Artists

Claire Smith Bermingham

Founding Director and Baroque Violin

Claire Smith Bermingham received her M.Mus. in violin performance at Boston Conservatory studying under David Kim and currently studies baroque violin with Judson Griffin. She has also taken baroque master classes with Rachel Podger, Marc Destrube, Julie Andrijeski, Marilyn McDonald and Cynthia Roberts. She has performed baroque violin with American Classical Orchestra, Siren Baroque, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Biber Baroque, La Fiocco, Dorian Baroque, Vilas Baroque, Big Apple Baroque, Vox Ama Deus, VOICES, The Yale Schola Cantorum and with Ensemble Leonarda, and on modern violin with Astoria Symphony, Sinfonia Celestis, Greenwich Symphony, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Di Capo Opera, Bronx Opera, Staten Island Philharmonic, Connecticut Grand Opera, and on Broadway. She is currently a regular sub for the long running Off-Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd" at the Barrow Street Theatre. Her chamber work includes Chamber 16 and the Cerulean String Quartet. Claire has performed with Sean “Puffy” Combs and “Father John Misty” on “Saturday Night Live,” “David Letterman,” and “The View,” and in concerts with “Mana.” She is violinist for Ritchie Blackmore’s band, “Blackmore’s Night.” Recordings on Shakira’s album, “She Wolf,” and on Blackmore’s Night’s “Dancer and the Moon," "Winter Carols," "All Our Yesterdays," and on Candice Night's "Starlight, Starbright." She has performed overseas with Blackmore’s Night in Germany, Russia, Ukraine, England, Scotland, Luxembourg, France, the Czech Republic and Holland, and on American tours.

Margret Hjaltested

Founding Director and Baroque Viola

Violist Margrét Hjaltested enjoys a diverse career as a performer and teacher. Born in Reykjavík, Iceland, she is currently based in New York City. Margrét has played with orchestras such as the New Jersey Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra and the Albany Symphony. As a baroque violist, she has performed with The American Classical Orchestra, Concert Royal and Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity. Margrét has toured internationally with the New York Symphonic Ensemble on its annual tour of the Far East, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Luciano Pavarotti´s International Farewell Tour and the award-winning Icelandic pop artist Björk. She is a member of the chamber ensemble Tre Colore and Chamber16. Margrét is on the faculty of Queens College, SummerKeys in Lubec, Maine and maintains a private violin/viola studio for adults in Queens, New York. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music. Her principal teachers were Karen Tuttle, Karen Ritscher, Joey Corpus and for historical performance, Nancy Wilson. Margrét has received the American Scandinavian Society´s Cultural Award for her musical contributions to the Scandinavian communities of New York and New Jersey.

Dan McCarthy

Baroque Violin

Dan McCarthy's playing has been simply described as “virtuosic” by Seen and Heard International. He was a part of the first class of baroque violists ever to be accepted into the historical performance program at The Juilliard School, where he was also often featured performing on baroque violin, viola d'amore, and viola da gamba. Currently, Dan enjoys a varied career that has taken him from Myanmar to the United Kingdom and all points in between. he has served as section violist with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, concertmaster of the Austin Baroque Orchestra, and tenor gambist with Parthenia. He has also performed and toured extensively throughout North America, East Asia, and Europe with Jordi Savall, Masaaki Suzuki, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and the American Bach Soloists. Here on the east coast he has played with Brooklyn Baroque, Big Apple Baroque, Yale Schola Cantorum, Dorian Baroque Ensemble, and New Vintage Baroque. Dan is currently engaged with the New York Classical Quartet, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, La Fiocco, and Queens Consort. Dan is also on faculty at the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine during his summers. Dan holds a D.M.A. and M.M. from the University of Maryland, a B.M. From the University of Michigan, and is an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy.

Aya Hamada

Harpsichord

Praised for her “graceful” (The New York Times) performance, Japanese-American harpsichordist Aya Hamada is an active recitalist, concerto soloist and continuo player. Currently she plays principal harpsichord for ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus and serves as organist at the L’Église Française du Saint Esprit. She has given numerous recitals in major venues throughout Japan as well as the US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, England, France, Spain and Italy, including a recital at the Peñíscola International Festival of Medieval and Baroque Music, and at the International Conference of the Historical Keyboard Society of North America (Montreal). She has made over three dozen appearances as concerto soloist on four continents. She has performed with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Company, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra (Japan), Sinfonietta Cracovia (Poland), Juilliard 415, Juilliard Symphony, appearing under conductors such as Jordi Savall, Nicolas McGegan, Harry Bicket and Masaaki Suzuki. The New York Times proclaimed “Ms. Hamada gave a deft account of Handel’s Concerto” about her performance with conductor William Christie in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. She “defined the torrent of notes beautifully for the ear, while never sacrificing virtuosity; her illuminating playing drew well-deserved cheers" (The Columbus Dispatch). Others have praised her “flawless technique” (The Boston Globe), and "superb command of the harpsichord” (The Springfield Republican). She premiered “Virginal” by Harold Meltzer with the New Juilliard Ensemble in 2010. Her debut album “Jacques Duphly: Pièces de clavecin” was released in April 2015, and was chosen as “Recording of the Month” in the MusicWeb International (July 2015) and the Record Geijutsu Magazine (June 2015). Aya Hamada won first prize in the London Music Festival Competition and second prize in the Josef Hofmann Piano Competition, and earned her master of music degree in the inaugural class of Historical Performance from the Juilliard School. She studied under Kenneth Weiss in New York and Skip Sempé in Paris, and has received additional coaching from Pierre Hantaï and Christophe Rousset. She resides in New York City.

Anneke Schaul-Yoder

Baroque Cello

Anneke Schaul-Yoder performs regularly at New York’s foremost venues in both modern and period styles. She is solo continuo cellist and artistic director for SIREN Baroque, the internationally acclaimed all-female early music ensemble. Anneke is also a member of the Piano Music & Song Trio, a trumpet/cello/piano trio that improvises over art songs, and Skid Rococo, a group with soprano and lute that performs derelict and touching songs of the 18th century. With pianist Derin Öge, Anneke presents eclectic chamber music for cello and piano. She also performs as solo cellist with the Morningside Opera Company, BalletNext, the Argento Chamber Ensemble, and other ensembles. A devoted educator, Anneke has maintained a private cello studio since 2003, is on the faculty at the Platte Clove School in New York, and organizes music outreach programs for other schools and libraries. Anneke has recordings on the Bridge, System Dialing, and Naxos labels, and records and collaborates with members of Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, Antibalas, and the Sway Machinery. Throughout 2013, Anneke presented all of Benjamin Britten’s string quartets at Lincoln Center. In 2012, she was a featured guest on A Prairie Home Companion, and in 2013 she appeared on Lincoln Center’s “American Songbook” series, televised on PBS. In 2009, Anneke was granted a fellowship for a four-month intensive study of Bach and Britten solo suites at the Banff Centre.

Guest Artists - 2015-2016

Daphna Mor

Recorder

Daphna Mor has performed throughout Europe and the United States as a soloist and as an ensemble player. Her appearances include solo recitals in Croatia, Germany and Switzerland; Recitals at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Trinity Church, New York; Duo recital with Nina Stern for Music Before 1800; Soloist with The New York Collegium (Andrew Parrot, conductor); Soloist with New York Early Music Ensemble (Fred Renz conductor); Soloist at Carnegie Hall with Little Orchestra Society. Orchestra member with the New York Philharmonic (Allen Gilbert, conductor); City Opera, Mostly Mozart. Lincoln Center; Trinity Church Baroque Orchestra. Ensemble player with Piffaro- The Renaissance Band and Repast; Awards include First Prize in Settimane Musicali di Lugano Solo Competition and two times winner of The Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition. Ms. Mor is frequently involved in performing of contemporary music. She was featured as a soloist with the The Metropolis Ensemble, performing the world premiere of ‘Tears, Puffes, Jumps, and Galliard’ by David Bruce written for her. In 2009 she joined St Luke’s Orchestra to perform the NY premiere of ‘The Flowering Tree”, composed and conducted by John Adams. Ms. Mor acts as Musician to the Education Department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is a frequent teacher in early music workshops around the US. Ms. Mor received her Bachelor of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory with highest honors as Valedictorian of her class. Ms. Mor is an active World Music musician as well. She has appeared on such prestigious stages as Summer Stage, Central Park, NY, and in festivals all over the Unites States, Canada, Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and Israel. She is a musician at residence at B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue in New York City- known for it’s innovative approach to musical services, and is the Music director of Beineinu (www.beineinu.org) where she introduces and teaches liturgical melodies from around the world. Daphna is co director along with Nina Stern of ‘East of the River’ an ensemble dedicated to performance of Medieval European and Eastern music including Armenian, Balkan and Middle Eastern repertoire. Their Latest CD, ‘Levantera’ was released in 2013. (www.eastoftherivermusic.com). East of the River was recently featured on WQXR Live from the Greene Space programming as well as prestigious festivals around United States. Among her many recordings, Ms. Mor appears on Sting’s CD "If On a Winter’s Night" on the Deutsche Gramophone label.

Dr. Lewis R. Baratz

Recorder

Lewis R. Baratz has performed as a recorder player and harpsichordist with Bethlehem Baroque, Biber Baroque, Voices Chorale, Vox Ama Deus, Voyces Choral Ensemble, and his own ensemble, La Fiocco. Lewis holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Case Western Reserve University and performance degrees from SUNY Buffalo and Southern Methodist University. As a musicologist, he authored over 20 articles on a wide range of musicological topics, including 15th-century dance music, 17th-century Roman keyboard music, biographical, archival, and manuscript studies, basso continuo, and the choirboys of the Brussels Collegiate Church of SS Michael and Gudula, ca. 1550 to 1793, and has contributed numerous entries to The New Grove Dictionary of Music. He researched for two years in Brussels, Belgium, as a Fulbright Scholar and Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation. Back in the US, following a 20-year stint in the IT business as a project manager, he taught at Mercer County Community College and the Doylestown Conservatory of Music, and is currently a visiting professor of music at Seton Hall University. His radio show, Well-Tempered Baroque, can be heard Fridays at 11 PM and Mondays at 2 PM on WWFM, and as webcasts at WWFM.org anytime.

PRESS:

“…Recorder virtuoso” (NY times)

“ The astonishing virtuosity of recorder player Daphna Mor stood out” (Chicago Tribune)

“...The stand-out performance of the evening was Daphna Mor's... The audience shouted its approval." (The New York Stringer)

“Daphna Mor, originally from Tel Aviv, Israel, leaves all who witness her playing with a smiling jaw-dropped” (MSN music)

“...Daphna Mor, an excellent recorder player... Seldom sounds Baroque music so lively, so captivating. There is no dry scholarly approach or boring rigidity here.” (“Wiesbaden tagblatt” Germany)

“The fact that the recorder can be played ... in a highly virtuoso way, was proved by the Israeli Artist Daphna Mor... Mor convinced the audience through sure technique, rich tones and neatly inserted ornaments (“Kurier”, Wiesbaden, Germany.)

Amanda Sidebottom

Soprano

As a singer, soprano Amanda Sidebottom combines her passion for the written word with her first love, music. Praise for her clear tone and interpretative skills, she has made solo appearances with the Mark Morris Dance Group, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Amor Artis, and chamber ensembles The Soul’s Delight and Brooklyn Baroque. As an ensemble singer, she has appeared with the Trinity Choir, the Choir of St. Luke in the Fields, and the American Classical Orchestra as well as Seraphic Fire, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Yale Choral Artists. Her duo with lutenist Erik Ryding has toured in the U.S. and abroad and received a warm reception to their debut album Great Wonder (Quill Classics), featuring lute songs by Dowland, Campion, and Danyel. Amanda is delighted to make her first appearance with The Queen’s Consort. amandasidebottom.com

Guest Artists - 2016-2017

Carlene Stober

Baroque Cello

Carlene Stober is a member of Empire Viols, Abendmusik and the Grenser Trio; she was continuo cellist for Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity for 15 years. In addition to performing with many other ensembles, she has appeared on Prairie Home Companion, was featured musician in Theatre for a New Audience’s production of “Pericles” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and has performed with the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Carlene is a member of the Saratoga Opera Featival Orchestra and has performed at the Manitou Chamber Music Festival in Colorado. She served as principal cellist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and performed throughout the U.S. as a member of the Delphi String Quartet. Carlene has designed sound for several productions of the Snarks, a theater group, and is an adjunct music librarian at New York University and the Morgan Library. She holds bachelors and masters degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music.

Tatiana Daubek

Baroque Violin

Tatiana Daubek plays regularly as concertmaster for New York’s oldest Bach cantata series, Bach Vespers Holy Trinity. In addition, she performs with the American Classical Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Musica Angelica/Wiener Akademie, and Trinity Baroque Orchestra. Ms. Daubek is a founding member of House of Time, a chamber ensemble with a thriving series in Manhattan dedicated to performing music on period instruments. Ms. Daubek has taken part in multiple tours across North and South America with Musica Angelica/Wiener Akademie of The Infernal Comedy and The Giacomo Variations starring John Malkovich. Ms. Daubek helped start the Festival Jarmily Novotne, a festival in the Czech Republic commemorating the life of star soprano and grandmother, Jarmila Novotna. She has collaborated abroad with the Czech ensemble, Musica Florea and was a featured soloist broadcast live on Czech Radio. Daubek holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Boston University and The Juilliard School. Aside from music, Tatiana is also a photographer specializing in portraiture and street photography.

Guest Artists - 2017-2018

Patricia Ann Neely

Violone

PATRICIA ANN NEELY has appeared with many early music ensembles including, the Folger Consort, Smithsonian Chamber Players, the New York Collegium, the Washington Bach Consort, Amor Artis, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, the Boston Camerata, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, The Newberry Consort, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, The New York Consort of Viols, and Early Music New York, among others. She is a founding member of the viol consort Parthenia and now the Director of the early music string band, Abendmusik. She spent three years touring with the acclaimed European-based medieval ensemble, Sequentia on the medieval fiddle performing throughout Europe and North America, at festivals including, Oude Muziek - Utrecht, Bach Tage – Berlin, Alte Musik – Herne, Wratislavia Cantans - Poland, Music Before 1800, and The Vancouver Early Music Festival. She began playing the viol at Vassar College and continued her studies, earning an MFA in Historical Performance at Sarah Lawrence College, with additional studies in Belgium with Wieland Kuijken. She has recorded for Arabesque, Allegro, Musical Heritage, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Ex Cathedra, Classic Masters, Erato, Lyrichord, and Music Masters labels. Ms. Neely has been a member of the faculty at the Amherst Early Music Summer Festival, the Viola da Gamba Society of America Conclaves, Viola da Gamba Society of both New England and New York workshops, Pinewoods Early Music Workshop and is currently on the faculty of The Brearley School where she teaches recorder, double bass and coaches an early string repertoire ensemble. Ms. Neely was the Executive Director of the Connecticut Early Music Society and Festival from 2012 until 2015.

Marina Fragoulis

Baroque Violin

Marina Fragoulis is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. She performs with Cecilia’s Chorus & Orchestra, Westchester Chamber Symphony, Astoria Symphony, Martina Arroyo Foundation, and the Monmouth Civic Chorus, and is a member of SIREN Baroque. She has given recitals at Gracie Mansion and the Greek Orthodox Archdioceses, and has collaborated with members of the Berlin Philharmonic and I Cameristi di Fiesole at the Harmonia Mundi Festival in Italy. Marina is the artistic director of Dorian Baroque, a conductorless orchestra that performs on period instruments. Dorian Baroque has established itself as a leading early-music organization in NY, presenting concerts with internationally renowned artists and nurturing a series of educational outreach programs for young performers. In February 2018 the orchestra will perform the world’s longest surviving opera, L’Euridice by Giulio Caccini, presented by Cantanti Project. Marina is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music where she was a student of David Nadien. dorianbaroque.org

Emily Hale

Baroque Violin

Emily Hale is a Boston-based violinist specializing in historical performance. She enjoys exploring the context in which music was created, performing on period instruments and producing concert events and collaborative projects that explore the past and the world around us, bringing old music to new audiences.

Emily performs with The Sebastians, Grand Harmonie, members of the Arcadia Players, the American Baroque Orchestra, and served as assistant concertmaster of the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Nicholas McGegan. She has appeared with the Four Nations Ensemble, Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra and Aulos Ensemble. In Europe, she has performed with the Early Opera Company, Jeune Orchestra Atlantique, and members of Florilegium, as well as at the London Handel Festival, Valletta International Baroque Festival, St. George’s Hanover Square and the National Gallery (London).

Emily won the McKenna Prize for Baroque Music, performed on BBC Chanel 4, was a soloist in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Aston Magna, and viola d’amore soloist with the Royal College of Music Baroque Orchestra. A versatile and adventurous musician, she has commissioned new works for period instruments as a founding member of Consort 21. Her interdisciplinary concert experience Vanitas: Catch It While You Can explores live and recorded performance through music and art of the 17th century and today, and was featured in the Royal College of Music’s Great Exhibitionists series.

Committed to sharing music through education as well as performance, Emily joined the faculty of the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department as a baroque ensembles coach while still a graduate student. She has developed and presented an award-winning series of “Pajama Concerts” for children, created interactive baroque workshops for young musicians, and helped lead workshops with the BBC Proms, at community centers, in museums and schools. Emily teaches violin privately at the South Shore Conservatory and All Newton Music School and coaches chamber music each summer at the Elizabethtown College Music Camp. Emily holds an MPerf in Historical Performance with Distinction from the Royal College of Music in London, as well as degrees in Violin Performance from Houghton College (BMus) and Penn State University (MMus). Her teachers principal have included Catherine Martin, Cynthia Roberts, Adrian Butterfield, Julie Andrijeski, James Lyon and Lin He.

Brittany Palmer

Soprano

Soprano, Brittany Palmer, was trained at Florida State University and the Eastman School of Music, where she collaborated with renowned lutenist, Paul O’Dette. Brittany has

performed in prestigious venues across the country including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). She was praised in the NY Times for being a “solicitous vixen” as Venus in Morningside Opera’s burlesque

adaptation of The Judgment of Paris. She reprised the role of Venus for Austin McCormick’s Company XIV production, Judge Me Paris. Brittany is a proud member of Siren Baroque and regularly performs early and contemporary music throughout NYC. Additionally, Brittany is a speech pathologist who specializes in voice disorders and teaches voice acoustics at Yeshiva University.