484) came out in 1997, followed in 2000 by The Food of Love (DACOCD 547). Both CD's have been released by the recording company Danacord.”

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 150

Early Music Ensemble.

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 206

Early Music Ensemble.

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 167

“Currentes was founded in 2006 by its artistic director, Jostein Gundersen. Since then, it has performed in Norway, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Currentes defines its artistic goals as within the field of historically informed performance and specialises in polyphonic music from the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Its particular interest is the exploration of that which has not been transmitted in musical notation, such as instrumentation, improvisation of ornaments, or entire parts. The ensemble ́s interest in new forms of expression has led not only to unorthodox performances of medieval and renaissance music, but also to its commissioning of a new work by the Norwegian composer, Eivind Buene. The ensemble´s first CD was released in January 2012 on LAWO Classics.”

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 198

“Lene Langballe studied recorder at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Vicki Boeckman and graduated from The Civica Scoula in Milan (Italy) with Pedro Memelsdorff. She discovered the cornett and continued her studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, studying recorder with Conrad Steinmann and cornetto with Bruce Dickey.

Lene has performed with numerous ensembles such as Concerto Copenhagen, Alta Punta, Musica Fiorita, ArsNova among others, and appears on several recordings. In 2003 she founded  ensemble Authentia, her own platform for music from the renaissance and baroque.

Lene teaches recorder and performance practice at the Academy of Music in Copenhagen.

Roberto Falcone studied violin at the Conservatory in Lugano (Switzerland) with Carlo Chiarappa and specialized in baroque violin at the Civica Scoula in Milan with Enrico Gatti.

Roberto has collaborated with several ensembles of early music such as Sonatori della Giosa Marca, Academia, La Fenice, and others, and appears on many recordings with well known labels like Erato, Sony, EMI.

In 2003 he created ensemble Authentia, his own platform for early music and has performed many concerts.

Roberto teaches violin at the music school in Nykøbing Falster, Denmark and has taught several masterclasses.”

Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 216

“Ensemble Altapunta debuted at the Palladium in Malmö 26th January and played in the St Mary's Church in Helsingborg August 2007.”

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 175

“ALBA was formed in connection with the first Copenhagen Early Music Festival in 1992 and the Spanish exhibition at the art museum Louisiana the same year.

Agnethe Christensen,  contralto, comes originally from Sweden and has her musical roots in both classical and folk music. After studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and with Andrea von Ramm in Basel, she has participated in operas, solo recordings for different radio stations, CD productions and concerts in early music and has worked together with a.o William Christie, Reinhard Goebel, Konrad Junghänel and Frieder Bernius  as well as giving masterclasses and solo recitals. She also appears at opera stages worldwide performing mainly modern and baroque opera  latest with the danish theatre company Hotel Proforma in their music production  Operation Orfeo  and in 2001, together with Benjamin Bagby, in Sequentias new music-theater production"Myths of the Icelandic Edda".

Poul Høxbro has achieved international recognition for his work in recreating a medieval playing style on the pipe and tabor. A nine months journey in South America, where he played folk music from Peru and Bolivia, was to become crucial for his decision of a musical career. He has classical diploma and soloist examen - in recorder - from The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, but since 1994 he has devoted all his time to investigate the simultaneous playing on three hole pipes and percussion. Using his motley musical background, and in close collaboration with specialized instrument makers, this pioneering effort has lead to performances around the world and brought him a number of Danish musical awards. He works regular in different constellations with artists from Sweden, Germany and Australia, plays in Medieval Ensemble ALBA together with Agnethe Christensen and with Miriam Andersén in the duo Esk where they specialize in early and traditional Nordic music. In addition to his music he performs storytelling in Danish, English and German, gives lectures and dance courses.“

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Added on: Feb 23, 2012 | Hits: 180

“Founded in 2003, TENET is a vocal ensemble under the artistic direction of soprano Jolle Greenleaf. The ensemble strives to bring lesser known works to the ears of the public and to perform well known works with a fresh and new approach. As a program-based ensemble, distinguished soloists who also shine as ensemble singers are selected to fit the demands of each individual concert. Works are generally performed one-voice-to-a-part and TENET frequently collaborate with other ensembles and organizations. …”

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Added on: Feb 22, 2012 | Hits: 233

“New York City based SIREN Baroque stages vibrant, thought-provoking programs of early chamber and vocal music.  Bringing passionate and historically informed performances to concert halls, art galleries, and cafes throughout New York and beyond, the nine women of SIREN are committed to infusing passionate historical accuracy with a twinge of modern dynamism by commissioning new works for historical instruments. “

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Added on: Feb 22, 2012 | Hits: 176

“Music City Baroque (formerly Belle Meade Baroque) brings the world of Historically Informed Performance to Nashville and the Middle Tennessee region. Through the use of period instruments, and the latest musicological findings on matters such as pitch, articulation and tempo, Nashville audiences are able to experience the world of seventeenth and eighteenth century music in all its original color and passion.

The mission of this not-for-profit organization includes performances with larger instrumental ensembles, workshops and programs with guest experts in the field from around the country, and on-going collaborations with area educational institutions.”

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Added on: Feb 19, 2012 | Hits: 194

“Eya is a new ensemble based in Washington, DC specializing in the interpretation of medieval music for women’s voices. Directed by Allison Mondel, Eya presents concert programs that interweave diverse repertories of the 12th through 15th centuries, from Hildegard von Bingen to Notre Dame to the flyleaves of early English manuscripts and beyond. Through this lens, these programs seek to tell a story that forges new points of connection between contemporary audiences and ancient repertoire.

Eya (prounounced “eh-yah”) is a Latin exclamation of joy.“

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Added on: Feb 19, 2012 | Hits: 213

“Datura plays medieval music. We have a divers medieval program with wild music to dance on, drinking songs, ballads, courtly- and secular music (o.a. from the Carmina Burana) and religious music (o.a.from the Cantigas de Santa Maria). We play with three or four musicians in matching medieval clothes.
   
Francesco Scafidi, Lies Sommer, Tom Haage and Nynke Glazema are together the band Datura. We work for more than ten years now as medieval musicians and have played in many castles, joustig events, medieval village parties, openings, ceremonies, weddings, gothic- folk- and fantasy festivals in the Netherlands and abroad.”

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Added on: Feb 19, 2012 | Hits: 254

“Welcome to the Ensemble La Danserye’s website. A group trying to spread the music from the Middle Ages to the Early Baroque, focusing primarily in the Renaissance. This is closer to what at the time was called "minstrels", ie wind musicians played various roles in the musical Renaissance.”

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Added on: Feb 17, 2012 | Hits: 207

“La Folia is the longest performing Spanish group in the interpretation of baroque music on period instruments and historical criteria, who, also, on occasion tackles the vocal and instrumental repertoire of the Renaissance.

The activity of La Folia consists mainly of holding concerts, recording CDs and various tasks related to research and teaching, with emphasis on Hispanic repertoire.” (Google Translate)

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Added on: Feb 17, 2012 | Hits: 216

“La Nuova Musica is a vocal and instrumental ensemble dedicated to the music of the European Renaissance and Baroque. In less than five years since its foundation by counter-tenor David Bates, it has shot to prominence in the UK and abroad. Already a regular guest at the foremost Early Music venues and festivals, including King’s Place, Wigmore Hall and the Aldeburgh, Spitalfields and London Handel festivals, La Nuova Musica is establishing itself amongst critics and audiences as both a fixture and a breath of fresh air. …”

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Added on: Feb 08, 2012 | Hits: 274

“By its historically informed interpretative style, based on specific instrumental techniques, covering the 17th and 18th centuries, the ensemble sets out to restore the music of that period through concerts, recordings, collaborations with other musicians or ensembles, participation in educational, governmental and nongovernmental programmes. …“

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Added on: Feb 05, 2012 | Hits: 189

“Founded in 2005, the association Usclame is a collection of young researchers and a group of musicians (instrumentalists and singers), who work closely together, and that focus on French music of the second half of the seventeenth century …”

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Added on: Feb 05, 2012 | Hits: 165

“Il Giardino Armonico was founded in 1985 by Giovanni Antonini (recorder), Paolo Beschi (cello) and Lorenzo Ghielmi (harpsichord), joined after a short time by the lutist Luca Pianca and the violinist Enrico Onofri, and brings together musicians from some of Europe’s leading music institutions, all of them specialized in performing on period instruments. The ensemble’s repertory is mainly focused on the 17th and 18th centuries. Depending on the demands of each programme, the group will consist of anywhere from 3 to 35 musicians. …”

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Added on: Feb 04, 2012 | Hits: 188

“VocaMe - a top-flight ensemble of renowned singers from the Early Music scene

"... (Michael) Popp formed VocaMe, a top-flight ensemble of renowned singers from the Early Music scene. Popp took on the role of musical director for the ensemble and also made use of hs expertise in various medieval instruments, providing occasional instrumental accompaniment."

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Added on: Feb 04, 2012 | Hits: 176

“Scherzi Musicali is one of the notable young ensembles in the world of early music. It was founded and is directed by Nicolas Achten, one of the few classical singers accompanied by himself (on lute, harp, harpsichord), reviving this old practice. A “moveable feast”, Scherzi Musicali brings together young singers and instrumentalists like Nicolas, willing to rethink the approach to early music and seeking to serve it with a more genuine concern for musicological relevance. If getting down mainly to rehear a heritage left behind, they do not forsake the key works of the repertoire, both secular music, sacred or opera.

Since 2006, Scherzi Musicali has performed in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and England: Festival van Vlaanderen, De Bijloke (eg. a "Featuring concert" with Emma Kirkby), Concertgebouw Brugge, De Singel, Bozar, Festival Wallonia, The Automne Musical de Spa, Operadagen Rotterdam, Amia Strasbourg, Festival Baroque de Pontoise, etc...

Scherzi Musicali dedicates its debut discography to unpublished works on CD. "l’Euridice" by Giulio Caccini (the first opera ever printed), and the album " Dulcis Amor Iesu " (motets of Giovanni Felice Sances), were published on the Ricercar label. Each of their records has generated genuine enthusiasm from the international press: Joker by Crescendo, The Key ResMusica, Prelude Classics Award 2009, 4-star World Music, 5 Diapason, Muse Golden Ring Classic Info, "Outstanding" in International Record Review...

In September 2011, the album "Petits Motets" will be released, dedicated to the Belgian composer Joseph-Hector Fiocco (Label Musique in Wallonie, collection “inédits”). They then inaugurate their collaboration with the Alpha label with "La Catena d’Adone" by Domenico Mazzocchi (the first Roman opera) to be published in Februari,2012.

Scherzi Musicali is supported by the French Community of Belgium (General Directorate for Culture, Department of Music) and the Commune of Ixelles.“

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Added on: Feb 03, 2012 | Hits: 206

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

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Added on: Feb 03, 2012 | Hits: 180

“LUXURIANS is a young, international Early Music Ensemble, situated in Bremen/Germany. Its members have won several prizes and scholarships and work with ensembles like Weser Renaissance, Salzburger Hofmusik, Orlando di Lasso Ensemble, L'Arpeggiata. The cast of ensemble LUXURIANS vary according to the program from trio to baroque orchestra. However, it concentrates on 17th Century sacred music and dance music.“

Added on: Feb 03, 2012 | Hits: 186

“La Ninfea (Italian for water lily) is dedicated to the chamber music repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition to their standard repertoire, the members of La Ninfea specialize mainly in unknown pieces of music worthy of re-discovery. The members of the ensemble have repeatedly won competitions and other awards, and have performed in various projects in different constellations. Audiences and critics appreciate their virtuous and particularly expressive performances. When the 2009 German Music Competition was announced, they decided to form a permanent ensemble, which reached the final round of the competition. The core membership of the ensemble, Christian Heim (viola da gamba), Simon Linné (Lute), and Barbara Heindlmeier (recorder), are often joined by other instrumentalists and singers according to the needs of their repertoire.”

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Added on: Feb 03, 2012 | Hits: 180

“Founded in London in 2007, Ensemble Tempus Fugit’s earliest projects took place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where they mounted a concert version of Johann Adolf Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra, and chamber performances of London street songs at Bloomsbury’s Goodenough College.

In 2008, the group was selected for the Brighton Early Music Festival’s BREMF Live! project, where they performed their first interdisciplinary project, SHALL WE DANCE?, incorporating players, singers and dancers in a mix of English folk and formal music that could have been heard in the courts and homes of seventeenth-century England.  In that same year, the group expanded to form the orchestra for concert and staged versions of Handel’s Acis and Galatea for New European Opera in London, Paris, and Fontevraud, France.

In 2009, Ensemble Tempus Fugit returned to the Brighton Early Music Festival with a revival of SHALL WE DANCE? , and its most ambitious project to date, CALCUTTA: a blend of theatre, puppetry and Baroque and traditional Indian classical music from the eighteenth-century port city. The Calcutta project played to a sold-out audience in Brighton, thanks to the support of the Festival, Arts Council England, and a performance and interview on BBC Radio 3's The Early Music Show.

Ensemble Tempus Fugit was a Finalist in the 2010 Early Keyboard Ensemble Competition at Fenton House, Hampstead, London in June, and played in Baroque-Indian crossover concerts led by Sanjay Guha, sitarist, at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Centre for Indian Culture this past October. The Ensemble is currently developing CALCUTTA for future performances in the UK and in India.”

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Added on: Feb 03, 2012 | Hits: 142