Tag: Harpsichord

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Leaf Music and Infusion Baroque Present: East is East

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgement Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, through they come from the ends of the earth!

– Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West (1889)

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Canadian Baroque ensemble Infusion Baroque announce the launch of East is East (LM276), available March 15 in both digital and physical copies. East is East is a transcultural collaboration drawing on both ancient and contemporary inspiration from the East and the West. Offering a fresh approach to music on Baroque instruments and historical performance practice, this new recording is sure to delight fans of early music and Hindustani, Turkish and Persian traditions. Joining the quartet ensemble are guest musicians Amir Amiri (santur and composer), Vidita Kanniks (vocals), Thibault Bertin-Maghit (double bass), Hamin Honari (tombak and daf), Hank Knox (harpsichord), and Shawn Mativetsky (tabla).

Infusion Baroque (infusionbaroque.com) draws new audiences to early music through a truly captivating concert experience, deftly combining seasoned musicianship with storytelling elements. Playing music of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries on historical instruments, the four women of Infusion Baroque enthrall audiences across North America with their creative and interactive programming. Founded in 2013, Infusion Baroque won the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the Early Music America’s Baroque Performance Competition in 2014. Since then, they have performed extensively in North America with series such as the Montreal Baroque Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Stratford Summer Music, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), San Francisco Early Music Society, Indianapolis Early Music, Houston Early Music, and the Gotham Early Music Scene in New York City.  

Their performances have been described as “dynamic and alive” (Early Music America) with “polish, energy, and finely honed style … merrily breaking established traditions” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Their research and creative programs focus not only on important figures of the past, but also relatively unknown composers and musicians. They have released three albums with the Leaf Music; their second album, Kreüsser, features world-premiere recordings of Georg Anton Kreüsser’s Op. 10 quintets and was nominated for a Prix Opus Album of the Year.  Since 2017, one of their main initiatives has been The Virtuosa Project, a series of concerts, lectures, videos, and recordings highlighting historical female musicians. Their third album, Virtuosa, consisted of works composed or performed by women from the seventeenth to twenty-first centuries, and reached over 500K streams within the first six months of release.  

The album was recorded in April of 2023 at Studios Piccolo in Montreal, produced by Jeremy Van Slyke with recording by Veronica Galicia Lopez and editing and mixing by Nathan Cann.

We acknowledge the support of FACTOR and the Canada Council for the Arts with this project.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distribution Presents Space Time Continuo and terra e cielo

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording, terra e cielo (STC2024) from Montreal’s Space Time Continuo baroque bass ensemble. This captivating album, to be released on March 8, re-imagines Italian vocal and instrumental music spanning the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. It features works by Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, Diego Ortiz, Giulio and Francesca Caccini and Girolamo Frescobaldi.  

Created in 2019 and directed by cellist Amanda Keesmaat, the fluid personnel of Space Time Continuo perform on plucked strings, keyboards, and low-pitched bowed and wind instruments. Terra e cielo features musicians Amanda Keesmaat (cello and lirone); Antoine Malette-Chénier (triple harp); Karim Nasr (dulcian); Jessica Korotkin (cello and viola da gamba); Christophe Gauthier (harpsichord and organ); Sylvain Bergeron (archlute); and a cameo from Vincent Lauzer (bass recorder). A new addition to the ensemble, a lirone made by Francis Beaulieu in 2023, provides an auditory window into the divine, depicting heavenly scenes that were commonly presented in early Italian works. This lirone (or lira da gamba) is a string instrument used to realize figured bass with fifteen gut strings and fretted neck. When played, it’s held between the legs like a cello or viola da gamba. 

The album was recorded at Oscar Peterson Hall, Concordia University, Montreal and was produced by and supported by CALQ (Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec) and the Canada Council for the Arts. This is the third album from this ensemble; learn more at spacetimecontinuo.com.

Listen to terra e cielo wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/stc2024.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distribution Presents Anders Muskens and Eclectic New Early Music, Army of Generals Volume II

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of two distribution from early music specialist Anders Muskens. The two recordings are all being released on December 1.

Anders Muskens is a Canadian early keyboard specialist and ensemble director, who performs throughout North America and Europe. One of his two new releases, Army of Generals Volume II: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778, revives the eighteenth-century’s Mannheim Court Orchestra. Revered across Europe as one of the finest musical institutions of its day, the revolutionary style of the orchestra’s composers coupled with its awe-inducing performances inspired an entire musical generation, including Mozart. The Mannheim court sought to create a harmonious society built on knowledge, reason, and artistic expression. Composers Anton Fils, Johann Stamitz, Christian Cannabich, Nicolo Jommelli, Gian Francesco de Majo and Anton Schweitzer are featured with the Neue Mannheimer Orchester, Muskens on harpsichord, concertmaster Mojca Gal and Elisabeth Hetherington (Canadian soprano). The CD was recorded at the German Evangelical Church in The Hague, Netherlands, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Listen to Army of Generals Volume II: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778 wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/dnmo003.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell). 

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Leaf Music, Dorian Bandy Present: “Lovers and Mourners: Variations and Sonatas from Seventeenth-Century Germany”

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Dorian Komanoff Bandy is thrilled to present Lovers and mourners: Variations and Sonatas from Seventeenth-Century Germany, his first record on Leaf Music, set to be released on August 18, 2023. Recorded at Église St-Augustin in Quebec, the album is an exploration of one of the most fertile periods for the development of violin writing and performing. Bandy draws on some of the periods’ most sombre, meditative works to deliver an album of refined elegance and measured delivery, featuring himself (baroque violin), Hank Knox (harpsichord) and Elinor Frey (viola da gamba). 

Lovers and Mourners focuses on three seventeenth century composer-performers: Johann Jakob Walther, Heinrich Biber, and Johann Georg Pisendel. Bandy guides the listener through a series of variation sets and themes, simultaneously offering faithful interpretations of the music while injecting his own unique touch. Speaking about the creation of the album, Bandy says, “These composers created a body of work that is by turns quirky, beguiling, heartfelt, and brazenly virtuosic.  It deserves far wider appreciation than it has so far received.”

Dorian Bandy is a musicologist and performer specializing in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. He is the author of Mozart the Performer, as well as numerous academic articles.  He leads a vibrant career as a conductor, baroque violinist, and historical keyboardist, with a repertoire spanning four centuries and performances – acclaimed for their vitality, drama, and warmth — that have taken him to venues across Europe and North America, including London’s Wigmore and Cadogan Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and New York’s Symphony Space. This recording was made possible thanks to an SSHRC Development Grant. 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Infusion Baroque releases New Single: “Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17”

Halifax, NS – Leaf Music announces the release of Infusion Baroque’s new single
Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17 on May 13, 2022. Infusion Baroque’s new single release from
the album “Virtuosa” arrives today. Infusion Baroque offers their interpretation of one of
Clara Schumann’s masterpieces, Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17. Schumann’s
compositional skill is accentuated by Infusion Baroque’s deft treatment of the intricacies
and nuances of the composition.


The four-movement piece Piano Trio in G minor marks the sixth and final single of a
series of releases for Infusion Baroque’s album Virtuosa, to be released June 24, 2022. The
2-disc recording encompasses 15 works that were either composed or performed by women,
with all of the pieces recorded on historical instruments.


About Infusion Baroque
Infusion Baroque draws new audiences to early music through a truly captivating concert
experience, deftly combining seasoned musicianship with theatrical elements. Playing music
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on historical instruments, the four women of
Infusion Baroque enthrall audiences across North America with their creative and interactive
programming.



Infusion Baroque: Piano Trio In G Minor, Op 17
Release date: May 27, 2022

Infusionbaroque.com


MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew Brown | andrew@leaf-music.ca |

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New Release by Infusion Baroque | Anna Bon di Venezia

For immediate release (Halifax)…March 18, 2022. Leaf Music is thrilled to announce Infusion Baroque’s newest single: “Divertimento No. 3 in D minor, Op. 3” composed by Anna Bon. 

Anna Bon di Venezia was an accomplished 18th-century singer, harpsichordist and composer, who spent a lifetime in good musical company. She studied music at the famed Ospedale della pietá, was supported by Wilhelmine von Bayreuth in becoming chamber music virtuoso at the Prussian court, and worked with Haydn at the Esterházy court. The style of her compositions reflect a time of transition from the Baroque to Classical, and include Six Divertimenti for two flutes & basso continuo, Six Harpsichord Sonatas, and Six Chamber sonatas for flute & harpsichord.

(Illustration – Parissa Mohit)

“Divertimento No. 3 in D minor, Op. 3” marks the fourth single of a series of releases for Infusion Baroque’s album Virtuosa, to be released June 10, 2021. The 2-disc recording encompasses 15 works that were either composed or performed by women, and recorded on historical instruments. 

Since 2017, one of Infusion Baroque’s primary initiatives has been The Virtuosa Project, a series of concerts, lectures, and web videos dedicated to women musicians of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. This project, which highlights over a dozen relatively unknown women who made substantial contributions to Western classical music, has generated a great amount of interest at a local and international level, resulting in requests from international presenters for the ensemble to tour the Virtuosa program in the United States, France and the U.K.  

The CD will include a comprehensive booklet and companion website which will include stories, images, and archival material pertaining to the women featured on the recording. The objective is to provide cultural and socio-economic context for the women’s lives as well as for their music, and to highlight their accomplishments in the face of adversity. Many of the featured women were pioneers in their field.

Infusion Baroque draws new audiences to early music through a truly captivating concert experience, deftly combining seasoned musicianship with theatrical elements. Playing music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on historical instruments, the four women of Infusion Baroque enthrall audiences across North America with their creative and interactive programming.

Infusion Baroque’s performances have been described as “dynamic and alive” (Early Music America) with “polish, energy, and finely-honed style… merrily breaking established traditions” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Winners of the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the 2014 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, the ensemble charms audiences with its dynamic programs such as “Who Killed Leclair?” (an interactive murder mystery soirée based on the unsolved murder of the famous musician); “Rebels and Rivalries” (featuring scandalous stories from the lives of great composers); and “Son of a Bach!” (narrating the multigenerational saga of the famous musical family).

Infusion Baroque has released two recordings with the Canadian label Leaf Music to critical acclaim. The ensemble’s latest album, a world-premiere recording of quintets by Georg Anton Kreüsser, was nominated for an Opus Prize by the Conseil Québecois de la musique.  According to Fanfare, “the playing of these musicians … is superb. They play with a liveliness and unforced energy that seems to grow naturally out of the music… combining spontaneity and abandon with technical perfection.” The ensemble’s debut recording of trio sonatas by C.P.E. Bach was described as “real baroque … gripping and full of character” (Radio-Canada).Since 2017, Infusion Baroque has been exploring the lives of historical women performers through The Virtuosa Project. Fascinated by the great number of women who made their mark as musical performers despite considerable barriers and stigma, Infusion Baroque devoted an entire concert season in 2018-19 to exploring their lives and music. The ensemble also produced a web series which tells the story of four female musicians of the past, and is looking forward to producing a CD recording and documentary on this exciting topic to be released in 2021. (photo – Danylo Bobyk)

Infusion Baroque: “Divertimento No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 3”
Release date: March 18, 2022
Digital Release
Stream/Download HERE
For MEDIA ONLY – Download
pwd: agricola2526

infusionbaroque.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Catherine Little | catherine@leaf-music.ca | leaf-music.ca 

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Hank Knox | Scarlatti: Essercizi Per Gravicembalo

October 1, 2021 (Halifax) Award-winning artist and early-music musician Hank Knox is pleased to present Scarlatti: Essercizi Per Gravicembalo, released through Halifax-based record label Leaf Music. Like so many musicians, Knox found himself with a lot of time on his hands during the pandemic. He spent the past 10 months completely immersed in Domenico Scarlatti’s only authorized publication, a collection of thirty sonatas first published in 1739 in London, England.  Knox’s recording of the Essercizi Per Gravicembalo offers the listener a deep dive into Scarlatti’s richly inventive and imaginative musical world. Essercizi Per Gravicembalo, meaning “Exercises for Harpsichord,” is a virtuosic collection that has been in uninterrupted print since its publication 275 years ago. The collection was dedicated to King John V of Portugal, father of Scarlatti’s longtime pupil and patron, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain. Essercizi Per Gravicembalo was recorded by Hank Knox in April 2021 at Église St. Augustin, Mirabel, QC.

“Hank Knox reveals virtuosity, imagination and a keen sense of rhythm.”

— Musica Sett (Italy)

Hailed internationally for his “colorful, kinetic performances,” Hank Knox performs on harpsichord in concert halls, churches, museums, galleries and homes around the globe. A founding member of Montreal’s Arion Baroque Orchestra, with whom he has toured North and South America, Europe, and Japan, Knox also regularly performs and tours with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, among other groups, ensembles and orchestras. 

He has released a number of acclaimed recordings on rare antique instruments as well as copies of historical instruments. He teaches in the Early Music program at McGill University where he conducts the McGill Baroque Orchestra. He has directed a great number of Baroque operas for Opera McGill, including Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Monteverdi’s Poppea and Handel’s Agrippina, Giulio Cesare, Alcina and Rinaldo.

Hank Knox collaborates regularly with Canadian violinist, Mark Fewer. Their complete recording of the J.S Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019 was released on Leaf Music in 2017. The Vivaldi: Manchester Sonatas were arranged and recorded by Fewer and Knox and were released on Leaf Music in 2020. This is the first recording of the works by Canadian artists.

Website / Facebook

Hank Knox | Scarlatti: Essercizi Per Gravicembalo
Release date: Oct 1, 2021
Physical/Digital Release
Listen/Buy HERE

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Mark Fewer, violin Hank Knox, harpsichord Present: Vivaldi’s “Manchester Sonatas”

Exceptional Duo Becomes First Canadian Artists to Record Exquisite Sonatas Unearthed from a Manchester, UK Library in 1973.

“I’d be glad to hear these gentlemen play anything … they make me want to hear whatever else they want to do. The
ensemble and intonation are perfect …” – American Record Guide


Leaf Music is proud to present a new recording of Vivaldi’s Manchester Sonatas featuring violinist Mark Fewer and harpsichordist Hank Knox. This is the first Canadian recording of the “Manchester” sonatas of Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), a masterful collection of 12 works brought to light only in 1973. A follow up to their acclaimed 2018 recording of the Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord by J.S. Bach, this new recording from Fewer and Knox is available as of January 17, 2020.
These remarkable sonatas changed a great many hands over the centuries. When Cardinal Ottoboni – a patron of Vivaldi’s – died in 1740, a large number of manuscripts from his private collection were purchased by English classical scholar Edward Holdsworth. These manuscripts were then passed on to Charles Jennens, librettist of Handel’s Messiah. The scores came into the possession of several more collectors before coming to auction at Sotheby’s in London in 1918 and were acquired by renowned musicologist Newman Flower. When Flower died in 1964, his musical holdings were purchased by the Manchester Public Library, attracting the international attention of scholars and the media alike; Flower’s reputation as an eminent Handel scholar implied that important revelations concerning the musical giant were forthcoming.
However, a nearly exclusive focus on Handel resulted in the neglect of some of the other manuscripts, including these sonatas by Vivaldi which, despite being housed in Manchester’s Henry Watson Music Library from 1965 onward, were only discovered by British musicologist Michael Talbot in 1973.
The 12 “Manchester” sonatas, heard on the new album as arranged and recorded by Fewer and Knox in January 2019 at Eglise St. Augustin in Mirabel, Quebec, represent a high point of Vivaldi’s chamber music. The violin part offers complex compound melodies while the bass focuses primarily on its harmonic role, with both instruments free to improvise on the written score. Gramophone calls the sonatas “music of great beauty and vitality which will delight most if not all lovers of the late baroque.”
Known for his exceptional versatility, violinist Mark Fewer has been described as “intrepid” (The Globe and Mail) and “profound” (The WholeNote). His musical diet includes performances from the early baroque to the avantgarde, performing worldwide in famous halls such as Wigmore, Carnegie, and Pleyel, to smaller venues such as Le Poisson Rouge (NY), Bartok House (Budapest), and The Forum (Taipei). As a soloist, he has performed with the symphonies of Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec, San Francisco and Melbourne, as well as with groups such as the Fodens-Richardson Brass Band (UK), the Zapp Quartet (Amsterdam), and as a featured guest with Stevie Wonder and his band. He was a founding member of the Duke Piano Trio, has been a member of the Smithsonian Chamber Players for over 15 years, and was violinist with the St. Lawrence String Quartet at Stanford University. Artistic Director of the SweetWater Music Festival for 16 years, Fewer was appointed Artistic Director of Stratford Summer Music in 2019. A Juno and Prix Opus winner, he is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto.
Hailed internationally for his “colorful, kinetic performances,” Hank Knox performs on harpsichord in concert halls, churches, museums, galleries and homes around the globe. A founding member of Montreal’s Arion Baroque Orchestra, with whom he has toured North and South America, Europe, and Japan, Knox also regularly performs and tours with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, among other groups, ensembles and orchestras. He has released a number of acclaimed recordings on rare antique instruments as well as copies of historical instruments. He teaches in the Early Music program at McGill University where he conducts the McGill Baroque Orchestra and has also directed a great number of baroque operas.

Download or stream Vivaldi Manchester Sonatas here