EarlyMusicNews.Org

"Inspired by the renowned chapel choirs of the Renaissance, Pomerium revives the golden age of a cappella singing. The ensemble, featuring some of the finest singers in the country and acclaimed for its luminous sound, performs frequently in New York—at such venues as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Frick Collection, and Music Before 1800—as well as across the USA and abroad. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 481

"Hailed as "a golden soprano" by the New York Times, Jolle Greenleaf has established herself as a leading specialist in repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. She completed her Master’s degree at the Mannes College of Music, and soon after received the coveted Beebe Fellowship to study at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands. Upon returning to New York, Ms. Greenleaf has built a career performing with illustrious period instrument conductors such as Martin Gester, Bernard LaBadie, Ton Koopman, Andrew Parrott, John Scott, and Jeannette Sorrell. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 470

"Charites is a trio committed to the works of early women composers and poets, bringing their music to life through bold, historically-informed performances and period gesture. The members of Charites are equally entrenched in scholarship and performance and seek to blur the lines between these two arenas. Founded in 2006, Charites has performed throughout the New York area, at venues like the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Bartholemew's Church, Columbia University, and the CUNY Graduate Center. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 540

"Regarded for over two decades as one of the world's finest countertenors, Drew Minter grew up as a boy treble in the Washington Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. He continued his education at Indiana University and the Musik Hochschule of Vienna. Minter has appeared in leading roles with the opera companies of Brussels, Toulouse, Boston, Washington, Santa Fe, Wolf Trap, Glimmerglass, and Nice, among others. A recognized specialist in the works of Handel, he performed frequently at the Handel festivals of Göttingen, Halle, Karlsruhe, Maryland. He has sung with many of the world's leading baroque orchestras, including Les Arts Florissants, the Handel and Haydn Society, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester, and as a guest at festivals such as Tanglewood, Ravinia, Regensburg, BAM's Next Wave, Edinburgh, Spoleto, and Boston Early Music; other orchestra credits include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Minter is a founding member of the Newberry Consort and sings and plays early harps regularly with TREFOIL, My Lord Chamberlain's Consort, ARTEK, and the Folger Consort. Mr. Minter has made over 50 recordings on Harmonia Mundi, Decca/London, Newport Classics, Hungaroton and others. He appears in two films as Tolomeo in Peter Sellars's "Giulio Cesare" and as the Devil in "In the Symphony of the World; a Portrait of Hildegard of Bingen". He writes regularly for Opera News.

Drew Minter is also a lauded stage director. He began as director of the operas at the Gottingen Handel Festival for five years, directing period baroque productions. Since then he has directed productions in many styles for the Opéra de Marseilles, Caramoor, the Boston Early Music Festival, Lake George Opera, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Handel and Haydn, Boston's Opera Aperta, the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, Boston University’s Opera Institute, Amherst Early Music, the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, the Five Colleges in Northampton, Tempesta di Mare and Cleveland's Apollo's Fire. This past year he was named artistic director of Boston Midsummer Opera, which presented its first season in August 2006.

In addition to numerous workshops in the vocal and dramatic performance of baroque music, Mr. Minter teaches voice at Vassar College, where he also directs the Vassar Opera Workshop and conducts the Vassar Madrigal Singers. He has taught since 1989 at the Amherst Early Music Institute. He sings between thirty and fifty concerts each season with a variety of early music groups. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 05, 2008 | Hits: 419

"Harmonia Vocal Quartet performs a wide range of music, with a repertoire that ranges from Gregorian chant and early polyphony to Baroque and classical works, madrigals, and contemporary sacred and liturgical music of merit. We are perhaps best known for our performance of Renaissance works by Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria, Tallis, and Byrd.

Formed in 2002, HVQ is based in Knoxville, Tenn., and has sung in Germany, Austria, New York, North Carolina, and throughout East Tennessee. Current members are soprano Maria Rist, mezzo-soprano Mary C. Weaver, tenor Keith Murray, and (depending on their availability) baritones Kenneth Parsons and David Ensley.

The quartet is available for weddings, concerts, special occasions, and religious services in Tennessee and surrounding states. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 02, 2008 | Hits: 411

"Mark Crayton performs on concert stages and in opera houses throughout the United States and Europe, and his extensive repertoire includes a wide variety of works. Mark Crayton created the role of the First Minstrel in The Holland Festival’s production of Peter Onnes’ opera/theatre piece Pantagruel et Gargantua. This role was specifically written for Mark Crayton. In 2003, Mark Crayton was invited by the composer Philip Glass and the Tony Award director Mary Zimmerman to sing in the world premiere performances of Glass’ opera Galileo Galilei in Chicago, New York City and London. Soon thereafter, Mr Crayton was chosen by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb to sing the role of Louis Perch in their new musical, The Visit, starring Chita Rivera, at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre; discussions are now under way for a possible New York production as well as a production in Washington, DC. The 2006-07 season began for Mark Crayton with a New York City appearance on The Phoenix Concert Series featuring new music for two countertenors and piano, with colleagues Daniel Gundlach and James Janssen. Subsequently, Mr Crayton was heard in concert with fortepianist James Janssen for Ars Musica Chicago at the DePaul University Art Museum. Later in the season, Mr Crayton made his debut with the Seattle Opera as Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare - the same opera in which Mark Crayton made his San Diego Opera debut in 2006. Highlights of this season’s appearances include a return to the Phillips Collection in a recital of Italian secular cantatas, a return to Raleigh/Durham to sing G F Handel’s Messiah at the Duke Chapel, a recital/masterclass at Butler University, Messiah with the Chicago Chorale, Carmina Burana with the Fargo-Morehead Symphony, Chichester Psalms with the Sheboygan Symphony, as well as masterclasses in London. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 31, 2008 | Hits: 491

"Il Concento Ecclesiastico is an ensemble devoted to choral music operating in Genoa (Italy) from 1995 under the direction of Luca Franco Ferrari. The repertoire is mainly, but not only, based on baroque music performed according to philological criteria as regards both the interpretation and the use of original instruments. Il Concento Ecclesiastico uses to propose to the audience, among others, compositions of Italian musicians seldom performed or which have never been performed in modern age. "

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 30, 2008 | Hits: 348

"Mixed chamber choir Cantio antiqua Praha was establish in the end of 80's by ex-members of student choir Cantus semper vivus, which was run by Grammar school Budejovicka in Prague 4 and which was conducted by Mrs. Vera Jankovicova. In the present structure Cantio antiqua Praha performs from cca 1999.

Cantio antiqua Praha is mainly concentrate on renaissance and early baroque polyphonic music. The repertoire is build from up to octovoiced secular and sacred vocal works from Italian, French, British, German and Spanish composers. The independent part of our repertoire are Christmas songs, which represent character of this music in Bohemia and Moravia from beginning of 15th century until works of early baroque composers.

Cantio antiqua Praha's chamber cast (four sopranos, one mezzo-soprano, three altos, one tenor and one bass) enables to approach to period interpretative practise, when every voice went about perhaps only one singer or instrumentalist. Cantio antiqua Praha occasionally collaborate with instrumentalists who play recorders, lutes, guitars, stringed instruments or harpsichords. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 30, 2008 | Hits: 767

"Altus Vocare is a project that initially started as an Early Music chamber ensemble. It underwent some drastic changes early on and transitioned into a strong a capella trio. The trio had almost immediate success. The trio went on hiatus while individual members worked on solo projects.

The trio has now reformed Altus Vocare and it is back in rehearsal. The trio performs public and private concerts is now available for hire for your private or corporate event. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 25, 2008 | Hits: 278

"Grayson is a soloist and member of various ensembles, holding degrees in vocal performance, 19th Century English Literature, Painting and Printmaking. Having studied at many institutions including Indiana University, University of Montevallo, International Baroque Institute at Longy and the Vancouver Early Music Programme at the School of Music, University of British Columbia, this brilliant musician has brought her skill and expertise in her performances to audiences in the United States and Canada. Plans are currently in progress to expand to venues in Scotland in the next year.

Although extremely versatile, Grayson specialises in the German repertoire of the Romantic and Early Music periods. Grayson's tone is lovely, deep, resonant, and round, with a very low range that extends up 3 octaves. The warmth and timbre of Grayson's voice is extremely well suited for instrumental chamber music with solo voice, cantatas, oratorios, and one-on-a-part vocal ensembles. Grayson has regularly performed Bach and various other cantatas and oratorios as a soloist. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 25, 2008 | Hits: 280

"... During the Early Music Days in Sopron (Hungary, 1990) I attended classes of baroque singing held by Guy de Mey. I became completely passionate in baroque music, but there was no opportunity in Moscow to study thoroughly baroque singing. As I could not continue my education in European institutes, specialized in early music, I tried to learn as much as possible by listening records of the famous baroque performers, by talking and collaborating with a very few number of Moscow baroque instrumentalists with European education (and with prof. Tatiana Zenaishvili particularly), and by my own intuition.

In March 2000 I studied the Telemann vocal style with prof. Barbara Schlick and prof. Hermann Max at the 3rd Telemann Academy (Magdeburg). In June 2001 I was an active participant of the vocal courses held at the Moscow Conservatoire by prof. Sabine Kaipainen.

Between 1991 and 1995 I was soloist of the early music ensemble "Pratum Musicum". Since then I collaborate with such musicians as Tatiana Zenaishvili (harpsichord, organ), Tatiana Andrianova (organ), Antonio Gramschi (recorders), Svetlana Sheveleva (recorders), Vadim Krasnov (lute), with the Chamber Orchestra of the Moscow State University. Recently two new early music ensembles were founded by me and my musical friends: "Opella Lauta" and "La Squadriglia".

My repertoire includes a range of late renaissance and baroque songs and cantatas, some of them performed for the first time in Russia: "Leçons de Ténèbres" by François Couperin, Alessandro Scarlatti's Stabat Mater, solo cantatas by Nicolas Bernier, sacred music of Johann Rosenmüller among them could be mentioned. Apart from early music I like very much to sing Mozart, Schubert, Rachmaninov, of late I sing also Russian romances from the manuscript of the 19th c. (1833) with Vladimir Markushevitch (Russian guitar). " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 24, 2008 | Hits: 394

"In 2006, Romain Bischoff has brought together a unique group of professional singers: five soloists, each with his or her own colour and personality, reflecting the eloquent and versatile character of Compagnie Bischoff.

Compagnie Bischoff is a vocal quintet that combines the most recent and the most ancient polyphonic music in its programmes: from Ars Nova to Adriaansz. Leaving specialisms behind, the ensemble aims at a musical dialogue within the rich vocal repertoire of seven centuries.

The Compagnie has found its own esthetics in the characteristics of the individual singers, and uses these in unexpected metamorphoses and combinations, ranging from solo and duet to quintet.

Compagnie Bischoff made its debut during the Holland Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht in August 2006, in two concerts in Vredenburg. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 16, 2008 | Hits: 343

"La Trulla de Bozes was founded in 1998 by Carlos Sandúa to explore and perform the renaissance and early baroque Spanish polyphonic vocal repertoire.

After a first establishment period, in the year 2000 La Trulla de Bozes attracted the attention of the European environment specialized in early music when they obtained the first prize in the noted competition for ensembles of the XXXVII Festival Van Vlaanderen in Brugge. During the same year the group was named Revelation Ensemble after winning The International Young Artists Presentation/Early Music in Antwerp becoming the only Spanish group that have obtained these prizes.

The standard staff of the group is formed by five singers and one organist/harpsichordist. The group can increase the number of singers and instrumentalists according with the repertoire demands. All members of the ensemble are thoroughly familiarized with the performance practice of the early music, having worked individually with the finest groups specialised in this field, such as Les Arts Florissants (William Christie), La Capilla Reial de Catalunya (Jordi Savall), Ensemble Elyma, (Gabriel Garrido), Les musiciens du Louvre (Mark Minkovski), Al ayre español (Eduardo López-Banzo)… "

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 15, 2008 | Hits: 464

"The Brabant Ensemble was founded in 1998 to explore the neglected repertory of sacred music in the period 1520-1560.

The group takes its name from the Duchy of Brabant, an area of the Low Countries that now forms part of the southern Netherlands and northern Belgium. Many of the greatest composers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries emanated from Brabant and its neighbouring areas, controlled at that time by the Dukes of Burgundy; it is the music of such composers as Nicolas Gombert, Orlande de Lassus and Josquin Desprez that forms the core of the group's repertoire." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 15, 2008 | Hits: 427

"LA VENEXIANA is today the most important madrigal group actually in activity. In styling to the anonymous renassaince comedy from it’s named , LA VENEXIANA aims to incorporate into its musical interpretation the theatrically, attention to language in all of its subtlety, and exultation of contrasts between refined and popular, sacred and profane, that characterize our culture today.

Since the beginning of 1998 LA VENEXIANA collaborates only with the Spanish label GLOSSA. The first fruit of this new relationship, the Terzo libro di Madrigali by Sigismondo D’India, has won the prestigious Diapason D’Or of the French review Diapason. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 12, 2008 | Hits: 424

"Complesso Polifonico Ghirlanda Musicale was founded in Bergamo, Italy, in 1987, under the guidance of Marco Maisano. It currently includes about thirty members, who study and divulge the sacred and profane renaissance polyphony, the sacred choral literature of the baroque period, and a few significant elements of the modern repertoire. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 07, 2008 | Hits: 380

" The Coro Dell'Aventino belongs to the Musical Association “ROMAinCANTO”, and was founded with the aim of studying and performing masterpieces of Italian and foreign composers of sacred music, with a special predilection for the authors of the XVII and the XVIII centuries. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 363

"The choral society Quadriclavio, founded in 1995 by Francesco Scognamiglio and since 1998 conducted by Lorenzo Bizzarri, is a polyphonic choir formed by lovers of sacred and Baroque music who needn't anyway necessarily read music.

The single parts actually are recorded on tapes, that become the singer's groundwork for studying and learning by heart the melody written in the part." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 387

"The Capella Dvcale Venetia, musicians specializing in Renaissance music, conceived and directed by Livio Picotti, operating since 1992 in the city of Venice. ... " View website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 430

"STEFANO TORELLI countertenor
Born in Parma (Italy)
Degree in classical Philology
Musicological studies in Cremona (School for Paleography and Philology) and Milan (Armenian musicology)

He studied organ and gambaviol. As a countertenor he attended several masterclasses with , Gloria Banditelli, James Griffett of Pro Cantione Antiqua , Evelyn Tubb and Poppy Holden of the Consort of Musicke, Claudio Cavina, Cristina Miatello and Sandro Naglia. Later his teacher was Anatoli Gusev in Milan. He studied the gregorian chant with G.Baroffio and the medioeval singing with Sequentia and Pedro Memelsdorff. He's specialising in Baroque singnig in Vicenza

He sings both in ensembles and as a soloist. He has recorded more yhan ten CDs, some focusing on Renaissance polyphony and some with the ensemble stirps jesse (Milan) on gregorian chant and medioeval polyphony. He also recorded a CD a soloist with gregorian chant from an unpublished codex and Italian arias (Donati, Pergolesi, Rossini). He took part in the first recording of Rognoni's Diminuzioni for gambaviol (Symphonia).

In 1996 he founded the male vocal quartett Quadrivium who performs a repertoire going from the Medieval Music to the Baroque. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 399

"The vocal group Dimensione Polifonica was founded in 1984. It is specialized in the execution of sacred and secular polyphony of the renaissance and baroque repertoire. The concert activity of the group is considerable. It has participated to the most important national and international events among which the XV Edition of the International Polyphonyc Examination G. D'Arezzo, the XXXIII International Happening of Musical Chapels of Loreto, the XVII Edition of Polyphonyc Meetings of Pescara and the II International Musical Tournment of Rome. The vocal group has performed in a world preview L. Leo's unpublished "Dixit Dominus" for choir, violins and thorough bass only. The group has done many radio recordings and it has regularly cooperated with the archiepiscopal Curia of Naples, the University "Federico II" and the Academy of Musical "S. Pietro a Majella". The vocal group "Dimensione Polifonica" has been founded by Maestro Biagio Terracciano, who is also its permanent Director. ... " Visite website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 20, 2008 | Hits: 352

"I Cantori Gregoriani are a male voice group which exclusively dedicates itself to the study and the spread of Gregorian chant. Consisting entirely of specialists, the ensemble bases its own performances on research into semiology, that is the study of antique manuscripts dating from the Xth –X1th centuries. The performances of the group are aimed at transmitting, through the actual instruments of the semiology, the expressive force of Gregorian chant, i.e. the correct musical representation of the ancient exegetic tradition of the sacred texts. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 480

"ARS ANTIQUA (Genoa, Italy) is a vocal and instrumental ensemble, specialized in music of the Early Middle Age, through Gregorian Chant, to Mediaeval and Humanistic music. We are interested in concerts, liturgies, and also seminars for students and colleagues. The director of Musicke is Guido Milanese. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 445

"It was formed in 1997 and it is composed of variable singers with a prevalence of female voices which work trying to reach a vocal purity as near as possible to the interpretative standards of the medieval and Renaissance music. The study of the pure vocalism is characterized by the tonic peculiarity and consistency of the voices which transmit an accurate transparency and a sound useful to bring the essence of the prayer and the word of the sacred texts which are magnified by the ancient melodies to life again. The research is about musics from the codexes of Carolingian age, the medieval laud books and the ancient books of the medieval age, liturgical and not, with a particular reference to the Umbria and Toscana area. To strengthen the work of research and study the Association organizes seminars of Gregorian chant and ancient music with experts in this sector like Nino Albarosa, Giovanni Conti and Tito Molisani. ... " Visit webstie for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 456

"Ulrike Hofbauer was born in Bavaria and studied voice and voice teaching at the Universities of Wurzburg and Salzburg, and at the ‘Schola Cantorum Basiliensis’ in Basle. The teachers who influenced her most profoundly were Sabine Schutz, Evelyn Tubb and Anthony Rooley; further musical insights were provided by Christina Pluhar und Andrea Marcon.

Ulrike now lives in Basel and as a soloist has worked with conductors such as Christoph Hammer, Konrad Junghänel, Daniel Reuss, und Philippe Herreweghe. The soprano is a member of several vocal ensembles including the ‘Collegium Vocale Gent’, ‘Cantus Coelln’, ‘L’Arpeggiata’ and sang with the acclaimed German vocal sextett ‘Singer Pur’ for several years.

Her versatility as a singer is documented not only in recordings and live performances on the radio, but in a number of CD recordings.

Currently she is devoting much of her energies to her own baroque ensemble ‘savādi...’, with whom she won the Early Music Competition in York in 2003 and also the Van Wassenaer Concours in The Hague in 2004. (www.savadi.net).

Teaching is also an important part of her life and has taken her to, inter alia, the Universities of Bogota (Colombia), Minsk (Belarus) and the "Bayersische Theaterakademie" in Munich.

She enjoys exploring new and unusual repertoires covering different epochs and styles. Ulrike is particularly interested in the “recitar cantando” style as well as the use of dramatic theatrical techniques to heighten the emotional impact of the text and music. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 04, 2008 | Hits: 575