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(UK) Mahan Esfahani, Harpsichordist

“Praised by The Times as ‘exceptionally gifted’ and by Early Music Today for his ‘sensitivity and vibrance,’ the Iranian-born Mahan Esfahani (b. 1984) is quickly establishing himself as the leading concert harpsichordist of his generation. He was the first harpsichordist to be named a BBC New Generation Artist and to be awarded a fellowship prize by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. Recent highlights have included performances of of Kalabis’ Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra (1975) with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Martinu’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra (1935) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiri Belohlavek, and Poulenc’s Concert Champetre (1928) with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Last season, he also gave his solo debut at the Wigmore Hall (broadcast on BBC Radio 3) – about which the Daily Telegraph exclaimed ”the harpsichord comes out of hiding…magnificent” – and appeared at the City of London and York Early Music Festivals. In addition, his recording of the Poulenc concert was selected as a CD of the month for the May 2010 issue of BBC Music Magazine, and he has been featured as a “Hot Property” by Classic FM magazine.

Further highlights of the upcoming season include a May 2011 appearance at the Wigmore Hall with the countertenor James Bowman, and directing the Manchester Camerata, the Arion Baroque Orchestra (Montreal), and The English Concert at the 2011 Lufthansa Festival. Further afield, he will return to the United States for solo recitals and make his concerto debut in the Far East with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2011.

As a soloist and guest director Esfahani has appeared with The English Concert, the Manchester Camerata, and the Seattle Baroque Orchestra; His series and festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, the Goettingen Handel Festival, the Settimana Mozart of Milan, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the San Francisco Early Music Society.

Esfahani studied as a President’s Scholar at Stanford University where his principal mentor was the musicologist George Houle; he went on to pursue his performance studies under the supervision of the Australian harpsichordist Peter Watchorn (Boston) and the Italian organist Lorenzo Ghielmi (Milan) before settling in the United Kingdom in as Artist-in-Residence at New College, Oxford. In the autumn of 2010 he was further elected an honourary member of Keble College, Oxford.”

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Category: Ensembles/Performers/Associations/Societies / Keyboards

Added on: Nov 25, 2011 | Hits: 2509

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(IR) Ray Sloan, Irish Uilleann Pipes & Scottish Smallpipes

" Ray Sloan vividly remembers the day he first heard bagpipes other than the ubiquitous Great Highland Bagpipes. It was in 1964 as an 11 year old at school in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne when his Art Teacher emerged from the store room strapped in to an instrument driven by a flapping arm attached to bellows, that instrument was the Northumbrian Smallpipe. He remembers being absolutely smitten by the sound of the pipes at a time when the Beatles and Rolling Stones were the preferred sound of his generation, little did he know that 16 years later history would repeat itself when Ray himself became an Art Teacher and Piper/Pipemaker. That experience as a young boy never left Ray but it was not until as a young man of 24 that he was financially able to achieve his dream and buy a set of pipes.

It was as a fine maker of Northumbrian Smallpipes that Ray first established himself as a Pipemaker of International repute, but what really changed his life further was his introduction to the traditional music of Ireland played by the likes of ‘The Bothy Band’, ‘Planxty’ and ‘The Chieftains’, more specifically the wonderful and compelling sound of the Uilleann Pipes. After 10 years or so experience in making Smallpipes he embarked upon the next stage of his journey as a Pipemaker and started to make the Irish Uilleann Pipes eventually choosing to make these in preference to anything else.

Ray gave up Teaching to become a full-time professional Pipemaker in 1988 and to this day continues to develop his style and design in pursuit of perfection. The importance of his experience and training in Art & Design cannot be underestimated when it comes to making Pipes as his visual skills and attention to detail and design shine through in every aspect of his work. While being uniquely his own the design of his Uilleann Pipes is eclectic and broadly based upon the traditions and styles set by the old masters such as Coyne, kenna, Rowsome and Reid. Ray approaches each set of pipes he makes as completely individual and different in some small way to the previous, which means that you as a client will receive a set of Pipes hand-made for you personally.

Ray currently lives in SW France and is preparing to move to the West of Ireland this year – 2008. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Category: Builders/Restorers/Suppliers / Wind Instruments

Added on: May 04, 2008 | Hits: 2261

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(US) Aaron Concert Artists

“Jon Aaron created ACA in April of 2000 to provide management services, tour management and production support for variety of artists and special projects.

Jon Aaron, who had operated under the name Aaron Concert Management in Boston until 1996, has been active in the performing arts since 1980. In 1996 he sold Aaron Concert Management to Trawick Artists Management and moved the operation to New York. In February of 2000 he resigned his position at Trawick to concentrate on those areas of specific interest to him.

In Boston, Aaron was responsible for the creation of a number of organizations including Charles River Concerts, to present emerging artists in Boston, and the Boston Early Music Festival of which he was managing director until 1990.

Aaron Concert Management was responsible for debut North American tours of numerous artists including the Tallis Scholars, Musica Antiqua Köln, Les Arts Florissants, Gabrieli Consort, the Ensemble Sequentia, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble, and numerous others. As well, the company intiated a number of commissioning projects for its artists of new work and new productions.

In this latest incarnation, ACA has been involved with special productions for the Lincoln Center Festival including a fascinating collaboration between the Ensemble Sequentia and Ping Chong which presented a performance of the Icelandic Edda in July of 2001 as well as production of Benjamin Bagby’s Beowulf in 2006. As well the company has produced runs, Noche Flamenca in Miami Beach and Berkeley and acted as co-producer of the Rock Hotel Pianofest. Most recently, Aaron was co-producer of a major DVD production of Benjamin Bagby’s performance of Beowulf which was released in North America by Koch Entertainment and by the Films Media Group. In the summer of 2007 he was involved in multiple performances by Jordi Savall at the International Edinburgh Festival coordinating the musical aspect of the fully staged Orfeo as well as four other concerts.

ACA will continues to represent a number of soloists and ensembles that tour regularly through North America and worldwide.

Jon Aaron is also a teacher of mindfulness meditation and stress reduction in New York City teaching at the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, The 92nd St. Y, and the Einstein College of Medicine. He is also trained in alternative dispute resolutions.”

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Category: Music Agent/Management

Added on: Nov 24, 2011 | Hits: 1752

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(CA) Toronto Bach Consort

"The Bach Consort performs the music of J.S. Bach, exploring the riches of his more than 200 secular and religious cantatas. Formed in 1992 by bass player Timothy Dawson and baritone Gordon McLeod, The Bach Consort includes a core of members from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Tafelmusik, as well as some of Canada's most sought-after singers and instrumentalists. Soprano Monica Whicher, baritone Russell Braun, alto Elizabeth Turnbull; tenors Michael Shade and Benjamin Butterfield; baritones Brett Polegato and Kevin MacMillan---have appeared with the Canadian Opera Company, with most Canadian Orchestras, and with major opera companies in North America and Europe.

These artists have lent the gift of Bach's music, performing for community groups such as Camphill Village Ontario and L'Arche--- communities for adults with disabilities---and Settlement House Music School. As well, the ensemble has helped in the fundraising activities of Out of the Cold and Share the Warmth. Their concerts provided these organizations with a musical forum from which they reached out to the public. To that end, the group has recorded two compact discs in aid of charity: The Bach Consort at Camphill and The Bach Consort at L'Arche. In designing its programme, The Bach Consort chooses music to highlight the performers in a variety of solo and ensemble works. This follows the Baroque tradition of creating an obbligato or instrumental solo, which interweaves with the vocal line. The ensemble often performs without a conductor, reaching a musical consensus during rehearsals prior to their concerts. Once this artistic agreement has been forged, The Bach Consort is ready to share the depth and joy of Bach's music with its generous audience.

Timothy Dawson, Founder
Timothy is a member of the string bass section of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He began his studies in Edmonton with Peter Marck, who is now Co-Principal Bass of the Israel Philharmonic. Timothy continued his education at the University of Toronto with Tom Monahan (then Principal Bass of the TSO). He graduated in the Spring of 1979 and started with the TSO thereafter. Since joining the orchestra, Tim has been actively involved in organizing concerts. Two groups have grown out of this love of chamber music; The Bach Consort and BASStiality." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Category: Academies/Academia/Early Music Study/Institutions

Added on: Feb 20, 2009 | Hits: 1627

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(DE) Kai Wessel, Countertenor

“The Countertenor Kai Wessel was born in Hamburg and studied music theory (Prof.R.Ploeger), composition (Prof.Dr.F.Döhl), and voice (Prof.U.v.Garczynski, concert examination passed with honours) at the Lübeck Academy of Music. During his Lübeck years Wessel was also an external student in the field of baroque performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (René Jacobs).

Wessel received numerous prizes between 1984 and 1990, including the special prize of the German Theater Society for the best interpretation of a contemporary work (Berlin, 1988) and a prize at the Musica Antiqua Competition of the Flanders Festival in Bruges. He received fellowships from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the DAAD (studying under Peter Kooj in Hilversum/Holland). Wessel has served as an assistant to René Jacobs in the production of operas by P.A.Cesti, F.Cavalli and C.W.Gluck for the International Festival Week of Early Music in Innsbruck, for the WDR Radio, and at the Hamburg State Opera.

As one of the leading countertenors Wessel is invited to music festivals all over the world (Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Schwetzingen, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Tokyo, San Francisco, a.o.) and to numerous opera houses (Freiburg, Basel, St.Gallen, Barcelona, Nice, Berlin a.o.) where he took part in stage-productions by Herbert Wernicke (in Theodora and Giulio Cesare by G.F.Handel, Aus Deutschland by Mauricio Kagel, Wie liegt die Stadt so wüste with the music by H.Schütz/M.Weckmann and Actus tragicus with the music by J.S.Bach), Joachim Schlömer (as Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice by Chr.W.Gluck), Claus Guth (in Schwarzerde by Klaus Huber), Peter Oskarson (in Luci mie traditrici by Salvatore Sciarrino), Gilbert Déflo (in Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi), John Dew (in Hippolyte et Aricie by Jean Philippe Rameau) a.o. He has been involved in performances, radio broadcasts, amore than sixty recordings under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhard, Ton Koopman, Michael Schneider, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Martin Haselböck, Reinhard Goebel, Konrad Junghänel, Michael Hofstetter, Nicholas McGegan, Sigiswald Kuijken, Michel Corboz, Hans-Werner Henze, Arturo Tamayo, Hermann Max, and others.

Kai Wessel is teaching voice and baroque performance practice at the Superiour Highschool of Music Cologne/Germany, and regularly giving summer-classes in Germany and Austria. “

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Category: Ensembles/Performers/Associations/Societies / Voice

Added on: May 09, 2009 | Hits: 1625

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(US) Rebecca Pechefsky, Harpsichordist

"Well known in the New York area, Rebecca Pechefsky has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and the eighteenth-century Morris-Jumel Mansion, where she is co-director of the early-music series Music at
Morris-Jumel. Outside New York she has been heard at the Boston Early Music Festival and in the concert series of the San Diego Harpsichord Society; the Harpsichord Center (Pasadena and Brentwood, California); the Miami Bach Society; the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and the Beeville Concert Association in Beeville, Texas.

A frequent performer at the American Festival of Microtonal Music, she can be heard on its recent compact discs Early and Odysseus (by Johnny Reinhard). For Quill Classics she has recorded a recital of works by Brunnemüller, Bach, and La Guerre
(QC 1001), the complete harpsichord music of François d’Agincour (QC 1002 and 1004), and Bach and His Circle (QC 1006). With Andrew Bolotowsky she has recorded sonatas by Johann Ludwig Krebs for Baroque flute and harpsichord (QC
1003) and flute works by J. S. Bach (also with cellist David Bakamjian; QC 1008, forthcoming). With Brooklyn Baroque, of which she is a founding member (with Bolotowsky and Bakamjian), she can be heard on Northern Lights (QC 1005), a
program of German Baroque works, and The Pleasures of the French (QC 1007), a recital of eighteenth-century French works. (For more information on Brooklyn Baroque, click on the button to the left.) Her recording of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, was released in May 2009. Her recordings have been played across the United States on NPR stations, and Bach and His Circle won the 2009 Just Plain Folks Music Award for best Classical Solo Album.

Also committed to new music, Ms. Pechefsky has premiered works by Mary Inwood, Graham Lynch, Frank J. Oteri, Louis Pelosi, Johnny Reinhard, and Ben Yarmolinsky. In March, she gave the world premiere of Graham Lynch’s prizewinning Petenera at the Aliénor Competition in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Currently organist at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Glendale, Queens, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Erik Ryding, with whom she has coauthored Bruno Walter: A World
Elsewhere, winner of an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. ...“

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Category: Ensembles/Performers/Associations/Societies / Keyboards

Added on: Jun 17, 2005 | Hits: 1552

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(BE) Ann Fierens, Harpist

"When harpist Ann Fierens completed her training at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, she was convinced that she should continue her orchestral career. She commenced her continuing education with the iWhen harpist Ann Fierens completed her training at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, she was convinced that she should continue her orchestral career. She commenced her continuing education with the intention to follow the same road and to discover the possibilities within the music scene in Belgium. She was given the opportunity to work with Dick van der Harst in an Oxalys production and het Muziek Lod and she played works by Debussy, Ravel, Glière and Fontyn as a soloist accompanied by an orchestra.

Her teacher Erika Waardenburg urged her to dedicate herself to the repertory from the classical period. She soon discovered that the eighteenth century represented a fascinating episode in harp history: the single action pedal harp was invented and soon entered a glorious period when it was introduced to the French court and the Concert Sprituel.

When Ann first met ‘her’ Erard, it was love at first sight. Fascinated by the rich sound of the instrument, she dived into libraries looking for old methods and writings which would teach her how to play and look after her instrument in the best way. The cooperation continued to improve and Ann developed a passion for music, musicians and instruments dating from the 18th and the early 19th century. ntention to follow the same road and to discover the possibilities within the music scene in Belgium. She was given the opportunity to work with Dick van der Harst in an Oxalys production and het Muziek Lod and she played works by Debussy, Ravel, Glière and Fontyn as a soloist accompanied by an orchestra. Her teacher Erika Waardenburg urged her to dedicate herself to the repertory from the classical period. She soon discovered that the eighteenth century represented a fascinating episode in harp history: the single action pedal harp was invented and soon entered a glorious period when it was introduced to the French court and the Concert Sprituel. When Ann first met ‘her’ Erard, it was love at first sight. Fascinated by the rich sound of the instrument, she dived into libraries looking for old methods and writings which would teach her how to play and look after her instrument in the best way. The cooperation continued to improve and Ann developed a passion for music, musicians and instruments dating from the 18th and the early 19th century. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Category: Ensembles/Performers/Associations/Societies / Strings

Added on: Apr 18, 2008 | Hits: 1452

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(FR) Centre d’Études des Théâtres de la Foire et de la Comédie-Italienne

Centre for the Study of the Fairground Theatres and the Comédie-Italienne

The Centre was created in 1999 by Françoise Rubellin, professor at the University of Nantes, following the international colloquium entitled “Les théâtres de la Foire 1678-1762”, with the support of two great specialists, Barry Russell from England (creator of the website foires.net) and David Trott from Canada, both deceased. The original project was to create a lasting link between researchers who were geographically dispersed, and to favour an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together theatre, music and dance: the Fairground plays are more show libretti than simple literary, textual objects.

Today, the Centre extends its research and its publications to the repertory of the Comédie-Italienne, having as a priority to edit manuscripts of plays that have never been re-edited, and to restore their musical dimension.

The Centre is working on the publication of several plays still in manuscript versions only of the Fairground theatres and the Comédie-Italienne in the form of separate editions or of collections.
The Centre is currently undertaking research on parodies of opera, with the support of the ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche), the Région Pays de la Loire and the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Ange-Guépin.
The Centre trains numerous students in research during their MA and PhD theses, and provides access for them to an important number of microfilms of unedited plays, as well as a specialised collection of documents.
The members of the Centre (PhD candidates and MA students included) publish articles and present papers in colloquia in France and abroad.
The Centre actively collaborates with specialised researchers in the field of Fairground theatres and the Comédie-Italienne in France and abroad (Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, etc.).
The Centre works in partnership with several cultural structures dedicated to music and theatre, in Nantes and in the region Pays de la Loire (Angers Nantes Opéra, Le Grand T, La Folle Journée of the CRÉA) as well as with ensembles (Hugo Reyne’s Simphonie du Marais) and troupes (Thierry Pillon’s L’Éternel Éphémère, Chantal David’s Bel Viaggio). With them, we put into place activities for communication, creation and research development.
The Centre has organised, for over ten years, a monthly seminar, study days and colloquia.

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Category: Academies/Academia/Early Music Study/Institutions

Added on: Dec 03, 2011 | Hits: 1442

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(CA) Suzie Leblanc, soprano

“Internationally renowned, Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc has established an extraordinary career specializing in Baroque and Classical repertoire and exploring and recording a substantial amount of unpublished material while living in Europe. Her thirst and curiosity for new vistas now lead her toward the repertoire of French mélodies, lieder, Acadian folk music, contemporary music as well as exploring the art of improvisation with Helmut Lipsky and « Au parfum de Tango ».

Her contribution to Acadian culture with the CDs La Mer Jolie and Tout passe and with the documentary Suzie LeBlanc : A Musical Quest, directed by Donald Winkler, along with her performances of Early Music have earned her honorary doctorates from King’s College University in Halifax and Mount Allison University in New-Brunswick. …

As an actress, she played the lead character in the film Lost Song directed by Rodrigue Jean which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2008 and won the City TV Best Canadian Feature Award. She can also be seen on film in More than a thousand kisses (Bach’s Coffee Cantata) and Suzie LeBlanc and a man named Quantz, both produced by the late Robert Chesterman for Prometheus Productions.

She has worked with many of the world’s leading early music ensembles in concert and opera performances as well as on film and on disc. Concerts have taken her to Festivals all over the world as well as to the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Wigmore Hall and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. On the opera stage, she has performed for De Nederlandse Opera, Festival de Beaune, Opéra de Montréal, the Boston Early Music Festival, Tanglewood, Festival Vancouver and Early Music Vancouver.

In recent seasons, she recorded Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Pamina) with La Petite Bande (Bayer Records) and Mozart lieder with Yannick Nézet-Seguin (ATMA) and returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for Bach’s St-Matthew Passion as staged by Jonathan Miller. Other recent recordings include Lully’s Thésée (CPO), Gluck’s Orphée (Naxos), Buxtehude motets with Emma Kirkby, Peter Harvey and the Purcell Symphony (Chandos), and a Handel Portrait (ATMA). …

Suzie LeBlanc is artistic director of Le Nouvel Opéra (www.lenouvelopera.com) which is ensemble-in-residence at the Montreal Conservatory and co-artisic director of the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Festival (2011) in Nova Scotia (www.elizabethbishopcentenary.blogspot.com).”

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Category: Ensembles/Performers/Associations/Societies / Voice

Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 1408

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