Hailed as “a powerhouse of great playing” (Classical Voice of North Carolina) Ensemble Chaconne performs widely in the U.S and abroad. Founded in 1985, the group is celebrating their 41st season. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, they’ll perform at the Hearst Center as part of a weeklong tour in Iowa and Illinois.
The ensemble (Peter H. Bloom, baroque flute; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba; and Olav Chris Henriksen, baroque lute) will transport the audience to the salons and palaces of 18th century Europe with The Glorious Ones – Treasures by the Late Baroque Masters. The program will showcase gems by J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann and other leading composers. EarRelevant hailed the concert, saying: “Each of Ensemble Chaconne’s performers brought their unique flair to these Baroque masterpieces.”
Ensemble Chaconne’s career includes concerts for The National Gallery in London, The National Music Museum in Vermillion South Dakota, The Nielsen Series at Grand View University in Des Moines, The Morton Arboretum Chamber Concerts in Chicago, The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Florida, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, The Yale Center for British Art, Jordan Hall in Boston, Connecticut Early Music Festival, and The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, to name a few.
Other concerts in Ensemble Chaconne's Iowa tour include The Fine Arts Series at Westminster Presbyterian in Des Moines on Sunday November 15 at 2 pm; Simpson College in Indianola on Monday, November 16 at 7:00 pm; Solera Wine Bar in Grinnell on Tuesday November 17 at 6:30 pm; and The Chapel at Mount Carmel Bluffs in Dubuque on Wednesday November 18 at 1:30 pm. For information, contact the group's manager Rebecca DeLamotte of Americas Musicworks at 617-947-5548 or rhd at amwks dot com
Peter H. Bloom, baroque flute, performs in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East; appears on 49 recordings; is contributing editor for Noteworthy Sheet Music; and is a winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award. His playing has been called “brightly gorgeous” (Gapplegate Music Review), “breathtaking” (Ivan Rod Review, Denmark), and “a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength” (The Boston Globe). His performances on historical flutes include programs for Animusic Portugal, The New York Flute Club, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The American Musical Instrument Society, The Metropolitan Museum, and The National Flute Association, among others. He holds an MM with distinction in baroque flute performance from New England Conservatory and a BA (Philosophy) from Boston University.
Olav Chris Henriksen, acclaimed in Europe and North America as a soloist on lute, theorbo and early guitars, is also a sought-after ensemble player, performing with Boston Camerata, Handel & Haydn Society, Waverly Consort, and Chanticleer, among others. He has recorded for Centaur, Museum Music, Nonesuch, Erato, Pro Musica, Telarc and Decca. He has lectured at Harvard University, Northeastern University, the Nelson Atkins Museum (Kansas City), and Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and has taught at Boston Conservatory and University of Southern Maine. The Boston Herald praised his playing, saying, “Henriksen was able to dazzle with his virtuosity in the fantastical figurations of John Dowland’s solo Fantasy for lute and Kapsberger’s similarly brilliant Toccata prima.”
Carol Lewis has been called a “zestful and passionate champion” of the viola da gamba. She has performed as a soloist in the U.S. and abroad, and has toured internationally with Hespèrion, Boston Camerata, Capriccio Stravagante and other notables. She appeared with Boston Camerata at The Cloisters (New York) and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, among many other venues. She has recorded on Astrée, EMI, Lyrichord, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, and other labels, and has taught at Festival dei Saraceni (Pamparato, Italy), Milano Civica Scuola di Musica (Italy), New England Conservatory of Music, Amherst Early Music and elsewhere. The Boston Herald called her playing “brilliantly florid,” and the Centre Presse (Poitiers, France) admired her “technique and musicality, her breathtaking dexterity.”