EarlyMusicNews.Org

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Added on: May 17, 2009 | Hits: 424

"Piva is inspired by the professional Waits and Court Bands of the 16th and 17th centuries and specialises in giving lively performances of popular dance music and ballads of the period.

Piva performs in period costume using a range of historically accurate instruments including shawms, bagpipes, hurdy gurdies, curtals, sackbuts, violins and guitar. Their aim is to be faithful to the music and influences of the period whilst adding their own innovative arrangements and interpretations. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 423

"Constantinople is a performing ensemble that draws its inspiration from the music of the Mediterranean, Medieval and Renaissance Europe, and Middle-Eastern musical traditions. Constantinople presents a new form of musical expression, born of a wellspring of transformation and integration of divers traditions from the Middle Ages and today, from here and abroad.

The ensemble provides a forum for cross-fertilization among various musical cultures, both within the ensemble itself and with its guest artists. Constantinople endeavours to consolidate the ties among these cultures by cultivating a unique mode of musical expression -a musical vocabulary that has grown out of extensive research into the history and esthetics of the musical traditions into which it delves, combined with freshness and creativity.

Constantinople has given numerous performances in Canada, in Mexico and in Europe. Last two years, the ensemble has been performing in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Lebanon, Mexico and Canada among others. Many of these have been broadcast on the CBC/Radio-Canada radio network. Winners of the Discovery of the Year Award from Opus Gala in 2003, Constantinople have been the Ensemble in residence at Radio-Canada for the 2004-2005 season. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 06, 2008 | Hits: 422

"Trio Grosso is an early music ensemble based in Perth, Western Australia. The group comprises up to nine members who enjoy playing for medieval fairs, banquets, weddings, parties, concerts and general good times.

The group was formed by an enthusiastic group of recorder players in late 1985 to provide appropriate music for a local play that had scenes set in the 1600s. The group's name derives from the fact that a much loved early addition to the repertoire was a recorder trio arrangement of the allegro from Handel's Concerto Grosso No. 1 in G which we usually had at least six people playing (thus a rather largish trio!).

The group's repertoire largely comprises medieval and renaissance songs and dances but also encompasses folk music from many cultures and a range of modern compositions. Although the nucleus of the group is a recorder consort ranging from great bass recorder up to the tiny garklein floetlein recorder, the group also performs with a range of wind, string and percussion instruments. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Nov 08, 2008 | Hits: 422

“For over 20 years, this baroque ensemble has been a fixture in the world of early music. With a large dose of experience and class, the musicians of this ensemble, directed by Jan De Winne and Marcel Ponseele, have been able to steal many musical hearts. Depending on the repertoire Il Gardellino works in a different formation, but they always get on stage with a top casting: both established musicians and emerging young talent, from home and abroad.”

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Added on: Apr 22, 2009 | Hits: 422

"The vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Arts Florissants is one of the most renowned and respected early music groups in Europe and throughout the world. Dedicated to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments, the ensemble was founded in 1979 by the Franco-American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie and takes its name from a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Les Arts Florissants have been largely responsible for the resurgence of interest in France of 17th-and 18th-centuries more generally.

It is in the field of opera where Les Arts Florissants have enjoyed most success, regularly collaborating with eminent directors and choreographers, such as Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Carsen, Alfredo Arias, Francine Lancelot, Béatrice Massin, Ana Yepes, José Montalvo... They have an equally high profile in the concert hall and on disc. For twenty years Les Arts Florissants have been artists in residence at the Théâtre de Caen.

The ensemble tours widely in France and is frequently invited to perform at prestigious festivals and venues internationally (the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Lincoln Center, the Barbican Centre in London and the Vienna Festival among others).

Les Arts Florissants receive financial support from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, the City of Caen and the Basse-Normandie Region. They are artists in residence in the théâtre de Caen. Imerys is their Principal Sponsor.”

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Added on: Aug 14, 2007 | Hits: 419

“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: 418

"Based in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland, the enterprising group of instrumentalists have specialised for over 17 years in performances of the courtly and popular music of Renaissance Scotland on a wide range of early wind, stringed and keyboard instruments and more recently a concort of voices.The Music is researched and edited for the group by its director James Ross, who has also written a comprehensive and copiously illustrated book on music in renaissance Scotland, 'Musick Fyne, Robert Carver and the Art of Music in Renaissance Scotland' (The Mercat Press, Edinburgh 1993). CORONACH now present a season of around twenty concerts a year, bringing this fascinating repertoire to a wider audience through a series of commercial recordings issued on their own CMF label. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 417

""If music be the food of love, sing on, sing on, 'till I am filled with joy!" -- This is the first line of a song by Henry Purcel inspired by Shakespeare. It is a good summation of our approach to music. Don't do it unless it feels good. In spite of, or probably because of this, we continue to perfect our musical capacities.

One problem with history is that it is often distant and foreign. Our approach to early music is to embody it with our manner and costumes, to give it a living, feeling, human face. When performing our music, we strive to encompass both its sublime beauty and its earthy humour; and all the other human experiences that come between. ...

The largest proportion of performances have been accompanied by sumptuous feasting and drinking. Our preferred venues are intimate country restaurants accommodating from thirty to fifty revelers where we provide music with each service (or "remove" as the Elizabeathans would say). Typically we sing between twenty-five and thirty songs at a feast of five or six courses. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 417

"Founded in 1989, The Cardinall’s Musick is a highly successful and innovative ensemble. Taking its name from the 16th-century cardinal, Thomas Wolsey, the group is known for its extensive study of English Renaissance music. Although primarily a vocal group, The Cardinall’s Musick also has its own period instrumental ensemble, and now embraces a wide range of styles and periods: from complete reconstructions of historical events (the Field of the Cloth of Gold) to world premieres of commissioned music from composers such as Michael Finnissy, Simon Whalley, Matthew Martin and Judith Weir. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 417

"Carolina Baroque was organized by Dale Higbee in 1988 for the purpose of performing music of the Baroque period (c. 1600-1750) on instruments familiar to Monteverdi, Purcell, Buxtehude, Vivaldi, Telemann, J. S. Bach, and Handel during this Golden Age of Music. Since then we have performed in many cities in North Carolina, as well as in South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. We appeared on Public TV (WTVI-42), have received rave reviews in the press, and digital CD recordings of our Salisbury concerts have been broadcast many times over both Davidson College's WDAV (FM 89.9) and Wake Forest University's WFDD (88.5 FM). Carolina Baroque is a funded member of the Arts Council of Rowan and an organizational member of Early Music America. The Music Director is a resident of Salisbury, NC, but the other artists are professional musicians from various North Carolina cities who have performed throughout the US, as well as in Europe and South America. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 10, 2008 | Hits: 416

"Beguiling and intelligent, provocative and classic, ravishingly beautiful and deliciously edgy – The Newberry Consort has been delighting audiences for nearly three decades. Directed by David Douglass, Newberry Musician-in-Residence, and early music diva Ellen Hargis, the ensemble plumbs the Newberry Library's vast music collection and assembles a star-studded roster of local and international artists to bring you world-class performances of music from the 13th to the 18th centuries…and occasionally beyond!

Affiliated with the Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies, the Consort also serves as an ensemble-in-residence at both the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. In addition to an annual concert series in Chicago, the Consort has an active touring schedule. This season, traveling to several cities across the US, the Consort will offer two popular programs: Beautiful Dreamer: Music of Lincoln's America and Fair Oriana: an Early Film with Early Music, featuring an Elizabethan score to accompany Sarah Bernhardt's 1912 silent film Elizabeth I."

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Added on: Mar 13, 2008 | Hits: 416

"Obsidienne, a vocal and instrumental ensemble conducted by Emmanuel Bonnardot, wishes to keep the medieval and renaissance repertoire alive in a simple, natural way, thus reconciling the art of performing and that of improvising music.

In a happy relation to poetry, theater and dance, often approaching contemporary, traditional or song repertoires, the ensemble keeps researching into forgotten or neglected works, and endeavouring to reconstruct the medieval instrumentarium, inspired in its work by the paintings of the Middle Ages’ greatest masters.

Obsidienne sometimes splits into smaller groups, allowing more specialized, more intimate and more personal work. At its full strength, with up to 16 musicians, the ensemble offers a powerful sound, in which soloists and choir alternate, a must in interpreting the great medieval repertoire. Obsidienne owe their longevity to their versatility and to the variety of their performances, which enabled them to reach exceptional musical quality. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 13, 2008 | Hits: 416

"Founded in 1981 in Geneva by Chiara Banchini, and established in Franche Comté, France, since 2001, Ensemble 415 is named after one of the pitches at which baroque music is played. Among the first generation of enthusiastic pioneers were François Fernandez, Enrico Gatti, Emilio Moreno and Fabio Biondi. Twenty years later, Ensemble 415 pursues its career with young violinists gathered in a partnership of soloists. David Plantier, Stéphanie Pfister, Eva Borhi and Leila Schayegh perpetuate the initial enthusiasm of Ensemble 415.

Internationally renowned Ensemble 415 has been invited to the greatest festivals and concert venues. Not only are its concerts and recordings acclaimed by critics and public alike, they also set durable impulses to the development of the perception and the interpretation of musical works from the 17th and 18th century as well as to the broadening of the repertoire proposed to music lovers. ..." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 13, 2008 | Hits: 416

"The activities of the ensemble, which are conducted by the artistic direction of Carlo Ipata, till their beginning in 1997 are characterized by the research on the Tuscan index of the Renaissance and the Baroque Age. Thanks to numerous first modern performances, the productions that have been realized until now have allowed the reconstruction of some important pages of Tuscan musical history, showing the relationships that have been hold between the local and the European composers. ...

The members of AuserMusici, which have a great training and experience in early music, and which come from different Italian towns, meet regularly. They arrange precisely the musical programmes with some musicologists. ...

The productions of AuserMusici are the result of a complex research that addresses a large public by involving musicologists and musicians in the analysis and comparison of original texts. The productions consist of recordings, seminars, lectures/concerts and editions (on paper and online). ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 12, 2008 | Hits: 415

"The seeds for ARS & AMICI — a 10- to 12-day travel, study and performance program in Italy for young professionals and highly talented amateur musicians — were planted in 1996 in Boston. Under the guidance of Sheila Beardslee, a well-known Boston-area teacher and performer in early music, the ARS & AMICI program has visited Rome, Florence, Orvieto, Siena, Cortona, Assisi, Bolzano, Padua and Venice. In addition to performances in churches, community centers and schools ARS & AMICI seeks to create connections between amateur musicians and rising young professionals in the U.S. and in Italy. ARS & AMICI participants frequently work with distinguished early music teachers and directors in cities which the program visits. Each year ARS & AMICI’s repertoire changes to reflect the musical creativity of the Renaissance masters from Italy and the continent over the period 1520-1620, including choral and consort music in both sacred and secular genres, as well as historical dance. " ...

Added on: Aug 17, 2007 | Hits: 414

"THE GOLIARDS present authentic medieval music in a lively and entertaining style. We perform on reproductions of actual medieval instruments and sing in the various dialects and languages of the period. We wear costumes based on the clothing of period musicians, completing the feeling of long ago.

The music is a wide variety of medieval tunes, chiefly from the 13th and 14th centuries. Selections can range from bouncy dances and drinking songs to hauntingly beautiful devotional and art melodies. In the style of medieval musicians, large sections of music are improvised, adding an unforgettable excitement to the songs. The Goliards can play, lead and teach dances to allow the audience to completely experience the music as it was originally presented. We have in the past worked with other performers in poetic and dramatic recitations. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 414

"The Amphion Consort are named after the mythological player (Ovid, metamorphoses) who built the walls of Thebes moving the stones to fall in their places by the power and beauty of his playing. The ensemble was initially formed to explore the repertoire for baroque violin and continuo (theorbo), but is expanding to include some of the best players and singers on the scene to perform chamber music and large scale works.

our repertoire ranges from the 14th century Ars Subtilior; Elizabethan lute songs by Dowland and Danyel; French music for viol and theorbo by de Visee and Marais to English masques and operas such as Blow's Venus and Adonis, Purcell's Dido and Aneas and the Fairy Queen. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 08, 2008 | Hits: 414

"The Esterházy Ensemble, directed by Michael Brüssing has chosen its name from the famous Hungarian noble family. The group has, for several years now, specialized on the music for barytone (viola di bordone) and viola da gamba at the court of Esterházy - and its aim is, to make this little known facet of classical chamber music more acquainted to a broader public. Concerts at festivals (also the 'original sites' at Palace Esterházy in Fertőd, Hungary and Eisenstadt, Austria), radio and TV productions, CDs with CPO/SWR, Cavalli Records and Brillant Classics show the acceptance of these efforts. The complete recording of all works written by Joseph Haydn for the barytone was recorded within two years and published in February 2009. The musicians of the group all have a lot of experience with diverse period instrumental formations throughout Europe. ... "

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Added on: Aug 04, 2008 | Hits: 414

"I FAGIOLINI was founded in 1986 while the singers were students at Oxford University. In 1988 the group won the UK Early Music Network’s Young Artists’ Competition and has since released 14 CDs and 2 DVD. It gives about 50 concerts a year from the BBC Proms and major European festivals to further afield such as the Far East and both ends of Africa. Its unusual name has been misspelt, mispronounced and misunderstood throughout the world.

‘Like their concerts the disc is lively, imaginative, even anarchic... and a lot of fun.’ BBC Music Magazine

I Fagiolini’s core repertoire is Renaissance and contemporary solo-voice ensemble repertoire. In recent years it has pioneered innovative staged presentations with a project called The Theatre of Music, which brings classics of Renaissance secular music to life. This project has been a huge success with promoters and audiences. It recently released two DVDs on Chandos (Vecchi L'Amfiparnaso with Simon Callow) and Naxos ('The Full Monteverdi' - also broadcast around the world). " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 413

"LA MORRA performs European music of the period roughly defined by the dates 1300 and 1500 (traditionally referred to as 'late Medieval' and/or 'early Renaissance') with occasional escapades outside this time frame. The ensemble pays particular attention to the secular art song, sacred para-liturgical genres and instrumental music.

Formed in 2000, LA MORRA (named after Heinrich Isaac's famous instrumental fantasia) has rapidly made its way on to the stages of Europe's most prestigious early music festivals and concert series (including 'Festival van Vlaanderen', 'Netwerk' and 'Holland Festival Oude Muziek', 'Rencontres de Musique Médiévale du Thoronet', 'Freunde Alter Musik in Basel' and 'Il Canto delle Pietre'). Numerous live performances, broadcasts and the four CD releases that have appeared to date (see Discography) have contributed to establishing LA MORRA as one of the leading formations in the field, with a reputation for both varied, evocative and thoroughly researched programs and "virtuoso", "seductive" and "plausible" (Diapason) interpretations.

The ensemble is based in Basel (North-West Switzerland), home of the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis where the performance and theory of 'early music' have been taught for over 70 years. LA MORRA consists mainly of former students of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (usually four to eight vocalists and instrumentalists) and adapts to the requirements of each new concert or recording project. " See website for more details. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 18, 2008 | Hits: 411

"Cappella Artemisia, founded in 1991, is an all-women’s vocal ensemble based in Bologna, Italy, and consists of a core of 6-10 singers with continuo. Since its inception the ensemble has received critical and popular praise, both for the rarity and originality of its repertoire, and for the high quality of its performances. It has appeared in concert at such prestigious venues as the Festival of Flanders (Bruges and Alden-Biesen), The Holland Festival of Early Music (Utrecht), Il Festival Monteverdiano di Cremona, the Osterfestival Innsbruck, the WDR Festival der Alten Musik in Herne, the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Women and Music (Chard, UK), Donne in Musica and I Concerti al Quirinale (Rome), Les Fêtes Musicales de Savoie (France), and numerous other important festivals of early music throughout Europe and North America. Its concerts have been broadcast by the radios of Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia and the United States. In addition to their traditional repertoire of music from Italian convents, the singers of the ensemble have also been involved in a modern staging of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in an all-women’s performance recalling that of 1689 at a fashionable boarding school in Chelsea for “Young Gentlewomen”. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 411

"Cappella Nova, founded in 1982 by Alan and Rebecca Tavener, has an unrivalled reputation as champions of Scotland’s unique treasury of early vocal music. The group is also “famous for its performances of contemporary music” (The Guardian), having commissioned and premiered more than 60 new works since 1986. These include John Tavener’s monumental three-hour oratorio, Resurrection (1990), broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and James MacMillan’s cantata for Holy Week Seven Last Words from the Cross (1994), which was the subject of seven short films for BBC2 TV. In 1996 they recorded the award-winning soundtrack by William Sweeney for the Tartan Short film an iobairst. In 2003 they provided ensemble vocals for the critically-acclaimed album Hate by The Delgados. In 2009 they premiered Red, the first a cappella work by Craig Armstrong. Also in 2009, the group appeared in the BBC Scotland television documentary Grace Notes, singing medieval and renaissance Scottish sacred music.

Cappella Nova and its medieval offshoot ensemble, Canty, has made 15 CDs, including ten of medieval and renaissance music for the Sanctuary Classics (Universal) Gaudeamus label, all of which are ‘world premieres in modern times’, and the group is particularly well-known for championing the music of the 16th century Scottish polyphonist, Robert Carver. Besides appearances in many British festivals, the group has toured many times abroad, including several visits to Germany and France, and tours in Ireland, Belgium, Hungary, Russia and the USA. Among Cappella Nova’s awards are several Enterprise Awards from the Performing Right Society and a Glenfiddich Living Scotland Award for their ground-breaking performances of Scottish early music. Cappella Nova is Vocal Ensemble in Residence at the University of Strathclyde and the Company has an office sponsored by the university which also hosts this website."

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Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 411

"Formed in 1988 by the Early Music Centre of Great Britain, the Orlando Consort has rapidly achieved a reputation as one of the most expert and consistently challenging groups performing repertoire from the years 1050 to 1500. While all four singers in the group are established soloists, they also contribute enormous experience and expertise in the field of early music gained through working with groups such as the Tallis Scholars and the Gabrieli and Taverner Consorts. Working with leading academics on music that has often never been performed in modern times, they have set new standards of performance, particularly with regard to the pronunciation and tuning of this fascinating repertoire. For their work on the extraordinary techniques of 12th Century Aquitanian polyphony they were awarded the 1996 Noah Greenberg Award by the American Musicological Society. In recent times the Consort has also attracted considerable attention for their imaginative programming of contemporary music and jazz. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 411

"Audiences love ARTEK concerts for their exciting, dramatic performances of baroque music, with compelling musical settings of beautiful poetry and infectious dance rhythms that infuse the performances with vitality and spirit. ARTEK features some of America's finest singers: Laura Heimes, soprano; Barbara Hollinshead, mezzo-soprano; Ryland Angel, countertenor; Philip Anderson, tenor; Michael Brown, tenor; and Peter Becker, bass-baritone. ARTEK instrumentalists include Robert Mealy, violin; Vita Wallace, violin; Motomi Igarashi, viola da gamba & lirone; Daniel Swenberg, theorbo; Charles Weaver, lute and guitar; Grant Herreid, lute; Christa Patton, harp; and Gwendolyn Toth, harpsichord and organ. …

ARTEK toured from 1997 to 2002 with the Mark Morris Dance Group, visiting major venues in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada, as well as more than 50 of America's premier theaters: BAM, Cal Performances in Berkeley, The Schubert Theater in Boston, McCarter Theater in Princeton, and many more from California to the Northeast.  ARTEK has appeared in Europe previously at the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik festival; at the Utrecht Fringe Festival; and in Feldkirchen, Austria; Dolni Lukavice, Czech Republic; Beaulieu, France; Konstanz, Germany; and Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.

In New York City area ARTEK has appeared on the Music Before 1800 series and on the Princeton Friends of Music series; on First Night New York at St. Bartholomew's Church; as featured performers with the Bach-Schutz Society Conference; and on the Kaye Playhouse Chamber Music Series. ARTEK presents its own series of evening concerts each season at halls and churches in New York City and Princeton, NJ.  ARTEK also performs regularly throughout the concert season on the free midday concert series, Midtown Concerts, at St. Bartholomew's Church in midtown Manhattan.  In spring 2001, director Gwendolyn Toth was awarded the Newell Jenkins Prize for excellence in early music performance in recognition of her work with ARTEK."

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Added on: Aug 20, 2007 | Hits: 410