EarlyMusicNews.Org

“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

“Gro Siri Johansen, soprano, has a degree in classical voice from the Rogaland Conservatory and a diploma in Gregorian chant from the National Conservatory of Music in Paris. She is a founding member of the Paris-based vocal ensemble Dialogos, whose recording Terra Adriatica won the diapason d’Or and Le Choc in Le Monde de Musique. She has also performed and recorded her own settings of texts by Knut Hamsun, and participated in theater productions and musicals. In 1999 she founded Modus Center for Medieval Music in Oslo, where, as artistic director, she organizes and teaches courses in Gregorian chant and medieval vocal music.

Elizabeth Gaver, vielle and rebec, earned degrees from Stanford University and Juilliard before deciding to specialize in early music. She soon joined the medieval ensemble Sequentia, with whom she performed concerts throughout Europe, the US, Israel, Japan and Morocco. She participated in over a dozen recordings with the ensemble, along with several theatre productions. Since moving to Oslo, she has performed and recorded with Pro Musica Antiqua, Oslo, Modus ensemble and The Norwegian Baroque Orchestra.

Hans Olav Gorset, flutes, teaches recorder, Baroque flute, and performance practice at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. He has toured as a soloist and ensemble member in the US and Canada, and in many European countries, and made solo recordings that have been well received in the international press. With his group Pro Musica Antiqua, Oslo, he has discovered and recorded Scandinavian music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. His activities also include instrument making and freelance work for the Norwegian Radio.

Guest appearance
Morten Røhrt, is a well-known actor in Norway, where he has worked for theatres in Stavanger, Tromsø, Bergen and Oslo. His repertoire ranges from Dostoevsky to Wilde, from modern drama to musicals, cabarets and one-man shows. He voice is often heard in public radio, and he has also played an important part in a very popular television series, Hotel Cæsar.”

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Added on: Feb 24, 2012 | Hits: 150

“Ensemble Rossignol (nightingale) owes its name to iths first series of performances in 1998 built around 'De virtuoze zang van het Engels Nachtegaeltje' (The virtuoso song of the Englisch Nightingale) by Jr. Jacob van Eyck (Amsterdam, 1648).

The virtuosity and the refined, musical, playful and inspiring performance of the ensemble immediately call to mind the nightingale's song.

Combining the chitarrone (theorbe) / liuto (lute) and the flauto dolce (recorder) results in a special mix of sounds. The sound of the flute together with the strings, combined with the varying pitch, is what makes the harmonization so special.”

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Added on: Nov 24, 2011 | Hits: 149

“The early music ensemble was founded in 1999 as a group of five musicians with Zehm-Elisabeth Thoma as director. The ensemble’s main focus is the interpretation of music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance music. Singing and historical instruments such as lyre, viol, Renaissance flute, trumpets, harp and percussion are performed in concerts. …” 

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Added on: Mar 13, 2012 | Hits: 145

“The Early Interval's celebration of its 35th anniversary season continues as its spring program explores medieval music from France and England in a program revolving around the renowned medieval tales of Marie de France.

The program will include medieval dance music, lais, motets and troubadour songs. The ensemble and two guest actors will present prose and poetry from 12th and 13th century France and England, including Marie de France's rhymed stories about a werewolf and relating a portion of the Tristan and Isolde story.

The Early Interval will perform vocally and on recorders, shawms, medieval harp, medieval lute, psaltery, chang, vielle, rebec, and early percussion instruments.

The members of The Early Interval are Ron Cook, director, Jim Bates, Janice Cook, Tamara Seckel, Sean Ferguson and Lyz Liddell. The ensemble will be joined for this festive concert by well-known Columbus actors Mark Mann and Emily Bach.”

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Added on: Mar 29, 2012 | Hits: 145

“In the lute songs of the Elizabethan masters, music is at the service of poetry. This age of Shakespeare, Jonson, Spenser, and Donne saw English verse rise to heights of expressivity still unsurpassed. To sing to the lute is an art barely separate from the art of declaiming verse. It requires clarity and beauty of tone, a natural flow of language, and a delicate sense of dialogue with the lute the instrument of courtly love. Morrongiello and Young bring to life the flower of Elizabethan music in their programs of lute songs, fantasias and instrumental dances for lute, voice, and renaissance harp.”

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Added on: Mar 15, 2012 | Hits: 144

“Minstrels Gallery were formed to bring early music to a new audience. It has been our experience that there is a genuine interest amongst people would not normally attend a "classical" music concert. The often lively and rhythmic vivacity of the music along with the unusual sound and appearance of the many instruments we play sparks the imagination of our listeners. This was born out by a series of informal concerts held in the Great Hall of the British Museum. A very diverse and mixed audience showed a lot of interest and asked many questions about the music and its performance.

This experience has led Minstrels Gallery to develop a number of concert formats where we not only perform but also explain the music, instruments and their historic setting. This along with our school visits, where children are given the opportunity to play on the many instruments we bring, has convinced us of the enduring delight that early music can create.  …“

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Added on: Dec 28, 2011 | Hits: 143

“The Tallahassee Bach Parley performs music of the Baroque era (approx. 1600-1750), using period instruments as often as possible, to recreate the experience of listening to this music as it may have sounded hundreds of years ago. The Bach Parley is made up of musicians who are trained in historically informed performance. They are mainly local professional performers and teachers, and FSU faculty and students. Many of the musicians also perform in Baroque music groups around the country, such as in Atlanta, New York, and Boston.

The word "parley" in French means discussion; the Tallahassee Bach Parley seeks to inform the audience by offering some commentary at each concert. Such dialogues give the audience historical background about the composers and their world, and an idea of what to listen for in the music. The educational commentary connects the audience with what the musicians are playing, breaking down barriers between performers and listeners, and makes the concert atmosphere more relaxed and the audience more enlightened and engaged.”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 143

“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

“The Vivaldi Project is a premier period instrument ensemble dedicated to presenting 17th- and 18th-century string repertoire. The name, The Vivaldi Project, refers not only to the group's core repertoire―the extraordinary works of the virtuoso violinist and composer, Antonio Vivaldi―but also the project of probing into the roots of Vivaldi's distinctive musical style. Vivaldi's innovative contributions to string writing, the concerto genre, and programmatic orchestral music place him as as a pivotal figure between earlier baroque composers and later classical composers. The Vivaldi Project explores this link through both chamber and orchestral works (those well-known and beloved as well as those rarely heard) from Stradella, Legrenzi, and Corelli, to J.S. Bach and his sons, and ultimately to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. …

The Vivaldi Project, under the leadership of violinist Elizabeth Field and cellist Stephanie Vial, has been gaining critical acclaim for its brilliant and expressive string playing, as well as its innovative programming which combines scholarship and performance to both educate and delight audiences. The members and guest artists of The Vivaldi Project include leading soloists, concertmasters, teachers, and musical scholars in the Washington, DC area and around the country. Since it was founded by Field in 2006, the Vivaldi Project has performed throughout the DC area, and for the Washington and Boston Early Music Festivals. In 2010, the ensemble toured the Piedmont region of North Carolina with an unprecedented performance of all six of C.P.E. Bach's String Sinfonias, W. 182, under guest conductor John Hsu. The final live performance of these works at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC will be released on CD by Centaur Records on April 2, 2012.”

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Added on: Mar 02, 2012 | Hits: 142

“Folger Consort is recognized nationwide as a model chamber music ensemble, performing music from the twelfth through eighteenth centuries. Artistic Directors and Founding Members Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall form the core of the ensemble and are joined by internationally noted guest artists, both singers and instrumentalists. Folger Consort was voted Best Classical Chamber Ensemble at the 2009 and 2010 Washington Area Music Awards. …”

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Added on: Sep 29, 2011 | Hits: 141

“With their baroque and mythological image, that of a terrifying monster and a pyrotechnical figure, «Les Cyclopes» explore baroque vocal Art with a totally new approach. They cover this aboundind universe with strength and enthusiasm, precision and contrast, ranging from the intimacy of the harpsichord to theatrical exuberance.

In january 2010 Bibiane Lapointe and Thierry Maeder have been made «Chevaliers dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres»”

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Added on: Mar 01, 2012 | Hits: 141

“Fuoco e Cenere is exceptional not only in its choice of repertoire, which spirals from medieval times to our own century, but foremost in its desire to kindle passions and memories that outlast the concert experience. The interpretations of Fuoco e Cenere magnify image and expression of superb musical and poetic texts enabling them to shock the public by their beauty. …”

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Added on: Sep 30, 2011 | Hits: 136

“The members of Artefactum are experienced performers with musical careers which are as rich and complex as their experience of life itself, and it is this which is fundamental to understanding the pieces they create. It is impossible to transmit feelings which have not been actually experienced; emotions cannot be learnt from a musical score. The medieval era is perhaps the historical period which most personified the contrast between monastic simplicity and the picaresque flavour of life in the taverns, between the comforts of the royal courts and the penuries of the pilgrims’ route to Santiago.  Although it may seem hard to believe, all these elements and many more are present in Artefactum ...

Adolfo García“

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Added on: Mar 29, 2012 | Hits: 136

“Tinktur is a newly formed ensemble with a love of early music. We create theatrical performances for church or chamber room. The voice, lute and poetry woven together and a living history is told.

Tinktur is made ​​up of Ann-Christine Wesser Ingels (vocals), Sofia Thelin Edgren (vocals) and Fredrik Bock (lute, theorbo, etc.), all familiar faces from the Swedish music scene. All three have a classical background, but downloading is fond of inspiration from song and folk tradition ... In the theatrical process, we collaborate with registered consultants. For specific programs and performances extended ensemble with more known musicians from Sweden and Denmark.”

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Added on: Mar 24, 2012 | Hits: 135

“Modern Musick, under the artistic leadership of music director John Moran and concertmaster Risa Browder, is a baroque chamber orchestra founded in Washington, DC in January 2002.  Taking its name from an eighteenth century primer The Modern Musick-Master or the Universal Musician, Modern Musick seeks, through the immediacy of live performance, to restore a sense of newness to music of the 17th and 18th centuries.  To this end Modern Musick uses period instruments and historical performance practices as a starting point allowing the musicians the freedom to make new discoveries.  Modo (latin for “just now”), the root of the word “modern” is the perfect description for cutting edge music making of the moment.“

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Added on: Mar 02, 2012 | Hits: 134

“Carreg Lafar means 'speaking stone', an echo stone. At the forefront of the Welsh traditional music scene, the group has changed many peoples' view of traditional Welsh music with their passionate and lively performances. Through a mix of traditional and original music, Carreg Lafar presents a vibrant spirit whilst remaining rooted in the language and living tradition of Welsh song and dance music. The music is arranged for traditional and contemporary instruments including fiddle, flute, pibgorn (hornpipe), pibau (bagpipes) and guitar, together with dynamic vocals. The group has made three albums with Sain records, 'Ysbryd y Werin', 'Hyn' and 'Profiad'.”

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Added on: Mar 14, 2012 | Hits: 134

“One of few professional lute ensembles, the Venere Lute Quartet performs Renaissance and Baroque masterworks and is actively expanding the surviving lute ensemble repertoire with its own arrangements. The ensemble has performed throughout the United States and in Europe. Some appearances include the Lute Society of America, the Seattle Early Music Guild, La Guitarra California, Amherst Early Music Festival, Cambridge Society for Early Music, and the Fodella Foundation Series in Milan, Italy. Members of the Quartet are busy lute professionals in four of America's leading early music centers (Boston, New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis) who share a deep commitment to ensemble playing, lute scholarship, and audience education. “

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Added on: Mar 14, 2012 | Hits: 126

“If Wales is known as the Land of Song, the tunes have had to take a back seat until the arrival of Crasdant - the foremost instrumental band of the country.

Take four gifted instrumentalists, all with impeccable solo musical credentials, combining out of mutual respect and with a focussed aim of placing the Welsh instrumental canon alongside its Celtic brethren.

Crasdant mix the traditional harp of Wales, the unique triple harp, with flutes, fiddle, accordion, guitar and Welsh reed instrument - the pibgorn. Adding a terpsichorean spice to the mix is the flamboyant step-dancing of a champion clogger. …”

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Added on: Mar 15, 2012 | Hits: 123

“Poul Høxbro is a true pioneer in the field of music. He has been called ”the great man of small instruments” and it is true that he is quite unique in the way he has taken the medieval instrument of pipe and tabor – played simultaneously by one person – out of the shadows and into the full glare of concert platforms all over  the world.

He has performed in intimate chamber music settings, as a soloist in a contemporary Danish opera at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen, on traditional music stages, at medieval markets, and as a theatre musician. Poul Høxbro has amazed and delighted audiences with his virtuosity and lively musicality, crossing the borders of what might be expected from his ”small” instruments – instruments which, apart from pipe and tabor, include all types of historical percussion and traditional flutes. …”

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Added on: Mar 24, 2012 | Hits: 122

“Founded in the summer of 2007 by harpsichordist John Austin Clark and baroque violinist Nicolas Fortin, Bourbon Baroque is a period instrument ensemble based in Louisville, Kentucky that specializes in the historically informed performance of 17^th and 18^th century music. Through inter-related arts collaborations and with a sensitivity for the modern audience, Bourbon Baroque performs regularly throughout the year in a variety of venues, often collaborating with other transformative and innovative organizations such as Moving Collective, Choral Arts Society of Louisville, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Youth Choir, and Musica Toscana. Based on a given program, Bourbon Baroque can be heard in chamber, orchestral, and choral/operatic settings. Be a part of Louisville's new vibrant musical initiative and discover the energy and dance as the music of the Baroque resounds in our minds, bodies, and in our slow-sipped bourbon.”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 122

“Taking its name from the Italian concitare ("to incite or provoke"), Concitato electrifies listeners with insightful interpretations of rarely performed repertoire, while redefining the way audiences hear the more well-known works of the Baroque canon. Concitato tastefully combines the latest discoveries in musicological research with cutting-edge training. Founded in 2008 by violinist Joan Plana, this trio of dynamic young players—violinist Joan Plana, cellist Ezra Seltzer, and harpsichordist Jeffrey Grossman—performs a vast repertoire of diverse instrumental music from the baroque era. Concitato’s flexibility allows for the inclusion of additional musical collaborators for larger ensemble or vocal works. After a stunning Chicago début in November 2008, Concitato has performed concerts in Montreal, Cleveland, and New York. In 2009, Concitato was named a finalist of the York International Early Music Competition.“

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Added on: Mar 29, 2012 | Hits: 120

“In the summer of 2005, a few singers in the Madison Early Music Festival decided that it was a fine idea to get together and delight themselves with singing madrigals. The group's first piece—William Byrd’s “This sweet and merry month of May”, whose ending celebrated Queen Elizabeth I with the words

And greet Eliza with a rhyme:
O beauteous Queen of Second Troy,
Take well in worth a simple toy.

provided a great name for the group. Eliza’s Toyes was born, and existed every summer in Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2008, a fair number of singers who were in Eliza's Toyes are living in Madison once again. Thus we gather, outside of the Festival, for the joy of music making. It is our pleasure to continue sharing this wonderful body of music with you for the second year!”

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Added on: Mar 23, 2012 | Hits: 119

“Ghislieri Choir & Consort, Baroque ensemble in residence at the College Ghislieri, provides some of the best singers and instrumentalists Italian Baroque. Has an active project of rediscovery of the sacred choral reperorio the eighteenth century that will be released worldwide by Sony-Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.  …” (Google Translate)

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Added on: Mar 03, 2012 | Hits: 118

“Ulv is a new ensemble performing Swedish medieval ballads, folk hymns, and instrumental music from old sources.(Agnethe Christensen, voice, Baltic cittern - Lena Susanne Norin voice -  Elizabeth Gaver, medieval fiddle)

The hymns were collected in Sweden, Estonia and the Ukraine. Many of the ballads were preserved without melodies and Ulv has shaped new ones from medieval motives and other existing folk tunes.  

The Swedish medieval ballads have roots in both Icelandic mythology and the European ballad tradition. Many ballad texts have been documented without melodies and Ulv has shaped new melodies from medieval motives and other existing Swedish folk tunes that fit the surviving texts.

The Swedish folk hymns were sung both in church and at home. Some organists held the final tone of the hymn phrases so the singers could finish their own ornamented versions. At home, the hymns could be sung and ornamented without additional harmonies.”

Added on: Mar 24, 2012 | Hits: 118