EarlyMusicNews.Org

"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. ...“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 17, 2005 | Hits: 508

"Boyd McDonald began his career as a pianist giving his Wigmore Hall debut in 1960 followed by a New York Debut in 1963 as winner of the Leschetizky Town Hall Debut Prize. He toured North America, Europe and England as a member of the Beckett and McDonald Piano Duo. Since 1982 he has been an active fortepianist recording the Complete Works for Cello and Fortepiano by Beethoven with Paul Pulford. As an academic he taught composition at the University of Manitoba. He joined the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University in 1976 where he currently teaches piano as Professor Emeritus. As a composer McDonald studied with Murray Adaskin, three years with Nadia Boulanger o­n a Canada Council grant and summer schools with Darius Milhaud, John Cage and Stefan Wolpe. His works display a synthesis of virtuosity combined with a theatricality valued by performers whose concerts must be seen as well as heard!" ...

Added on: Jul 09, 2005 | Hits: 538

"Cynthia Hiebert has performed both traditional and contemporary harpsichord works in Canada, the United States and England. She studied with Colin Tilney and Arthur Haas, and as a recipient of the Gelber Fellowship, completed a doctorate in harpsichord performance at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition to work as a soloist, she has collaborated with numerous ensembles including New York Baroque, North Shore Pro Musica, I Furiosi, Spiritus, Numus, the York Symphony Orchestra, the Penderecki String Quartet, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Nota Bene Period Orchestra." ...

Added on: Jul 22, 2005 | Hits: 488

The Association of Clavecin en France is a collection point for professional/amateur harpsichordists, makers, musicologists, composer on a national scale in France. Please see site for more information. / "Ce site s’adresse aux clavecinistes professionnels ou amateurs, luthiers, musicologues, compositeurs... Vous trouverez dans la rubrique Association une présentation de l’association, ses prochaines activités, et un bulletin d’adhésion à télécharger. "

Added on: Feb 14, 2006 | Hits: 672

"Pedro Persone was born in Tietê, SP, Brazil, and started his harpsichord study at the Conservatório Musical "Dr. Carlos de Campos", Tatuí, SP, with Maria José Carrasqueira. He studied privately with Roberto de Regina in Rio de Janeiro, and received his Bachelor degree in Harpsichord at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in the class of Dr. Helena Jank. In Europe, he attended courses with Felipe Nabuco-Silvestre (Brazil/Portugal), Christophe Rousset (France), and Rinaldo Alessandrini (Italy). In 1977 Mr. Persone studied with Huguette Dreyfus at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Bobigny, France; in 1988 with Jacques Ogg, at the Academie voor Oude Muziek, Amsterdam. With a scholarship from the Fundação Vitae, he attended the "Primer Curso de Música Barroca Ciudad de Segovia" in the fortepiano class of Patrick Cohen (Fance). He is the fortepianist of the "Klassisch!" duo (with the soprano Andrea Kaiser). There is no other active performer of Fortepiano besides Persone in Brazil. As teacher, he has worked at the Festival de Londrina, Oficina de Música de Curitiba, Festivais de Artes de Itu, and is the professor of harpsichord, chamber music, and thoroughbass at the Conservatório Dramático e Musical "Dr. Carlos de Campos", Tatui. In 1996, he received his Master of Musical Arts from UNICAMP, with research o­n unmeasured works. In 2000, with a scholarship from CAPES, Persone began a doctorate program (D.M.A.) in Historical Performance o­n the Harpsichord and the Fortepiano at Boston University with Professor Mark Kroll, continuing now under the orientation of Professor Peter Sykes."

Added on: Apr 09, 2007 | Hits: 350

“Barbara Cadranel is a dynamic harpsichordist who has delighted audiences across the globe with her fresh interpretation of the Baroque Period and contemporary music. Along with performing throughout the United States, Europe, South America, she’s also given master classes and appeared on a number of radio and TV shows.

…

At the moment, she is editing one of Fernando Valenti’s books including “The Scarlatti Handbook” which was dedicated to her. She has recently toured Peru, Canada, and performed in “The Boston Early Music Festival” where she has played numerous times, and as usual, after that festival, she played a recital for William F. Buckley, Jr. and has done so until his last year. She has concert bookings globally through 2014, and many of these concerts include mini residencies at universities and “informances” that engage kids and teens, making classical music relevant and fun. Please keep an eye out as we will be streaming live webisodes of Barbara here on the website in 2011.“

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 10, 2007 | Hits: 376

"The Moir Duo, Ronald and Ruth Moir, took their undergraduate education as pianists at the University of Manitoba. Grants from both the Canada Council as well as the Manitoba Arts Council allowed them to undertake 3 years of study in the UK. They studied with Joan Davies (a pioneer in the reintroduction of the historic fortepiano) who performed regularly at the Colt Collection and at the Hazelmere Festival organized by Carl Dolmetsch. Upon their return to Canada they began to tour as the Moir Fortepiano duo, and appeared throughout Ontario."

"They specialize in 18th century keyboard music and take great pleasure in performing on instruments identical to those used by both Mozart and Beethoven. To this goal they have focussed on developing a superb idiomic keyboard touch, a great variation of sonority, a refined awareness of stylistic nuances, a strong sense of ensemble, and a spontaneous musical personality. Concerts are fun without violating the integrity of the music."

Added on: Apr 10, 2007 | Hits: 443

"Ton Koopman was born in Zwolle in 1944. After a classical education he studied organ, harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam and was awarded the Prix d'Excellence for both instruments. Almost from the beginning of his musical studies he was fascinated with authentic instruments and a performance style based on sound scholarship.

Even before completing his studies he laid the foundations for a career as a conductor of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music and this fascination with the Baroque era led him in 1969, at age 25, to establish his first Baroque orchestra and, in 1979, to found the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra followed in 1993 by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir. " ...

Added on: Aug 14, 2007 | Hits: 359

"Our aim is to

• help disseminate knowledge and foment research o­n early keyboard instruments (harpsichord, organ, clavichord, fortepiano) and their literature both in Hungary and abroad; organize concerts, courses, professional meetings
• support - by competitive grants - performing artists, educators, musicologists, instrument makers and, in particular, students of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music
• promote research and performance of Hungarian keyboard music
• organize youth concerts and lectures
• sponsor new compositions
• promote the publication or recording of musical compositions
• support research and practice of music therapy "
  

Added on: Feb 02, 2008 | Hits: 387

"I work as a harpsichordist, fortepianist and musicologist in West Sweden. For the past fifteen years I held a position with the baroque ensemble Corona Artis based near Göteborg, performing a wide variety of continuo and solo literature in all Baroque styles and in the earlier Classical style. Corona Artis became a freelance ensemble in January 2007. I continue being a member of this group, but am now primarily active as a freelance performer, with solo performance on the harpsichord and continuo playing as primary interests. I also have a special interest in the early piano, its construction and its repertoire. Since 1997 I have conducted specialized research in Beethoven performance practice on the piano. My Ph.D. dissertation (2007) combined historical and organological analysis to develop some guidelines for performing Beethoven’s early keyboard works. " See website for more info. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 02, 2008 | Hits: 453

"I began studying piano with my mother at age three on the Niagara Peninsula (Canada). I later studied violin with Artur Garami and keyboard with Eric Dowling. My childhood inspiration was a series of articles about Vladimir Horowitz in Etude Magazine.

By the age of sixteen I was an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. I was introduced to the harpsichord and Fenton House by Thurston Dart in London England, to gamba making by Juliet Beamont of Cambridge, and to the baroque violin by Alice Harnoncourt.

For a variety of reasons, I took time out from a music career to raise five wonderful children: a minister, a teacher, a scientist, a guitar maker and a writer. When they were grown up, I cashed in my pension and returned to my music.

Originally, I planned to record all copyright-free works for the harpsichord in General MIDI format for free distribution on the Internet. If you enjoy the trip, who cares if you get there! But, something happened on the way - the trip got nasty.

I play for myself now. " See site for more info. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 02, 2008 | Hits: 750

"The Deutsche Clavichord Societaet (DCS, German Clavichord Society), a registered non-profit society, was founded in 1993.

The DCS is a focus for every aspect of the clavichord and its music, especially for the revival of clavichord playing and its tradition. Further activities include lectures, publications, the support of research studies, archive of clavichords.

Its membership includes professional players, amateurs, makers of clavichords, restorers, musicologists and people who simply like the delicate sound of the clavichord.

The DCS holds clavichord days (Clavichordtage) which include concerts, courses, workshops on clavichord maintenance and tuning, exhibitions of instruments, lectures... "

See site for more info. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 02, 2008 | Hits: 552

"1987 Diploma in pianoforte, sotto la guida di Velia De Vita. Conservatorio “Santa Cecilia” - Roma

1992 Diploma in clavicembalo con il massimo dei voti, sotto la guida di Paola Bernardi. Conservatorio “Santa Cecilia” - Roma

Durante il corso della sua formazione musicale si è dedicato allo studio dell’organo, con particolare approfondimento della musica sacra con il mons. Domenico Bartolucci. " See site for more info. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 02, 2008 | Hits: 801

"Israeli-born Sharona Joshua studied the piano with Professor Alexander Volkov and was awarded numerous scholarships during her studies at the Rubin Academy leading to a BMus degree in performance in 1995. In 1993-4 she studied fortepiano in London with the late Christopher Kite after being awarded a further scholarship to spend a year at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She took part in masterclasses at the Jerusalem Music Centre with fortepianists Zvi Meniker and Malcolm Bilson and returned to England in 1996 to study early keyboards with David Roblou and Richard Egarr. She also took tuition with fortepiano specialist Sally Sargent in Vienna.

Sharona is now based permanently in London where she appears regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo player on concert platform and radio and gives several performances each season at the South Bank Centre and the Wigmore Hall. She has performed as soloist at major festivals all over the UK as well as abroad. Sharona has also given numerous masterclasses in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales." See website for more info. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 03, 2008 | Hits: 381

"Harpsichordist Jason J. Moy holds the Bachelor of Harpsichord Performance and Master of Early Music Performance degrees from McGill University in Montreal, where he trained under Hank Knox and Luc Beauséjour. In addition to his principal teachers, he received much valuable guidance from Bruce Haynes, Jory Vinikour, and other mentors. Jason has concertized extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe; currently based in his native Chicago, he wrapped up his Montreal sojourn this past year by performing J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto with the McGill Baroque Orchestra. While he loves the solo repertoire, particularly that of eighteenth-century Germany and France, Jason is especially fond of chamber music. His continuo playing, on organ and harpsichord, has been described as both “highly rhetorical” and “sensitive and very vibrant.” See website for more details. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 16, 2008 | Hits: 497

“Born in Brazil in 1976, Mr. Procopio began his musical studies in Rio de Janeiro with Marcello Fagerlande and Pedro Personne. In 1994, his exceptional talent brought him to France, where he entered the harpsichord class of Noëlle Spieth, at the Conservatoire National Régional de Paris, obtaining his diploma soon after. In 1996 he gained admission to the prestigious Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he studied the harpsichord with Christophe Rousset and Pierre Hantaï, chamber music with Blandine Ranou and Kenneth Weiss, and pianoforte with Patrick Cohen. He graduated in 2001 with first prizes in harpsichord and continuo performance.

In 2004 Mr. Procopio created the ensemble Les Solistes du Palais Royal. One of his primary objectives is to promote the works of major Brazilian composers of the colonial period. He collaborates actively with musicologists in his native country to create original, exciting programs which reunite the lesser known masterpieces of the new world with those of their celebrated European contemporaries.

Bruno Procopio is the artistic director of the Early Music Festival of Paraty in Brazil.

Bruno Procopio founded the Paraty label in 2006, with the support of Intégral Distribution, in order to explore, on period instruments, the rich repertory of baroque and classical music.”

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 413

"Celine Frisch was born in Marseille in 1974 and started playing the harpsichord at the age of six. In 1992, she was awarded her first harpsichord and chamber music prizes at the Conservatoire of Aix-en-Provence. She then carried on studying at the Schola Cantorum in Bâle with such teachers as Andreas Staier ans Jesper Christensen, before being graced with her soloist certificate. Winner of the "Juventus Prize" in 1996, she became, in 2002, the first harpsichord player ever chosen for the "Victoires de la Musique Classique"...

Today, she is mainly involved in her activities as a soloist and as a member of the Café Zimmermann orchestra which she founded with Pablo Valetti in 1998. Thus, she performs as a guest star in the greatest French concert halls, (such as the Theatre de la Ville, Radio France, the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, the various festivals taking place in Ile-de-France or even in Roque d'Anthéron), as well as in Washington, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Brussels, Lisboa... " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 454

"After training as a pianist and organist, Emmanuelle Haïm studied the harpsichord with Kenneth Gilbert and graduated from the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) with several premiers prix. Her love for the human voice led her to concentrate after that on conducting vocal music, first of all at the Versailles Centre for Baroque Music (CMBV), then at the Paris Conservatoire. She was soon invited to accompany many distinguished singers in recital, and she developed a regular activity as a continuo player as well. ...

In 2000 Emmanuelle Haïm gathered together a group of accomplished singers and instrumentalists who shared not only a great musical experience, but also a common temperament and a stylistic approach that is both expressive and natural. Thus she formed her own Baroque music ensemble, Le Concert d’Astrée. And within three years she had taken it from success to success, appearing at venues from Paris to New York, as well as at festivals in France and abroad. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 573

"Don began playing in public at the age of 12, moved to Boston, MA in 1961 to study at the Berklee School (now College) of Music. In 1962 he took a "temporary" job with the Harpsichord Maker William Dowd, and stayed 28 years. During this time of employment, he was encouraged to try some of this material on the harpsichord, and it was so well received that concerts and recordings became an increasingly important part of his activity.

He has appeared in Europe at Merseburger Orgeltage 2002, on Austrian Radio, at the Rodin Gallery in Seoul, South Korea, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He has had four appearances with the Augusta (GA) Pops Orchestra playing his orchestrated keyboard arrangements. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 03, 2008 | Hits: 370

"Jane Chapman described as "Britain's most progressive harpsichordist" (The Independent on Sunday), and "a fearless contemporary music performer" (The Guardian), studied harpsichord with Ton Koopman. As well as being an exponent of the traditional harpsichord repertoire she has premiered over 150 solo, electroacoustic and chamber works by contemporary composers, and has compiled and edited two issues of Contemporary Music Review on the performance of new music for harpsichord. "Her progressive spirit and comprehensive technique have inspired composers to forge new parameters and sound worlds for the harpsichord with works of unprecedented musical and technological scope" (Harpsichord & Fortepiano).

Described as "Stylish and eloquent" by The Times, her recordings and recitals reveal both a scholarly and inventive approach to the baroque repertoire. Her CDs of 18th-century English music, 'The Lady's Banquet', and of the 17th-century French Bauyn Manuscript, offered the first extensive overviews of important sources previously unexplored on disc, and were both highly acclaimed - "One can count on technique to burn and faithful observance of stylistic conventions (The Musical Times). She is an Honorary Fellow of Dartington College of Arts, and an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Music, where she is professor of harpsichord. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 03, 2008 | Hits: 243

"Paul Jenkins cultivates an eclectic musical career as a keyboardist and tenor. A longtime member of the Toronto Consort, he has appeared with many of Canada's leading early music groups, including Tafelmusik, Aradia, the Purcell and Bach Consorts, Opera Atelier and La Nef. Other collaborations include Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, the Windsor and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Opera in Concert, the Toronto Chamber Choir, the Esprit Orchestra, I Furiosi, Musica Divina, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, and Toronto Masque Theatre, among others. He has recorded on the Dorian, Eclectra, CTAH, SRI, Naxos, Helicon and early-music.com labels.

Paul accompanies singers in Alexina Louie's television mini-opera Justifiable Homicide. He accompanied Russian counter tenor Vyatcheslav Kagan Paley in his New York debut recital and received critical praise for his recording of Thomas Svoboda's Duo Concerto for Trumpet and Organ with Charles Schlueter, Principal Trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Paul Jenkins is Organist of Blessed Sacrament Church in Toronto. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 03, 2008 | Hits: 432

"Derek Adlam is a performer and instrument maker. Trained in London, his teachers traced their musical ancestry to European traditions established by Czerny, Liszt and Clara Schumann. As a child he was, however, drawn instinctively to the ancestors of the modern piano. Neglected spinets and strangely shaped pianos with haunting, ghostly sounds possessed a magical appeal. This attraction remained strong, and while a student he began to play the harpsichord. He also began to explore the musical possibilities offered by the early piano. With the encouragement of his friends, he began his first experiments in the restoration of an antique fortepiano . ...

In 1982, Derek Adlam moved to Welbeck in Nottinghamshire to the Harley Foundation’s newly opened art and craft workshops. He became involved with the Foundation’s charitable work, and until 1999 supervised many of its artistic developments, including the building of a public art Gallery at Welbeck. Although no longer building instruments, he continues to perform, principally on the clavichord, and has given recitals in many European countries and the United States. He is President of the British Clavichord Society. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 05, 2008 | Hits: 299

"Kevin Komisaruk is Assistant Professor of organ and harpsichord at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. He concertizes frequently throughout Europe and North America, and can be heard on network broadcasts of Radio France, SRC/CBC (Canada), and NPR (USA). Kevin Komisaruk records with Canada's leading ATMA record label. His 2001 disc of works by John Bull received several awards and citations including those from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Canada, Belgium's Magazine d'orgue, and the Journal of Seventeenth-century Music. His 2005 recording of works by Samuel Scheidt on the meantone organ at Knox College Toronto has been critically acclaimed by SRC (Radio Canada) and European journals including Goldberg and Scherzo. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 08, 2008 | Hits: 467

"Jory Vinikour is recognized as one of the outstanding harpsichordists of his generation. A highly diversified career brings him to the world’s most important festivals and concert halls as recital and concerto soloist, partner to several of today’s finest singers, and increasingly as a conductor. Born in Chicago, Jory Vinikour came to Paris on a scholarship from the Fulbright Foundation to study with Huguette Dreyfus and Kenneth Gilbert. First Prizes in the International Harpsichord Competitions of Warsaw (1993) and the Prague Spring Festival (1994) brought him to the public’s attention, and he has since appeared in festivals and concert series such as Besançon Festival, Deauville, Monaco (Semaine de la Musique Baroque), Cleveland Museum of Art, Miami Bach Festival, Indianapolis Early Music Festival, etc. ...

Bach’s Goldberg Variations, released on Delos International in 2001 received excellent reviews throughout the world. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune named it as one of 2001’s top ten classical CD’s, an honor that was also accorded to Mr. Vinikour’s recording of Bach’s seven harpsichord toccatas in 1999. Händel’s “Great” suites (1720) will be released by Dutch Record Company in October, 2007. Jory Vinikour is closely associated with the musical activities at the Château de Chimay in Belgium, and teaches harpsichord at the Austrian Baroque Summer Academy in Gmunden. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 24, 2008 | Hits: 354

" MARIA TERESA CHENLO was born in Uruguay where she completed her music studies at the National Conservatory of Montevideo, and continued her harpsichord training at the Conservatory Carlos López Buchardo in Buenos Aires where she graduated with honors.

She later perfected her technical knowledge and interpretation with Genoveva Gálvez in Spain and with Rafael Puyana in París.

Having acquired Spanish citizenship, she currently resides in Madrid where she has developed an active concert schedule in Spain,throughout Europe and the Americas. She has performed under the prestigious batons of Howard Mitchell (click photo), Stanislav Wislocki, Héctor Tosar, Arturo Tamayo, Pierre Colombo, Antal Dorati, Kiril Kondrashin, Jose Luis Temes, Antonio Ros Marbá, Miguel Patrón Marchand, among athers, and colaborated with known artist such as Enrico Gatti, John Holloway, Sharon Gould, Christian Baude, Paul Esswood and Claire Powel. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 24, 2008 | Hits: 382