EarlyMusicNews.Org

"THE IVORY CONSORT, founded and directed by Jay Elfenbein, is an ensemble that specializes in medieval music performed in an exciting and historically informed manner. For over ten years, they have brought ancient music to life on stage and over the radio with stunning clarity and bold improvisation. The Consort presents a fascinating mosaic of songs from the Golden Age of Spain, when Jews, Muslims, and Christians forged a common musical language. The live program and CD Music in the Land of Three Faiths feature 10th through 13th century songs in Ladino, Hebrew, Arabic, and Galician-Portuguese and provide a historical context for the intermingling of cultures that took place before the 1492 Expulsion. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 358

“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: 358

“Young early musical ensemble devoted to the repertoire of the  XII-XIVth centuries. The group is interested in reliving the multiple aspects of the repertoire of the day from the motet to vernacular song.

Some of the instruments used by the ensemble were constructed by Bruno Cognyl-Fournier, Robert Gagnon et Micheline Racicot.“

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Added on: Apr 23, 2010 | Hits: 357

“Andreas Helm
Shawm, vocals, yodeling. Born and raised in the area of Mostviertel in Niederösterreich, Andreas Helm received his musical education at the Brucknerkonservatorium Linz and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam , where he studied recorders and early oboes. He is the permanent oboist of the L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra, the Wiener Akademie, Concilium Musicum Wien. ..

Albin Paulus
Bag pipes (Schaeferpfeife, Bock), jaws-harp, vocals, yodeling. Born and raised in Germany, Albin Paulus obtained a classical education in clarinet. ..

Simon Wascher
hurdy gurdy. Born and raised in Oberoesterreich in a family known for its folk music tradition, Simon Wascher studied hurdy gurdy with Valentin Clastrier, Gilles Chabenat, Matthias Loibner, and Riccardo Delfino. ..”

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Added on: Jul 07, 2010 | Hits: 357

"La Saltarelle was formed in 1986 in Castres, dans le Tarn (FR). The group offers a repertoire of dance, music and songs of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Renaissance Europe. " (transl. ed.) See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 12, 2008 | Hits: 355

"Since its formation in 1998, The Parnassian Ensemble has gained a reputation for its virtuosic performances and innovative programming. It regularly appears at prestigious venues throughout the British Isles such as The Purcell Room and St John’s, Smith Square, London; St David’s Hall, Cardiff and The Fairfield Hall, Croydon. The ensemble also performs for festivals, music societies and museums as well as schools and universities.

The group’s 2005/6 concert schedule has included appearances at the Cobbe Collection of historical keyboard instruments, Hatchlands, Surrey; the Newbury Spring Festival; the Djanogly Recital Hall, Nottingham; the Firth Hall, University of Sheffield and the Totnes Early Music Society, Devon. They have recently accepted their first invitation to perform at St John’s, Smith Square, London. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 17, 2008 | Hits: 355

"Baroque Encounter is a dynamic early music ensemble presenting baroque repertoire in elaborate period costumes in performances ranging from semi-staged concerts to full productions. Along with more popular baroque works, Baroque Encounter offers audiences the opportunity to experience the splendours of under-valued baroque gems.

Our performances aim to give the audience a truly baroque experience. We combine vibrant young talent with established exponents of baroque performance, perform with period instruments, work with baroque costume specialists and prepare with baroque directors/choreographers. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 09, 2008 | Hits: 353

“Cellist Fred Edelen and harpsichordist and fortepianist Christina Edelen have performed together throughout the United States and Northern Europe since 1983.  Both received Performer's Certificates from the Indiana University School of Music for outstanding performance.  Their extensive repertoire includes lesser-known music of the French Baroque, more familiar repertoire of Bach, Geminiani, and the Italian masters, to early Classical.

They have appeared at the early music festivals of Boston, Berkeley, Bloomington, Columbus, and San Antonio. As Artistic Co-Directors and founders of Early Music Southwest in Houston, Duo Edelen have performed regularly with internationally acclaimed Baroque specialists including Baroque violinists Stanley Ritchie and Amy Kauffman, flutist Colin St. Martin, and tenor Tony Boutté.

In conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston they have created a highly successful Baroque concert series in the museum's Rienzi collection.  Duo Edelen are founding members of Trio La Poplinière, and are sought after as recitalists, continuo players, and  teachers.  They currently reside in Amsterdam.“

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Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 353

"Music of the Spheres™, formed in 2000, is an early music group based in San Francisco and Atlanta, consisting of Baroque violinist Jeanne Johnson, Baroque cellist Joanna Blendulf, and harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka. Music of the Spheres has performed at the 2006 Tage Alter Musik Festival in Regensburg, Germany, on the San Francisco Early Music Society series, as a main event for the 2002 Bloomington and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, and on several broadcasts of "Harmonia" and “Performance Today.” Highlights of 2007 include a performance on the Frick Collection series in New York.

We give lively, fun and informative performances, often interacting informally with our audiences and speaking about composers, history and our instruments. Our programs focus primarily on music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in addition to performing major works by well-known composers, we also introduce little-known composers and works which are new to our audiences. We are available for concerts, series, festivals, recordings and advanced master classes. Our CD’s are available at www.magnatune.com. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 352

"One of the outstanding vocal groups in its field, The Clerks' recordings and performances of Renaissance vocal music have earned them a place among the foremost interpreters of the repertoire. The group's discography of over 20 CDs represents a uniquely valuable and pioneering contribution to early music and has won them many accolades, including the coveted Gramophone Award for Early Music.

The Clerks formed at Oxford University and made their professional London debut in 1992. Their first recording, released a year later, made an immediate impact, being identified as one of the releases of the year by the Critics Choice panel of BBC Radio 3, and earning runner-up spot in Gramophone's Early Music Award. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 08, 2008 | Hits: 352

"Ensemble Arcomelo, founded by Michele Benuzzi, is a group of varying number which unites musicians who have been dedicated for years to study of the Baroque music and the problems related to its performance on period instruments.

Its repertoire spans from the early seventeenth century to the Classical period. Its main interest is in the works of composers of the late-eighteenth century, especially the concertos for harpsichord and orchestra unpublished and still in manuscript form in European libraries.

Arcomelo has performed for important music festival in Italy and abroad: Serate Muscali di Milano, La Societa' dei Concerti di Milano, Bach Festival di Modena, Musica e Poesia a San Maurizio di Milano, Tiroler Festspiele (Austria), Les Fete Musicales de Savoie (France), Musicales Internationales Guil Durance (France), Festival de Musica Antigua de Daroca (Spain), Hakuju Hall Tokyo, Tochigi Kuranomachi Early Music Festival in Japan. In 2002 the ensemble began performing the complete Concertos for harpsichord and orchestra by C.Ph.E.Bach.

The ensemble Arcomelo records for the Milanese label la Bottega Discantica. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 02, 2008 | Hits: 352

"Since its founding in 1972, the New York Consort of Viols has championed the beauty and breadth of music written expressly for or especially suited to the viol. Acclaimed as a foremost ensemble for its dynamic Renaissance and Baroque repertoires, the Consort also performs medieval music on such instruments such as the rebec and vielle. The group commissions contemporary works as well.

The Consort has performed for enthusiastic audiences on campuses and in concert series throughout North America. These include such notable venues as Milwaukee's Early Music Now, the Berkeley Festival, and New York's Music Before 1800. In 1992 the Consort traveled to Turkey to perform in Istanbul and Ankara. The Consort has also collaborated with many accomplished early music ensembles such as Pomerium, Zephyrus, the Boston Viol Consort, the Yukimi Kambe Viol Consort, the Waverly Consort, the Ensemble for Early Music and Music For A While. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 351

"Réjouissance was founded in 1995 by Halifax musicians Karen Langille and Ivor Rothwell, both long time members of Symphony Nova Scotia. The ensemble specializes in the performance of 17th and 18th century music on period instruments, in historically informed style.

The name “Réjouissance,” used by 18th century composers as a title for certain especially delightful pieces, means rejoicing or merrymaking, sensibilities the ensemble strives to instill in their performances. Often, the musicians perform in 18th century costume and by candle light.

Réjouissance draws most of its repertoire from the vast collections of European instrumental music; from early 17th century Italian composers such as Uccellini and Fontana , to great 18th century German masters like Bach, Handel and Telemann. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 17, 2008 | Hits: 350

"With each vibrant performance, La Monica engages the music and the audience with passion and affection. Their artful programming and dramatic flair have established this dynamic combination of solo soprano voice and string ensemble at the forefront of the American early music scene.

La Monica delivers refreshing recitals exploring the depths and heights of 17th and 18th century music, whether theatrical or lyrical, obscure or celebrated. The ensemble has appeared on New York’s prestigious concert series, Music Before 1800, and has also been presented by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Houston Early Music, the Pittsburgh Renaissance & Baroque Society, San Francisco Early Music Society, and early music festivals of Bloomington, Indianapolis, Amherst and Washington’s Whidbey Island. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 349

"JANICULUM was founded by Jane Clark primarily to perform the unpublished music she had found in her research on The Grand Tour. It takes its name from the hill in Rome.

Jane Clark, founder of Janiculum, is well known as a harpsichord recitalist in Europe and the USA.

Her research into the music of François Couperin and Domenico Scarlatti has received international recognition. The Scarlatti CD reflects her knowledge of Spanish folk music. In 1992 she played the complete Pièces de Clavecin of François Couperin at The Bate Collection in Oxford and her research on the background to the pieces is published in the Bate Collection Handbook series.

She has given recitals and lectures extensively in the USA including The Fine Arts Museum in Boston, The Frick Collection in New York, Indiana State University at Bloomington, Southern Methodist University in Dallas and The Round Top Festival Institute in Texas. She has taught, lectured and played at summer courses including the Dartington International Summer School, Fort Bergwin, New Mexico and the Aston Magna Academy at Yale. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 26, 2008 | Hits: 349

"Holland Baroque Society has combined innovative programming with a unique working style. Baroque music still takes center stage, but bridges are also being built to other traditions and arts such as Balkan music and the art of literature. The orchestra does not have a permanent director: that helps keep their ears sharp and makes the sense of ensemble both richer and more intense. For each new project, HBS invites a particular baroque specialist who has an innovative vision, one who has mastered a distinctive aspect of performance practice (such as ornamentation or improvisation), or in some other way has escaped the timeworn pathways of convention. HBS has worked for several years with some of them, including oboist Alfredo Bernardini, soprano Maria Keohane, and traverso player Alexis Kossenko; this has allowed ample room for growth and development. In recent years, the orchestra has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Michael Maniaci, Matthew Halls, Stephen Stubbs, Milos Valent, Jan Rokyta, Stefano Montanari, Paolo Pandolfo, Veronika Skuplik, and the actress Cox Habbema. HBS has undertaken projects with the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Cappella Amsterdam, and organizes six of its own concert series throughout the Netherlands. Hbs has also been invited to perform at renowned early music festivals at home and abroad. Educational projects such as ‘Kids only-concerts’ allow HBS to introduce thousands of children and young people to baroque music every year. In this way, too, Holland Baroque Society plays a dynamic role in society." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 27, 2008 | Hits: 349

"Ensemble Enchiriadis, founded in Rome in 1998 by Andrea De Luca and Silvia Scozzi, perform music of the Middle Ages and the Reinassance particularly related to the cultures of the Mediterranean area. The project is carried on by musicians from different backgrounds, who deal with early music from different points of view: historical, folkloristic, philological, interpretative, including the manufacture of the instruments. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 10, 2008 | Hits: 348

"Founded in 1996 and based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, The Rose Ensemble reawakens the ancient with vocal music that strives to stir the emotions, challenge the mind, and lift the spirit. Each performance illuminates centuries of rarely heard repertoire, bringing to modern audiences research from the world’s manuscript libraries and fresh perspectives on history, languages, politics, religion and world cultures and traditions. With nine critically acclaimed recordings and a diverse selection of concert programs, the group has thrilled audiences across the United States and Europe with repertoire spanning 1,000 years and over 25 languages, including new research in Hawaiian, Swedish, Middle Eastern and American vocal traditions.

The recipient of the 2005 Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and a first-place winner in the sacred music category at the 2007 Tolosa International Choral Competition (Spain), the group’s concerts and recordings have been called “first class” (Neuss-Grevenbroicher Zeitung), “impassioned and brightly alive” (Choral Journal) and “engaging . .. satisfying” (Gramophone). Founder Jordan Sramek received the 2010 Louis Botto Award from Chorus America “for entrepreneurial zeal.”

The Rose Ensemble can be heard regularly on American Public Media and the European Broadcasting Union (most notably with annual Christmas broadcasts) and was recently featured in special live broadcasts on Radio France, Chicago Public Radio, Vermont Public Radio and National Public Radio’s Performance Today.

The Rose Ensemble’s 16th anniversary season highlights include appearances at Cornell Concert Series (Ithaca, NY), University of Vermont Lane Series, The National Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Secrest Artist Series (Winston-Salem, NC), J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), and a collaboration with Piffaro, The Renaissance Band (Philadelphia, PA and MN).

The Rose Ensemble’s latest recording, Il Poverello, is a diverse collection of medieval and Renaissance music for Saint Francis of Assisi."

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 348

"What did women sing in the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries?

Musica Secreta was founded in 1990 to explore this question, and we have been particularly fortunate in having the help of the foremost scholars in this exciting new field. The answer seems to be that a lot of it has been sitting for decades on library shelves disguised as madrigals or sacred music for mixed a cappella voices. All that was needed was to rediscover a performance practice that always had taken huge liberties with the printed score. ...

Having performed and recorded music specifically composed by nuns or dedicated to convents, the group now plans to look at "mainstream" polyphony from 16th-century composers (Josquin, Rore, Palestrina, Victoria, Lassus, etc.) and arrange it as the nuns would have done - both accompanied and a cappella - thus giving a fascinating new historical slant to familiar repertoire. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 348

"Con Gioia, based in Claremont, California, presents some of the best performers concertizing on period instruments. Following its debut in 1982, the ensemble continues to enchant its audiences with outstanding concerts of well-known masterpieces and rarely performed works of the baroque and classical repertoire.

The ensemble has featured such internationally acclaimed musicians such as violinists Eduard Melkus, Monica Huggett, Chiara Banchini, Daniel Stepner, and Elizabeth Blumenstock; harpsichordist and fortepianist Preethi de Silva; flutists John Solum and Stephen Schultz; viola da gambists, Wieland Kuijken, Laura Jeppesen, and Mark Chatfield; recorder player Matthias Maute; oboist Gonzalo X. Ruiz; sopranos Julianne Baird and Sharon Baker; glass harmonicist Dennis James; and harpsichordists Jennifer Paul and Robert Zappulla, among many others. In recent seasons, Con Gioia has performed concerts at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Caltech in Pasadena, and the San Diego Museum of Art. During the seasons 2000-2001 and 2001-2002, Con Gioia presented a concert series in Claremont and Los Angeles devoted to the very rare performance of all of Bach's concertos for one or more harpsichords, together with strings and winds. These extraordinary concerts were supported by Friends of Con Gioia; and generous grants from Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College, the Claremont Community Foundation, as well as a benefactress. Con Gioia's recording of several of these concertos was released in 2004 by Centaur Records and has received high critical acclaim in the USA and Europe. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 26, 2008 | Hits: 348

" Musica Antigua de Toledo works to recreate the styles and sounds of early European music (pre-1800 CE) with as much historical accuracy as possible, using various combinations of voices and period instruments.

Each year we present a concert season of music organized around a theme, using various subjects, time periods, or national styles.

Several school programs are offered to acquaint children with early music and society, including colonial America.

The ensemble is available for programs specialized to fit your entertainment, educational, or holiday events. We occasionally join forces with other musical and dance groups! " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 10, 2008 | Hits: 347

"For more than a decade, LIBER (formerly Liber unUsualis) has been the foremost interpreter of late medieval music in the United States.  LIBER’s artistic director and founding member, William Hudson, is doggedly devoted to rediscovering and performing this ancient repertoire.  His extensive research and meticulous preparation of the music of the late medieval period highlights the vitality of this music.  Audiences leave a LIBER performance entertained, enlightened, and energized by their new experience of this ancient art form."

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Added on: Mar 08, 2008 | Hits: 347

"The Caecilia Concert is a versatile international ensemble specialising in performance and research of 17th century music for instruments and voices. The group was formed in 2001 by four young instrumentalists working at the forefront of authentic performance practice in Europe. Since then, the Caecilia-Concert has not only made a name for itself as a virtuosic, flexible, small-scale recital ensemble of the highest international level, but has on occassion, expanded to incorporate other instruments and singers performing rarely heard masterpieces from Italy, Germany, Austria and The Netherlands. This flexibility allows us to experiment with various mixed ensembles therefore making accessible newly found compositions and other pieces that would otherwise not be programmed due to mixed or more unusual instrumentation. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 08, 2008 | Hits: 347

"Created in 1996 by Laurence POTTIER, all the musicians Mademoiselle de Guise aim to rediscover the old repertoire from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century in a way educational and entertaining. The ensemble, varying in size from 4 to 40 instrumentalists and singers (or vocal soloists' singers Mlle de Guise ") is made up of musicians from the Paris area who play on instruments used at the time, originals or copies .

In 1999, Les Musiciens Mademoiselle de Guise recorded a disk at Bayard Music, "Christmas for the instrument s", devoted to composers Marc Antoine Charpentier, Michel Richard Delalande, Michel Corrette and Esprit Philippe Chédeville. In 2001, "Croc'Baroque" (Songs for children of the 16, 17 and 18th centuries), an educational disc, is registered in collaboration with a choir of children, Petit chorus of Miss de Guise, at Bayard and distributed by Music Agreement Universal.

Laurence Pottier is an instrumentalist as well as a musicologist. She earned a Masters degree in 1989 at La Sorbonne on "The recorder in Italy in the sixteenth century", and in 1993, a doctorate in musicology: "The repertoire of the recorder in France in the Baroque era. "

She participates in chamber music ensembles or a soloist, where she is interested in the relationship between music and dance ancient and contemporary as well as collaborates with the groups "ChapitreXVI" and "Chorégraphe".

She recorded in 1996 the set of suites of Jacques Hotteterre said "Roman" with Ph.Allain-Dupré, Ph.Pierlot and Y. Uyama-Bouvard (label Naxos). Uyama-Bouvard (label Naxos). Holder of CA she teaches recorder and runs regular courses in France and Brazil.

Laurence Pottier published in "The recorder in the seventeenth century" an article on the iconography of the recorder in France in the seventeenth century, following a lecture at the International Symposium Recorder of Utrecht in 1993. She also published in 1996 in Zurfluh, all three recorder methods in France of the Baroque era (Hotteterre, Freillon-Poncein and Loulié). " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 31, 2008 | Hits: 347

“I founded this ensemble in order to achieve, with the help of some of my closest musical friends, certain projects which are dear to my heart. These are of various kinds, and include not only the performance of ‘classics’ of the early music repertoire, but also the promotion of neglected works (such as, for example, the works of Joseph Touchemoulin). We also wish to make more widely known some of the neo-baroque works of the C20th and C21st which have been written with period instruments in mind.’..“ Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 27, 2009 | Hits: 347