EarlyMusicNews.Org

"The Squair Mile Consort of Viols, formed in 1992, regularly gives concerts in Edinburgh, Glasgow and further afield in Scotland. It is dedicated to the great music composed for the viola da gamba (viol) from the 16th to the late 17th century - music for between two and seven viols by composers such as William Byrd, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, John Jenkins, William Lawes and Henry Purcell, as well as songs for one voice and viols, music for viols and pipe organ and solo music by the French composers Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 23, 2008 | Hits: 296

“Stimmwerck was founded in Munich, in 2001. It is a group of sought-after professionals in ensemble vocal music; the two tenors, Gerhard Hölzle and Klaus Wenk, the bass Marcus Schmidl, and the counter-tenor Franz Vitzthum, who gives the quartet its unmistakable sound.

Stimmwerck devotes itself in particular to composers of the Renaissance and their nearly inexhaustible wealth of vocal music. Research in archives of music collections and frequent exchanges with musicologists serve as the foundations of their work, and are followed up with regular recordings at studios such as Aeolus, Cavalli Record and Christophorus, among others.“

Added on: Apr 27, 2009 | Hits: 296

“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. ..“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 296

"The Anitquarian Funks is a musical group specializing in authentic musical performances of rarely heard works from the Renaissance and Early Baroque periods. Based in Santa Cruz, California, The Antiquarian Funks were founded in 1971 by Head Funk William G. Mathews, and have been performing ever since in a wide variety of combinations and venues. The Funks perform with reproductions of original antique instruments.

Music of the 17th century and earlier was usually composed and performed for the church or European courts. A particular challenge in performing this early music is the absence of tempo and dynamic notation. Musicians of this time were expected to improvise embellishments on the original score, rather like modern jazz.

The aim of this website is to introduce you to both the Antiquarian Funks, as well as the amazing music, instruments and some of the composers we have featured over the years. Enjoy! " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 295

"The Ciconia Ensemble is dedicated to the music of the late 14th/early 15th centuries, especially the so-called Ars Subtilior, that uniquely difficult and wonderful music that flourished briefly in France and northern Italy. The group consists of Anna Maria Friman (soprano), John Potter (tenor), Susanna Pell and Jacob Heringman (lutes & vielles) and made its debut in York in 2006. Programmes have included music by Ciconia himself, including rarely heard masses and motets, as well as troubadour songs and Minnelieder. The group performed an all-Machaut programme entitled La Parole et la Puissance: Guillaume de Machaut and the way to eternity in the 2007 Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz Festival A recording of highlights from the festival features several tracks from the Ciconia Ensemble; complimentary copies are available from Robert White Artist Management. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 08, 2008 | Hits: 295

"Phantasm was founded in 1994 by Laurence Dreyfus, who dreamed of forming a viol consort embodying the highest artistic standards. Inspired by the great twentieth-century string quartets, Phantasm have championed a bold and passionate style of consort playing which does full justice to its magnificent repertoire.

The international members of the quartet (from Britain, Finland and the US) all trained on modern instruments, but were drawn to the viol consort because of the dazzling sonority of the ensemble and the independence of lines cultivated by the complex polyphony. Specialising in music from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the quartet have been applauded across the globe for their moving performances, which embrace the eloquent fantasies of Byrd and Gibbons, the magical works of Lawes and Purcell, even new arrangements of Bach and Mozart. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 14, 2008 | Hits: 294

" The Ensemble Stampita is a group born in December 2003 dedicated to medieval music. We believe that music medieval-perhaps still little known outside the network of fans-could still be engaging and enjoyable even for a non-specialist public, and therefore is worth propose even outside of contexts so to speak "institutional". ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 294

"The Early Music Company was founded in 1990 by Mamiko Hirai and Kenji Sano in Osaka, Japan, as a basic nucleus of voice and lute around which are built various combinations of voices and instruments for concerts centering mainly on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. They play European music from the14th to 19th century, give regular concerts in Japan, and record regularly for Aeolian records. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 10, 2008 | Hits: 293

"The Streicher Fortepiano Trio is devoted to period performance of Classical era chamber music. Its members, Katherine Kyme, violin, Joanna Blendulf, cello, and Charlene Brendler, fortepiano, have earned the reputation of presenting exquisitely performed concerts on replica and original instruments. Their musicianship, combined with sensitivity to sonorities, creates a unique musical experience of optimal balance and clarity. Critics frequently praise the Trio’s fine ensemble rapport. Spirited performances by the group convey the musical values and elegant Rococo ambiance of the late 18th century.

The Streicher Trio travels with a transportable 5-octave wooden framed replica instrument, lightweight and delicate in nature. Programs include the standard repertoire of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, as well as an occasional adventurous exploration of other composers contemporary to the Classical and Early Romantic eras. A typical program might include Boccherini and Schobert along with Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, for instance. Collaborations with a guest artist -- clarinet, viola, or voice -- expand the repertoire possibilities. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 292

"Since it was founded in 1997, the Prague ensemble Collegium Marianum has focused on   revitalising the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One of the few professional companies specialising in this field in the Czech Republic, it not only gives concerts of works in particular by composers who were born or active in central Europe, but also regularly performs unique musical drama and dance productions. Several modern day world premieres are presented each year. The ensemble has collaborated with renowned European directors, choreographers, conductors and soloists such as: Andrew Parrott, Simon Standage, Chiara Banchini, Benjamin Lazar, Sergio Azzolini, Peter Kooij, Peter van Heyghen or Sigrid T´Hooft.

Since 1999 the company has been under the artistic leadership of flautist Jana Semerádová, whose active research together with her study of baroque gesture, declamation and dance, has enabled her to gradually broaden the profile of the Collegium Marianum ensemble and present operas and intermezzos in the authentic surroundings of Czech baroque theatres.... "

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Added on: Jul 12, 2008 | Hits: 292

"Pastimes is a group of musicians who perform early music on period instruments.

We had been playing together for a couple years before forming in 1995 the ensemble now known as Pastimes. We began receiving requests to play at private parties, costume dinners and outdoor fairs, business functions, school assemblies, and occasionally in church settings. We play renaissance music from the late 1400s to the mid 1600s, ranging from formal courtly and liturgical music to refined or rustic domestic entertainment.

We take our name from a song attributed to Henry VIII called 'Pastime with Good Company'. Our goal is to provide as much fun for those who hear us as we ourselves are having, and we do aim to have a good time! Our home base is in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northern Delaware. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 04, 2008 | Hits: 292

"Bray Baroque is a group of musicians centred in Bray and devoted to promoting

* the appreciation of Classical Music with courses, conferences, recitals
* the authentic interpretation of Western Music, from the Middle Ages to the Romanticism
* the links between Ancient Music and Irish Folk Music

in the Republic of Ireland, with the main focus in County Wicklow and South Dublin. " Visit website for more information.

Added on: Jan 15, 2009 | Hits: 292

“Cincinnati Chamber Music -- The Catacoustic Consort performs music from the Renaissance to the Baroque on historical instruments with the intent of recreating the sound of the music when it was originally performed. Early instruments include the bass, tenor and treble viola da gamba, lirone, pardessus de viole, Renaissance cittern, bandora, Baroque flute, lute, theorbo, cornetto, Baroque harp, chamber organ, and harpshichord, among others. We offer early music workshops and classes. Performances include music by such composers as Marin Marais and St. Colombe (Tous les Matins du Monde — All the Mornings of the World). Our baroque performances in Cincinnati have been as diverse as seventeenth-century German sacred music and Italian love songs. Performers have included Ronn McFarlane (lute — Boston Early Music Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival, Baltimore Consort), Michael Leopold of Milan, Italy (chitarrone), sopranos Youngmi Kim and Cassie Webster, baroque flute virtuoso Sang Joon Park, Lucas Harris (baroque guitar and theorbo), and Wendy Gillespie (viola da gamba —Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Early Music Institute — Bloomington Early Music Festival). Fans of chamber music in Cincinnati as well as classical music will find this baroque music group quite extraordinary. Mark Cudek (Indianpolis Early Music Festival) has appeared with the Catacoustic playing cittern.”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 14, 2011 | Hits: 292

“Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense, a full time orchestra on original period instruments, was founded by Stefan Sutkowski  in 1957. It was the first early music vocal-instrumental ensemble in Poland. From the beginning, its members set themselves the goal of popularising newly discovered relics of Polish music. These musicians became founder members of Warsaw Chamber Opera, which was founded in 1961 by Stefan Sutkowski, who has served as its Managing and Artistic Director ever since. At present, the Warsaw Chamber Opera company consists of 2 directors, 2 designers, 7 conductors, over 75 soloists, and 3 full-time orchestras (period-instruments ensemble (orchestra) Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense and two small-size symphony orchestras - the Warsaw Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of Warsaw Chamber Opera ). It also has a the 40-strong Chamber Choir and the Choir specializing in Old Orthodox Music and a Mime Group.

While the opera company expanded, its repertoire enriched by works from the Classical era and later, whilst the Collegium cultivated and perfected the practice of performing early music. Yet music from several centuries ago cannot be given its proper tonal shape without the appropriate instruments, a complete set of which has been acquired thanks to the enduring efforts of the Warsaw Chamber Opera. ..“

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Added on: May 04, 2010 | Hits: 291

"The Cultural Association of "Orchestra Barocca La Confraternita de' Musici" is not for profit and aims to promote the musical culture through diversified solutions such as research, concerts, conferences, meetings, records, courses and competitions.

Founded by Cosimo Prontera, the Ensemble makes its debut at the “Leonardo Leo” Barocco Festival 1997. The ensemble plays on period instruments esploring the important and unknown repertoire of apulian composers acttive in Naples during the XVII and XVIII century. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 01, 2008 | Hits: 290

"Ensemble Telemania takes its name from the German baroque composer, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and is a baroque chamber music ensemble specialising in the performance of 17th and 18th century repertoire on period instruments.

Concert appearances have included: Charlton House, Waltham Abbey Church, St. Hilda's College Oxford, The Town Church in St.Peter Port Guernsey, The Foundling Museum, Southwark Cathedral and the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In May 2006, Ensemble Telemania won the Ella Kidney prize for Early Music at Trinity College of Music, London. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 23, 2008 | Hits: 289

"CONCERTANTE OF LONDON
Director: Sir Nicholas Jackson

CONCERTANTE OF LONDON is a versatile ensemble performing with as few as 4 musicians playing baroque instruments for Nicholas Jackson's new realisation of Bach's 'A Musical Offering' expanding to10 or more players when performing works such as Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. It also frequently adds 4 young solo singers for the performance of choral works. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 24, 2008 | Hits: 289

“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: 289

"RONDELLUS was formed by Maria and Robert Staak in 1993 to perform and promote medieval and renaissance music. Depending on the specific programme, the ensemble varies between two and six singers and instrumentalists, who perform on replicas of period instruments. All members of the group are professional musicians with years of experience in Estonia's finest early music groups.

RONDELLUS has performed numerous concerts in the Baltic States, Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland - Riga and Vilnius Early Music Festivals, Medieval Week in Gotland, Stockholm Europe Week, Chamber Music Festival in Norrtälje, Kalmar Renaissance Days, Bornholm Summer Music Festival, "European Middle Ages" festival in Hürsens, "Komponistinnen und ihr werk" in Kassel, Festival Montalbane in Freyburg, "Musica Antiqua Europae" in Bydgoszcz, Festival Of Monophonic Music in Plock, Sopron Early Music Festival, Festival of Medieval and Renaissance Theatre in Anagni, Festival "Recontres Internationales de Musique Medievale" in Thoronet, Festival of Medieval Theatre and Music in Elche, etc. "

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Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 288

"Ensemble Adelchis was founded at the opportunity of Alessandro Manzoni's bicentenarial anniversary. At Sforza Castle, Milano, the Municipality set up the exhibition "Adelchis, dai Longobardi ai Carolingi", under the supervision of Arch. C. Calderini. The Head of the Culture Department of Milano Municipality charged Giovanna Motta with transcribing the lament for the death of the late Longobard Duke of Friuli, composed by Bishop Paolino d'Aquileia in 799, on the basis of the original notation. The resulting lament was recorded and used as background for the exhibitions held in Milano and Pavia. From the very few elements of these performances, say ine voice, one rebeck, one harp, as time went by the Ensemble Adelchis grew to its present formation. Althought relatively recently formed, the Ensemble Adelchis has already successfully performed before competent audiciens, such as Pavia's University, on the occasion of the 9th Anniversary of Lanfranco da Pavia' death; Foundation "G.Cini" in Venice; Medieval Weeks at Brisighella; Associazione Internazionale di studi di Canto Gregoriano in Cremona; Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo in Spoleto. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 287

Association for the performance of baroque dance and music.

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Added on: Apr 22, 2009 | Hits: 287

"Founded in San Francisco in 1986, American Baroque brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions from American composers. An ensemble of eclectic, accomplished, and artful musicians, the performances bridge a gap between the edges of the new music frontier and the familiar roads to music of the past, and expands the repertoire and scope of historical instruments into the new millenium.

After many accomplishments in the field of early music, in the early 1990s American Baroque began exploring the territory of performing new music written for historical instruments through its collaboration with composer, member and gambist Roy Whelden and his pieces Quartet After Abel and Gamba Quartet, which resulted in a CD release on the New Albion label in 1993. Intrigued by the unique timbres and subtlety of sounds inherent in their period instruments, the group continued to pursue projects and programming that involved combinations of new and old elements. Collaborations with such artists and composers as Rudy Rucker, Jonathan Berger, Carl Stone, and the Common Sense Composers Collective yielded an unprecented number of commissioned works written specifically for the group's instruments. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 286

" ... It is to recreate the atmosphere and courteous popular medieval world that the group uses of musical instruments, some faithfully reconstructed on the basis of precise iconographic references, others still in use in the tradition of countries bordering the Mediterranean.

The group has toured in France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Australia. The ensemble has performed for important associations concert and has participated in major ancient music events both Italian and foreign. ... " (translated (ed.)) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 285

"Since 1995 Ensemble Soleil has given concerts and presented multi-media theatrical events in the United States and Europe. In 2001 Ensemble Soleil became a juried ensemble of the Vermont Arts Council.

Known for innovative programming and lively performances, we play period instruments and authentic modern copies. We were recognized by the I.R.S as a non profit organization in 1999.

Our programs feature the beautiful viol consort music of the Renaissance from Spain, Italy, England and the Low Countries, and the multi-faceted Baroque chamber music of Italy, Austria, Germany and France. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 24, 2008 | Hits: 285

“Convinced that a country’s cultural roots and traditions always have a decisive influence on the expression of its musical language, in 1987 Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras founded La Capella Reial, one of the first vocal ensembles devoted to the interpretation of Hispanic Golden Age music according to historical principles and consisting exclusively of Hispanic and Latin voices.

Following the model of the famous “royal chapels” for which the great masterpieces of both religious and secular music were composed in the Iberian peninsula, this new “Capella Reial”, which in 1990 took the name of Capella Reial de Catalunya, was born as the result of more than 13 years of research and interpretation in the field of early music. Together with Hespèrion XX (founded in 1974), its main objective is to extend and deepen the fields of research into the specific characteristics of the Hispanic and European polyphonic vocal legacy before 1800. The hallmark of this ensemble is its approach to performance, which balances meticulous vocal sound quality and appropriateness to the style of the period with expressive diction and projection of the poetic text, always striving above all to convey the spiritual and artistic dimension peculiar to each individual work. Under the direction of Jordi Savall, it has an intense schedule of concert performances and recordings and regularly takes part in the principal music festivals around the world. …”

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Added on: Oct 03, 2011 | Hits: 285