EarlyMusicNews.Org

“

The American lutenist Paul Beier graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, where he inherited a passion for research into early performance practices from his teacher, Diana Poulton.

He has performed throughout Europe, Australia, North and South America with a solo repertoire extending from the early Sixteenth Century to the music of Bach and Weiss. Founder and director of  Galatea, he collaborates with many baroque music groups and has taken part in productions of early opera in theaters such as La Scala, Milan and the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico

 He has recorded for labels such as Opus 111, Stradivarius, Glossa, Cantus, Synfonia, Nuova Era, Tactus, Amadeus and Concerto.  His CDs (10 solo lute recordings and 4 as director of Galatea) have been received very well; some of them earned important recognition such as Disque du Mois of Répertoire, 5 Diapason, 5 stars of Goldberg, etc.

In 1981 he was invited to create the lute program at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan,Italy, where he also teaches basso continuo and Renaissance ensemble. A founding member of the Italian Lute Society, he is a consulting editor of the Lute Society of America Journal.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2009 | Hits: 312

“Robert Barto graduated from the University of California, San Diego, having specialised in historical lute performance. A Fulbright scholarship brought him to Europe, where he continued his studies with Michael Schaeffer in Cologne and Eugen Dombois in Basle.

In 1984, he was awarded first prize at the International Lute Competition in Toronto, as well as top prize in a competition of all the instrumental soloists at the Musica Antiqua Competition in Bruges, Belgium.

Robert Barto has performed throughout Europe and North America, including solo recitals in the Festival of Flanders, London's Purcell Room, the Utrecht Festival and the "Music Before 1800" event in New York City. In 2000 he gave solo performances at the Lufthansa Baroque Festival in London, Bavarian Radio's Bach Night in Munich and presented a special tribute to Silvius Leopold Weiss for the city of Dresden.

Robert Barto's five volumes of baroque lute sonatas by Silvius Leopold Weiss and 2 CDs of the complete solo works of Joachim Bernhard Hagen have met with great enthusiasm from critics and the public alike.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2009 | Hits: 311

"Graduated in Viola da Gamba under the guide of Maestro Paolo Pandolfo, it has been perfected in Viola da Gamba following the courses of Jordi Savall in Italy and Spain and baroque Violoncello following the course of Gaetano Nasillo in the School of Music of Fiesole. With Viola da Gamba, from 1992, he has carried out an intense concert activity (124 concerts) in Italy and to the foreign country. It has collaborated with prestigious groups exhibiting himself in very many Italian localities and to the word like as an example to Vienna (Musikverein - Brahms Saal) in Austria, Copenaghen and Odense in Denmark, Sydney in Australia, Saint Cruz and Seattle in U.S.A., Belgrade (Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts) in Serbia, Hamburg (Musikhalle - Study E), Kiel and Wolfsburg in Germany, Hong Kong in China, etc. In Italy it has played with several ensemble and as soloist in most important reviews and seasons of concert like as an example to Udine where, for the season of the "Amici della Musica", it has executed a program for Viola da Gamba in billboard, between the others, with Trevor Pinnoc. With the vocal group and instrumental "Rinascenza" of Rome, in 1993, it has gained the First Absolute Prize of the T.I.M. (International Torneo of Music). In 1995 he has been soloist in the" Johannes Passion " by J.S.Bach with the Regional Orchestra of the Lazio and the Markuschor of Munchen directed by H.Boenstedt . He has recorded for the Radio Vatican and has recorded for RAI and Channel 5. Often it is exhibited from soloist or in pair with the harpsichord with programs in which it inserts all the main composers who wrote for this instrument from Ortiz to Forqueray. He has recorded 6 Compact Disc. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 29, 2008 | Hits: 305

“John Mark Rozendaal specializes in teaching and performing stringed instrument music from the Baroque and Renaissance eras. As founding Artistic Director of Chicago Baroque Ensemble, JMR performed and led seven seasons of subscription concerts, educational programs, radio broadcasts, and recordings for the Cedille and Centaur labels. Rozendaal served as principal 'cellist of The City Musick, and Basically Bach, and has performed both solo and continuo roles with many period instrument ensembles, including the Newberry Consort, Orpheus Band, and the King's Noyse. Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, the Catacoustic Consort, Philomel, Parthenia, The New York Consort of Viols, and Empire Viols.  JMR performs as a member of Trio Settecento with violinist Rachel Barton Pine and harpsichordist David Schrader. Rozendaal's viola da gamba playing has been praised as "splendid" (Chicago Tribune), and "breathtaking" (Sun-Times).  Recordings are available on the Cedille and Centaur labels. ..“ Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2009 | Hits: 302

Cyril Gilbert, Lutenist. Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 296

"I would like again to mention the wonderful support that both the American and English Gamba Societies have given to the Czech Society. Without their practical support in supplying music and strings especially, the growth that has taken place over the last thirteen years would probably not have happened. Poppy Holden also brought several instruments here in her Prague Van Project in the early 90s. Gerda Toerring also generously lent us two instruments. A further bass and treble were made at the making Course given by Michael Plant. ... (see further editorial notes on the website ed.)"

Added on: Aug 05, 2007 | Hits: 294

“Tanya Tomkins, a virtuoso on both the Baroque and modern cello, is equally at home playing a Bach cello suite in an intimate house concert or anchoring the cello section of the internationally renowned Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra on concert stages around the world. NRC Handelsblad (The Netherlands) describes her as “a cellist with a very special and unusual intensity,” and the Cleveland Plain Dealer calls her "a performer who combines an intense dramatic fire with Apollonian poise.”

Added on: Jan 22, 2011 | Hits: 294

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

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 29, 2009 | Hits: 293

"Musician, gamba-player, has played music as long as she can think. For her, music is the foremost means of communication between human beings, more precise and intense and unmistakable than language, of greater emotional significance than any other experience besides love. To her, music is a means of connecting not only the past and the future but also a way of socially integrating the most conflicting aspects of existence.

She travels the world, playing concerts and recording CDs with different groups or soloizing, mostly in the field of 17th and 18th century music but also letting the music take her to places she never even dreamed of.

When she is not travelling she lives in a farmhouse in northern Germany with her family and a few chickens, horses, cats and rabbits.

She passionately teaches her twelve students at the Hochschule der Künste in Bremen, Germany, everything she knows about music, playing the gamba, and how not to be jealous if someone plays better than you. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 04, 2008 | Hits: 292

“I am a viol player and teacher based on the South Cumbria/North Lancashire border. I travel all over the North West of England performing and teaching - both private pupils and also viol consort coaching. Performing can either be as a soloist or as a bass continuo player.

I am also a renaissance and baroque dancer and am much in demand as a dance teacher and choreographer. My particular interest is the relationship between the dance and music.

In addition to the teaching already mentioned I lecture for adult education classes, run early music workshops, teach recorders and present Tudor workshops for schools. ..“ Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2009 | Hits: 291

“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. ..“

 Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Sep 20, 2009 | Hits: 281

Baroque string ensemble.

Visit site for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 277

“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. ..”

Visit website for more details. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 12, 2010 | Hits: 275

"I am mainly interested in the so called "art music". I still keep my ears open to other genres, too. I play different types of European lutes; late renaissance and early baroque are closest to my heart. The most interesting period for me is around year 1600 - the time when late renaissance turned into early baroque. The extreme time limits for the types of lutes I play are 1500-1750. Well, sometimes I break these limits, though... ;-)

I especially enjoy playing continuo (improvising harmonic texture on a written bass line, an example ) for a singer or a melody instrument player. That's why I wrote 1994 a small manual for those, who want to start this tremendous art: Basics of the basics of lute continuo. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2008 | Hits: 273

“Founded in 1886, the EAP is one of the few large plucked ensembles  in Europe. There are 50 amateur musicians divided into four panels (1st mandolins, 2nd mandolins, guitars and mandoles) plus mandocellos, the bass and flute.

The band plays mostly original compositions (Vivaldi, Calace, Wolke, Kuwahara, Mandonico ...) but the repertoire also includes transcriptions of major classical works (opera overtures, concertos ...). In June 2009, the orchestra played transcriptions of Bach and Handel in the “Passe ton Bach d’abord !” …” 

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jan 11, 2012 | Hits: 271

Hurdy gurdy performer.

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jan 28, 2011 | Hits: 267

“Patrick O'Brien is an American guitarist and lutenist born in New York. He is a recording artist, but is best known as a pedagogue in the field of Early plucked instruments in America, and expert in musicians' hand anatomy. He has worked with musicians on many instruments, reworking their technique around repetitive stress injuries and breakdowns of coordination. …”

Patrick O’Brien may also be found on the Early Guitars and Vihuelas website.

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Sep 17, 2011 | Hits: 263

“… A desire to write music, thwarted by a distrust of institutionalized new music, was temporarily appeased by an additional curriculum of music theory. He worked together with the composer Richard Cornell, who encouraged him to write his own pieces. He passed both courses of study with ‘Magna Cum Laude’ distinctions. Subsequently he studied privately with the lutenist Steve Stubbs in Europe.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

In 1984 Lee Santana moved to Germany where he still lives as a free-lancing lute-player and composer. In the course of the years he has had the honour to perform with numerous very good ensembles as well as with interesting directors and soloists. He is active as a soloist  and as duo partner of the gambist Hille Perl. Together they founded the trio LOS OTROS with Steve Player and the quartet THE AGE OF PASSIONS with Petra Müllejans and Karl Kaiser. He also plays in Hille’s ensemble ‘Sirius Viols’. All these projects, as well as programs of his own music have been documented on numerous CDs.

After  three futile years teaching at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Lee Santana is back full force on the concert circuit and in the recording studio. Several highlights this year include a new solo CD entitled „Pentagram“ with works of Bach, Vallet and Santana, as well as his first ECM recording with the legendary Manfred Eicher. He will  also have the honour of accompanying his daughter Marthe Perl on her final exam.

When he is not touring he is hiding out with his family on an old farm somewhere in northern Germany.

Added on: Apr 24, 2011 | Hits: 252

“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. ..“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 17, 2010 | Hits: 244

“Welcome to The Marais Project www site.  I founded The Marais Project in 2000 to perform the complete works of Marin Marais in the unique context of 21st century Australia.  Over the years our repertoire has greatly expanded and now includes a huge range of wonderful vocal and instrumental music for the viola da gamba from the 1400's to the present.  We also commission and arrange new music for the ensemble.  Concert tickets and copies of our CDs are available from this site using Paypal.  You will also find reviews, articles, interesting links and past programs.

I hope that you enjoy the site and that you can come to our concerts.  Thanks for visiting.

Jenny Eriksson
Founder and Director”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jan 15, 2012 | Hits: 243

"The LGS is a lute and early guitar society with members in Japan and abroad.

The LGS has a newsletter, Nostalgia, appearing four times a year both in Japanese and in English.

The LGS organises concerts and workshops in Japan. It imports instruments and gut strings for its Japanese members and publishes cds and music for all. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 231

“Richard Gwilt is well established as one of Europe's better-known baroque violinists (London Baroque) and teachers (Hochschule für Musik, Köln). Born and educated in Edinburgh, he has degrees in music from the University of Birmingham, and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), U.S.A. While at Birmingham, he studied violin with Orrea Pernel. He started playing the baroque violin in 1980 while at the University of Michigan, and on returning to England in 1983 joined the mainstream of the English period instrument performing scene.

He has played and recorded with many orchestras, including the English Concert with Trevor Pinnock, the Academy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood, the English Baroque Soloists with John Eliot Gardiner, and the London Classical Players with Roger Norrington. He has also worked with many orchestras in Europe, including Anima Eterna with Jos von Immerseel and La Chapelle Royale with Philippe Herreweghe.

It is, however, as a chamber musician that Richard Gwilt has built his reputation. He has been a member of London Baroque since 1984, and has worked with numerous chamber ensembles throughout Europe. He has performed in most of the major chamber music concert halls (including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in London and the Alice Tully Hall in New York) as well as other venues throughout Europe, Japan and the Americas. He has also made frequent radio and television performances, and recorded over thirty CDs, as both chamber musician and soloist.

A recent expansion of his chamber music activities has been the formation of the ensemble, Arcomelos, with violinist Irmgard Schaller and cellist Sibylle Huntgeburth.

In addition to his work as a chamber musician, Richard Gwilt also works as a conductor and musical director, and is very active as a teacher. As conductor and musical director, he has worked among others with the Remix Baroque Ensemble in Porto (Portugal) with Concerto Armonico in Freiburg, and with the Altemusik ensemble in the Musikhochschule in Köln.  …”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Sep 07, 2011 | Hits: 223

“François Joubert-Caillet studied viola da gamba with Paolo Pandolfo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basle, Switzerland).
 
He plays with La Cappella Mediterranea, Ensemble Clematis (Leonardo Garcia Alarcon), La Chapelle Rhénane (Benoît Haller), Mare Nostrum (Andrea de Carlo), and Paolo Pandolfo with whom he records for Glossa, Ambronay, K617, ZigZag Territoires and Ricercar.
 
He won the 1st Prize and the Public Prize at Bruges International Early Music Ensemble Competition and is invited to give concerts, recitals, and masterclasses in Europe, Asia and South America.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Sep 30, 2011 | Hits: 215

“The Greater Washington Baltimore Chapter of the Viola da Gamba Society of America is an organization dedicated to raising the profile of viola da gamba music and education in the DC/Baltimore area.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Tags: VdGSA Greater Washington/Baltimore Chapter

Added on: Jan 15, 2012 | Hits: 214

“Why 'Edo Land'? Because my name is Edo. Well, actually it's Ed but Japanese people pronounce it as Edo. Edo is also the old name for Tokyo and I've lived in the Tokyo area since 1982. Finally, Edo is the name of the period 1600-1850 when Japanese culture blossomed and reached the masses, a Japanese Renaissance. I'm very interested in the European Renaissance and its music. How's that for a tenuous connection?

Here you will find information about my musical activities, my family, a page of musical jokes and interesting/useful links. I like to compose many styles of music, sing, play guitar (electric and acoustic), Renaissance & Baroque lute, archlute, Baroque guitar and of course, use my computer to play synthesizers and create and edit music. (You can see a sample of my Lute CD). 

Of particular interest for lutenists are the interviews found on the “Lute Information and Resources” page.“

View website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2011 | Hits: 213