Performers
Ann Allen
Shawms and Recorders
Originally from England, Ann Allen went to study baroque oboe and shawms at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2000. She now performs throughout Europe as a freelance player and is a regular member of the prize winning groups Les Haulz et Les Bas and I Fedeli as well as performing in or directing many of her own early music crossover projects. She spent several years teaching shawm and alta capella at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and has given courses around Europe.
She is also active as an opera stage director and is the founder and artistic director of 'Nox Illuminata' the much acclaimed Early Music Crossover Festival which takes place regularly in Switzerland, Austria and Germany and is one of the pioneering examples of the 'alternative-classical music' concert style.
www.noxilluminata.com
www.more-than-music.org
Baptiste Romain
Medieval fiddle and bagpipes
After studies in violin and composition at the Conservatoire National de Région in Rueil-Malmaison, Baptiste Romain went on to specialize in Medieval and Renaissance music, studying medieval fiddle, ancient bagpipes, and voice. After working with Marco Horvat at the Centre de Musique Médiévale in Paris, he moved to Switzerland where he studied with Randall Cook, Dominique Vellard and Crawford Young at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, as well as pursuing chamber music studies with Pierre Hamon at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Lyon.
Influenced by jazz and traditional music, he constantly searches for new ideas pertaining to the historically informed performance of early music, and is passionate about improvisation, vocal accompaniment, and the instrumental repertory.
Tobie Miller
Hurdy gurdy and recorders
Canadian recorderist, hurdy gurdy player and singer, Tobie Miller grew up in Montreal and Vancouver. As a recipient of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts as well as the J.B.C. Watkins award, she studied for diploma in medieval recorder at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Switzerland) with Corina Marti and Kathrin Bopp.
She has performed throughout North America and Europe with her own ensemble La Rota as well as playing with many well established ensembles for medieval and traditional music. She is in demand as a baroque player on the hurdy gurdy performing with Jordi Savall, Wieland Kujken, Matthias Loibner, Les Musiciens de Saint Julien, and La Bande Montréal Baroque.
Tobie Miller currently divides her time between Basel and Montréal. In addition to a busy performance career, she teaches regularly, giving classes on technique and performance practice for both recorder and hurdy gurdy at workshops and festivals.
Michelangelo Rinaldi
Shawms and organetto
Michelangelo is a multi-instrumentalist ranging from the fortepiano to the friscoletto via the shawm!! Originally from Tuscany he now lives in Basel, Switzerland where he has recently finished his Diploma in Fortepiano but spends most of his time playing crazy instruments in crazy ensembles. In recent years he has specialized in live improvisation on the piano and runs a concert series in Basel called 'Caffé Michelangelo'.
Catalina Vicens
Organetto
Born in Santiago de Chile, Catalina begun her piano studies at the age of seven. With eighteen she was awarded with a full tuition scholarship for studying harpsichord with Lionel Party at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia- USA, and later with the DAAD Scholarship to study with Robert Hill in Freiburg, Germany. Wanting a deeper insight into Early Music, Catalina is currently studying harpsichord with Andrea Marcon at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland, where enchanted by the world of medieval music, she pursues yet another Graduate Studies in late Medieval Keyboards with Corina Marti. In 2008 she won the 1st prize in the historical keyboards International Competition - 'Fritz Neumayer', Germany. Catalina performs as a soloist and with ensembles in the USA, South America and Europe. She has toured with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas in the main theaters of more than 8 countries and played under such well known conductors as Joseph Silverstein, Otto Werner Müller and J. Manuel Quintana. Besides playing in numerous Early Music Festivals, she has taken Master Classes with Gustav Leonhardt, Jesper Christensen, Guillermo Perez and David Catalunya among others. During her free time she enjoys going to metal concerts and practicing martial arts.
www.myspace.com/catalinavicens
Mark Lewon
Lute, medieval fiddle, gitterns
Marc Lewon specialises in medieval instruments of the lute family and medieval Germanic languages and literature. After gaining a Master's degree in musicology and medieval German from Heidelberg University (Germany), he moved to Basel to further his practical music studies in the Medieval Department of the Schola Cantorum. There he studied lute with Crawford Young, vielle with Randall Cook and singing with Kathleen Dineen. In 2006 he completed his diploma in medieval lute, graduating with honours. In 2007 he will conclude his studies in medieval fiddle and publish a facsimile edition of the fragmentary 'Frankfurt-Neidhart Manuscript' (c1300) containing early minnesang melodies.
He plays regularly with a number of ensembles including Freiburger Spielleyt, Dulce Melos, and Le Basile and is head of the project ensemble 'Leones'. Besides being a busy performer, he gives courses in medieval music and publishes articles and editions on the subject.
Ulrike Hofbauer
Soprano
Ulrike Hofbauer was born in Bavaria and studied singing and voice training at the Universities of Wurzburg and Salzburg and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basle. Ulrike now lives in Basle and has performed as a soloist with Singer Pur, Collegium Vocale Gent, L'Arpeggiata, La Chapelle Rhénane, Ensemble Modern, L'Orfeo Barockorchester and Cantus Cölln amongst others and been directed by Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt, Daniel Reuss, Manfred Cordes, Christoph Siebert and Jos van Veldhofen. She also devotes much of her energy to her own baroque ensemble savadi.
Teaching is also an important part of her life and has taken her to the Universities of Bogota and Minsk, the Bayerische Theaterakademie Munich and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. She has recently taken up the position as Baroque singing teacher at the University Mozarteum Salzburg-Innsbruck.
Theresia Boethe
Soprano
Theresia Bothe was born in Canada to an Irish mother and German father, and grew up in Mexico. Early on she developed a passion for singing, particularly popular and traditional music. She began formal voice studies in Mexico City, continued in London, in Trossingen, Germany and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, in Switzerland, specializing in music of earlier periods. She has performed frequently in Mexico and throughout Europe as a soloist, in ensembles or accompanying herself with guitar or lute. She enjoys performing all sorts of styles of music, from ancient Greek, through medieval, baroque, classical, opera, contemporary to folk, jazz or just free improvisation in formal and informal situations. Theresia Bothe now lives in Switzerland, where she also teaches voice and directs choirs and a-capella vocal ensembles. In addition to teaching and performing, she has founded M-CC (Music - a Chance for Change), an organization which intends to help integrate music into the work of human rights organizations and related independent projects.