EarlyMusicNews.Org

"This chapter of the Viola da Gamba Society of America (VdGSA ) is based in sunny Tucson, AZ. It was incorporated as a non-profit and tax-exempt [501 (c) 3] organization in October 2001. It pursues the same goal as its parent organization, i.e. the enjoyment of playing the viola da gamba, a musical instrument of the Renaissance period. To facilitate this goal, the VdGS - Southern AZ will conduct monthly meetings during the school season and it will organize an annual workshop."

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Added on: Sep 04, 2010 | Hits: 376

“Theresia Bothe & Peter Croton (voice, lute & guitar) have been performing together regularly since 2003. They have performed and recorded a wide variety of music ranging from the Baroque and Classical periods, to folk music, boleros, jazz standards and original songs. Their first recording, "Love Songs From Five Centuries - from Baroque to Folk" was released in 2006 by Centaur Records, their second CD "I'll sing a song for you", exclusively with songs by Peter,  was  released by Zah Zah (Guild), and their most recent CD, with special guest Derek Lee Ragin, "Remembrance of Things Past", lute songs and solos by John Dowland & Peter Croton, has been released by Guild.“

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Added on: Jun 29, 2010 | Hits: 563

“Award-winning lutenist/guitarist Peter Croton is an active performer & recording artist as soloist & accompanist. In the press he has been called a "lyric poet of the lute" and has been praised for his "extroverted virtuosity of the highest degree". His compositions for voice & lute have been described as "challenging and refined... highly suited for inclusion in today's concert repertoire". With his duo partner Theresia Bothe he has performed and recorded a wide variety of music, including many of his original songs.

Peter teaches lute, continuo, and historical performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Musikhochschule in Bern. His tutor, 'Figured Bass on the Classical Guitar - a practical approach based on historical principles', has been described by Konrad Ragossing as

"...a valuable contribution not only to the practice of  playing thoroughbass on the classical guitar, but above all to the expansion of knowledge of musical practice in a fundamental period in Western music - a  guide equally important for all guitarists, for teachers, students and concert artists".“

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Added on: Jun 29, 2010 | Hits: 476

“The Associazione Settimane Musicali di Stresa, from its beginings in 1962 until the managerial changes of 1998, is responsible for organizing the Festival bearing the same name on the banks of Lake Maggiore during the months of August and September.

In 1999, the Festival adopted the new identity Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore and increased its programming both in terms of concerts (from 16 in 1998 to 30 in 1999) and venues. New ancillary activities were introduced: promotional partnerships with other institutions and the extension of knowledge of classical music through involvement in other forms of artistic expresssion. ..“

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Added on: Jun 17, 2010 | Hits: 247

“The Hurdy-gurdy Forum was started as an online forum for hurdy-gurdy enthusiasts on the 31st of May 2006 by Scott Marshall, then a newcomer to hurdy-gurdies. Although there was an existing hurdy-gurdy mailing list in the US, Scott wanted to contact and meet players from the UK. Somehow the idea of meeting up grew into the First UK Hurdy-gurdy Festival, which took place on the 20th-22nd of April 2007 in Lancaster. Ever since the Forum has been growing and thriving, and we have new subscribers every week! It has become an important hub for friendship, discussion, resources and trade for hurdy-gurdy fans worldwide. ..“

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Added on: Jun 05, 2010 | Hits: 346

“Harp Spectrum is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization dedicated to gathering and sharing information about all kinds of harps and harp music. We are mainly composed of a group of harp players and harp music fans. Our article contributions come from harpists all over the world and we are continually seeking additional material.  ..“

There is a section on Historical Harp.

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Added on: May 04, 2010 | Hits: 345

“Robert Eisenstein is the director of the Five College Early Music Program,and conducts the Early Music Collegium and Euridice Ensemble, a 17th and18th century chamber ensemble. He teaches music history and directs the Madrigal Singers at the University of Massachusetts, and performs regularly on the viola da gamba with colleagues and in his capacity as founding member and programming director of the Folger Consort in Washington, DC. Mr.Eisenstein has performed with the New York Renaissance Band, Cappella Nova, the New York Consort of Viols, the Washington Bach Consort, and the National Symphony.“

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Added on: May 03, 2010 | Hits: 634

“Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A member for many years of the early music Ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, and is the founder of Class V Music, an
ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue and Klamath Rivers.

Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and performs now with several new groups: a medieval ensemble, Fortune's Wheel: a new music group, Ephemeros; an eclectic ethnic band, Panacea; as well as frequent collaborations with performers such as storyteller/harpist Patrick Ball, sopranos Anne Azema , Susan Rode Morris, medieval music expert Margriet Tindemans, and in many theatrical and dance productions.

She has played on several television and movie soundtracks, including 'O', amodern high school-setting of Othello. Some of her original music can be heard in an independent film about fans of the work of JRR Tolkien. The strangest place Shira has played is in the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo. She hopes to spend more time playing music of all kinds in the wilderness.“

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Added on: May 03, 2010 | Hits: 454

“ .. In 2009 Andrew  has formed and directs a revolutionary new ensemble: Consort Astræa, whose début project: "Harmonious Revolutions: Galileo & The Music of the Spheres", he created for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, during which it has seen four highly successful performances in such culturally important venues as The State Library of New South Wales (as part of the Sydney Italian Festival), The National Press Club of Australia (for the Inaugural Higher Education Conference for Universities Australia), and Elizabeth Bay House.    A 'live renaissance multimedia happening', it features music from the Galilei family & the Florentine Camerata, scripted tableaux in the form of Socratic dialogue from writings of the Galilei circle, synchronised with projection of spectacular astro-photography by Professor David Malin (discoverer of two galaxies), and was made possible with generous sponsorship from the National Academies Forum and The Royal Society of New South Wales.

 With Sydney-based soprano Anna Fraser & Melbourne-based viola da gamba virtuosa Laura Vaughan, he has also formed a trio: The Muses' Salon, introducing Australian audiences to the most enchanting & intimate chamber music of the Renaissance & Baroque periods on these rare instruments.

Andrew has taught lute performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, tutored at early music workshops around Australia, and in his private Sydney teaching practise .“

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Added on: Apr 23, 2010 | Hits: 401

“DANIEL THONON  was born in 1949, in Brussels. His father, a Jazz pianist, owns a cabarets where artists such as Léo Ferré and Georges Brassens hold concerts, as well as an art Gallery.

Daniel immigrates to Canada in 1963 and settles in Montreal, where he finishes his High School Studies. He goes on to study at McGill University at the Faculty of Music, then leaves for Switzerland, where he will study Harpsichord and Early Music at the Conservatory of Music in Geneva. Daniel Thonon then moves to Annecy, France, where he will spend the next ten years playing and producing himself in various concerts around Europe with his Early Music Group "Le Concert dans L'Oeuf". He produces four records with this group, while at the same time, researching various aspects of Musicology, Instrument building, and works for two years as a Music Therapist in a psychiatric institute. He composes and arranges various works for theatre and cinema, traditional music groups, rock, jazz, contemporary, etc.

In 1978, he goes to study music of the Arab/Andaluz tradition in Tlemcen, Algeria, and returns to Canada to settle in St-Marc-sur-Richelieu, where he now lives with his spouse and three children. Upon his return to Canada, he plays with the Ensemble Claude Gervaise for two years, then forms "Ad Vielle que Pourra", a traditional folk Music group, which will rapidly acquire international reputation. During its twelve years of existence, "Ad Vielle que Pourra" has played in hundreds of concerts each year, across North America and Europe. The group has recorded four CD's on the American Label "Green Linnet", which were sold all over the world.

After the dissolution of "Ad Vielle que Pourra" in 1999, Daniel Thonon forms the group "Montcorbier", which carries on the works of the former group. Daniel Thonon composes and arranges for other artists, tours as soloist on the accordion and baroque hurdy-gurdy, and pursues his various activities in musicology and instrument building. ..“

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Added on: Apr 23, 2010 | Hits: 432

“Fred Edelen performs throughout the US and Europe on both modern and Baroque cello as orchestral cellist, chamber musician, and recitalist.   Currently a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he was formerly cellist with the Houston Symphony and Principal Cellist of the San Antonio Symphony.  Described as a "masterful soloist"  with "astonishingly expressive style and gorgeous tone,"¹ he has appeared as soloist with the Phoenix, San Antonio, and Houston Symphony orchestras, and was a prize winner at the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition.  An avid performer on Baroque cello, Mr. Edelen studied at the Early Music Institute at Indiana University and continued his Baroque studies as a Fulbright scholar in The Hague.  He has performed with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center, and returns to the US each summer to teach and perform at the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio.”

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Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 371

“He studied with Graciela Pomponio, Dolores Costoyas and Víctor Villadangos in the Conservatorio Provincial Juan José Castro, in Buenos Aires, where he obtained his Diploma in classical guitar.

After studying in Universidad de Buenos Aires, he obtained his degree as sociologist in 1993. During the first years of his musical career, he focused mainly on 20th century music.Soon after, in 1994, he gained interest in early music, specializing on lute, theorbo, baroque guitar and thorough bass, becoming the first theorbo player in Argentina.

His continuous relationship with Eduardo Egüez, Dolores Costoyas, and Hopkinson Smith allowed him to support his own research in this field. ..”

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Added on: Apr 12, 2010 | Hits: 282

“I was born in 1983 in Israel, raised in the city of Karmiel, where I started to study Guitar with Erez Suto. Beside my late grandfather, who played the Oud, the was not much connection between my family and music. In my early twenties I relocated to the small town Kiryat-Tivon in where I still live today.

I started to learn Lute and early music and became a student of Dr. Levi Sheptovitsky and a student in Thomas Edison State College, New Jersey where I study for my B.A. in Music. My goal is to be able to teach young children on the importance of music to our life, as I came to learn and as many before me learned.


As you may already understood, I see music and art as the basic building blocks of our civilization and these building blocks must be maintained to keep the civilization alive. ..“

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Added on: Mar 30, 2010 | Hits: 421

“ .. His abiding interest in early music naturally led him to the lute.  His primary area of performance is in the baroque lute, especially very late music in the classical style.  Wilke is also one of the few performers who concentrates on solo music for the theorbo.  His album on Centaur Records of Charles Hurel’s suites for the instrument was the debut recording of this music and remains one of only a handful of solo theorbo recordings available.  Today Wilke is pursuing his doctorate in early music at the Eastman School of Music with Paul O'Dette.

Wilke performs widely, having given solo recitals in Italy and Germany as well as throughout the United States.  He has done live on-air performances and interviews for WGUC, WNKU and WVXU radio stations.  Selections from his Hurel album were featured on NPR's national early music show, Sunday Morning Baroque. Wilke recently performed for the Lute Society of America's "Emerging Artist Series" at the 2009 Boston Early Music Festival.“

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Added on: Mar 19, 2010 | Hits: 394

“ .. Véronique’s repertoire extends from the 13th to the 18th century.

 As Professor of harp and early music at the Ivry-sur-Seine and Palaiseau Conservatories and the Center of Medieval Music in Paris, Véronique teaches a variety of classes: modern and early harps, Chamber Music and Early Improvisation.

She is also particularly interested in the repertoire, history and organologie of harps and has presented papers on these subjects at conferences.  Most recently she presented her findings on Bray Pins at the Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology in Paris in October 2009.

Véronique is also very interested in Contrapunto alla werke Polyphonic Improvisation and organizes courses and workshops on this. ..“

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Added on: Mar 19, 2010 | Hits: 403

“

Susan King followed her passion for the music of this unique and lovely instrument from her home in Australia to the other side of the world. Today she lives in Paris, where she’s realising her dream of performing the original manuscripts written for the French Baroque lute at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles.

Whether  through intimate home concerts or private lessons, Susan aspires to introduce people to the quietly uplifting sound of her beautiful lute.“

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Added on: Mar 19, 2010 | Hits: 392

“Alfonso Marin began his musical studies in the “Conservatorio Superior de Tenerife” (Spain), and afterwards in the “Conservatorium van Amsterdam” were he continued his classical guitar and vihuela studies under Lex Eisenhardt.

From 1998 he devoted himself entirely to the study of early plucked instruments as the lute, theorbo and vihuela, continuing his studies in the same conservatory for five more years with the lutenist Fred Jacobs. ..

His collaboration with the soprano Valeria Mignaco is one of his most rewarding and fruitful musical activities, having performed with her in numerous recitals and festivals in Holland, Germany, England, Belgium and Spain. ..”

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Added on: Dec 27, 2009 | Hits: 342

“ As early as during his studies he was awarded several prizes in guitar contests. He won the first prize in the national guitar competition in Kutná Hora with a special award for interpretation of Baroque music. He studied guitar at Prof. Stanislav Juřica at the Conservatory of Pardubice in 1993. He continued in the same class studying lute and finished his studies giving a graduate’s concert in Hradec Králové in June 1999.

These days he works as a director of Art and Music School in Havlíčkův Brod. He gives solo concerts and participates as a lutenist in various chamber choirs (LA VIA Přibyslav, Musica Fresca etc.). When interpreting Renaissance and Baroque songs accompanied by lute, he cooperates with the sopranos Jana Nováková, Helena Pellarová, Anna Hamadová (SK) and the mezzo-soprano Pavla Fendrichová. He organizes educative concerts called‚ Lute presents itself‘ for schoolchildren and students. He has participated in the audio recording The Country of singing (children’s choir, lute) and two multimedia CDs of the company Fenomen multimedia a.s. (1999-2005). German, Swiss, Slovenian and American audiences have had a chance to appreciate his mastery over and over again.

He takes an active part in senior courses in the guitar festivals in Mikulov (in the classes of e.g. P.Steidl, L. Witoszynský, J. Wagner), in Valtice (in the English lutenist B. Wright’s class) and in Slovenia (A. Kröper). He has gained valuable experience at the interpretation course of the Japanese lute-player S. Noiri. He was graduated from Academy of Old-time Music by the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University in Brno, in Miloslav Študent’s lute class.  ..“

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Added on: Dec 27, 2009 | Hits: 453

“Thierry MEUNIER and Jean-Marie POIRIER both studied plucked instruments (lute, baroque guitar, vihuela) and early music under Javier HINOJOSA. At the same time, they followed courses with other world famous specialists, Hopkinson SMITH and Paul O'DETTE. Moreover, their research in major libraries allow them to add a good deal of unpublished material to their repertoire. ..“

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Added on: Nov 23, 2009 | Hits: 408

“Born in 1963 at Lignières in Central France, Gilles Chabenat began playing the hurdy-gurdy at 13 with Les Thiaulins, an association devoted to folk arts and traditions. Following private lessons with Georges Simon, he won several music awards and subsequently devoted himself to his region’s traditional repertoire with a desire to branch out into other musical styles.

In the wake of Valentin Clastrier, he thus felt the need to reinvent the instrument and the playing techniques associated with it. Around that time and after several years of research, luthier Denis Siorat developed a contemporary-style electro-acoustic instrument which facilitated the integration of the hurdy-gurdy into the modern musical experience.

In 1992, Gilles Chabenat thus began a twelve-year partnership with the Corsican group I Muvrini. During that period, he met and worked with a number of artists : Véronique Sanson, Florent Pagny, Stephan Eicher, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Sting, as well as Frédéric Paris, Edouard Papazian, Alain Bonnin, and Gabriel Yacoub.
More recently, he has been collaborating with jazz musicians such as Vincent Mascart, Jacques Mahieux, Alain Bruel, Alain Gibert, and Jean-Marc Padovani in a number of creative works, including a theatrical reading of Enzo Corman.  In addition, his hurdy-gurdy can be heard in a Jannick Top composition written for Pierre Jolivet’s film « Le Frère du Guerrier ».  He also works regularly with Eric Montbel, Didier François, a Nyckelharpa player, Gabriel Yacoub and Patrick Bouffard. ..“

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Added on: Sep 20, 2009 | Hits: 286

“"Grey Aengus" is Jim Petersen

Rewind back to 1990, early fall. It's nighttime at a buckskinner's camp. Jim and a
small group are gathered around the warmth of the campfire singing songs and
carrying on. A stranger pulls a most unusual-looking instrument from its case,
attaches a single leg to the back, and, balancing it on his knees, proceeds to
produce the most hauntingly beautiful tunes by hammering its strings with what
appear to be little wooden spoons. This was Jim's introduction to the hammered
dulcimer, an instrument that would soon become an obsession.

Upon researching the instrument and finding out how much one would cost, Jim
decided that building one would be the better option. Proceeding with plans by
Sam Rizzetta acquired at the local library, armed only with ninth-grade
woodworking skills and very few tools, he built his first instrument. (Hey, nobody
told him he couldn't do it.)

Three years later after teaching himself to play (hey, nobody told him he couldn't
do it), he was hired at the "Bristol Renaissance Faire" in southeastern Wisconsin.
It was there that he taught himself to play mandolin and later hurdy-gurdy. (By
now you would think somebody would have told him he couldn't do it.)

"Grey Aengus" now plays at many little weekend "Renaissance Faires" throughout
the Midwest, occasionally doing studio work for other musicians and playing for
special events and gatherings. His repertoire is heavily laced with the
compositions of Turlough O'Carolan, the renowned 17th century blind Irish
harper, his absolute favorite composer, followed closely by Robert Burns the
well-known Scottish poet. (go ahead ask him).

Jim also plays the hurdy-gurdy and has recently renewed his high school romance
with the guitar, working on developing a small repertoire of traditional
Irish/Scottish/Celtic songs. Jim's thought on the idea is "Hey, you don't really
need a good voice to sing 'Trad'. Besides, nobody told me I couldn't do it."“

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Added on: Sep 20, 2009 | Hits: 615

“I have been making Hurdy Gurdies for over 20 years. They are all hand built in my workshop.  ..“

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Added on: Jul 29, 2009 | Hits: 301

“Their musical complicity has been compared to the skill of two trapeze artists or the telepathic communion of a pair of jazz saxophonists! Susie Napper and Margaret Little, the two gambists of Les Voix humaines, have been thrilling audiences worldwide with dashing performances of early and contemporary music for viols since 1985. They are renowned for their spectacular arrangements of a wide variety of music for two viols and have become a world reference for the music of Sainte-Colombe. After being awarded a Diapason d'Or for their fourth volume of Sainte-Colombe's Concerts a deux violes esgales, they just received the Opus Award 2007 for PERFORMER OF THE YEAR from the Conseil québécois de la musique.

Les Voix humaines has invited prestigious artists to join them in concert and recordings, such as Wieland and Barthold Kuijken, Charles Daniels, Suzie LeBlanc, Rinat Shaham, Matthew White, Eric Milnes, Skip Sempe and Stephen Stubbs. The duo is regularly joined by some of Montreal’s finest young gambists to form the Voix Humaines Consort of viols specializing in the vast 17th-century repertoire for viol consort and presents joint projects with Les Voix baroques (Matthew White’s vocal ensemble). ..“

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 555

Baroque string ensemble.

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 283

“Rob MacKillop - Rob has recorded seven CDs of historical music, three of which reached the Number One position in the Scottish Classical Music Chart. In 2001 he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for his research into medieval Scottish music, which led him to studying with Sufi musicians in Istanbul and Morocco. He broadcast an entire solo concert on BBC Radio 3 from John Smith's Square, London. He has presented academic papers at conferences in Portugal and Germany, and has been published many times. Rob has been active in both historical and contemporary music. Three of Scotland's leading contemporary composers have written works for him, and he also composes new works himself. In 2004 he was Composer in Residence for Morgan Academy in Dundee, and in 2001 was Musician in Residence for Madras College in St Andrews. He created and Directed the Dundee Summer Music Festival. He works as a Reader of schools literature for Oxford University Press, and as a reviewer for Music Teacher. He has also been Lecturer in Scottish Musical History at Aberdeen University, Dundee University (where he created an evening class), and at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He is presently Musician In Residence to Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. ..“

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Added on: Jul 25, 2009 | Hits: 386