Biographies

Photo: Sheila Newberry

Passamezzo Moderno, founded in 2005, is a period ensemble that performs the music of three centuries, from 1530 to 1830, and specializes in the virtuoso instrumental music of the 17th century. Its members are David Granger, dulcian and bassoon, Jonathan Davis, harpsichord and organ, and Edwin Huizinga and Adriane Post, violins. Passamezzo Moderno has performed for the San Francisco Early Music Society, Berkeley Chamber Performances, the Universities of California in Berkeley and Davis, California State University, Stanislaus, and numerous chamber music series throughout northern California. Its first CD was released in 2008 to popular acclaim. Passamezzo Moderno is an affiliate of San Francisco Early Music Society and a member of Early Music America.

David Granger received his Bachelor of Music in 1973 and his Master of Music in 1975 from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Mr. Granger was principal bassoonist of the Sacramento Symphony from 1981 until 1996. In 1983 he began teaching at the University of California, Davis, and, in 1985, became coordinator of the music department's student chamber music program. Mr. Granger works as a freelance musician performing in orchestras throughout northern California. He currently holds positions as principal bassoonist of the Sacramento Philharmonic, the Napa Valley, Modesto and Fremont Symphonies, and is a member of the Oakland East Bay and the Marin Symphonies. He joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000. Mr. Granger attended Indiana University's Early Music Institute and received a Performer Diploma in baroque bassoon in 2004. He performs on a copy of a 17th century dulcian made by Leslie Ross, NYC, 2000 and a baroque bassoon made by by Guntram Wolf, 2003, and copied after an instrument with the initials HKICW.

A native of Berkeley, California, Jonathan Davis holds a Master of Music degree in harpsichord performance from the Mannes College of Music in New York City where his principal teachers included Arthur Haas and Myron Lutzky. In New York, Jonathan performed, with the New York Continuo Collective under the direction of Stephen Stubbs, La Rappresentatione de Anima, e di Corpo by Caelliere, on period instruments. While an undergraduate at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mr. Davis was Laurette Goldberg's teaching assistant.  Mr. Davis is the recipient of outstanding performance awards from the Mu Phi Epsilon Honors Foundation, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Mannes College of Music. As the winner of the 2003 Indiana University Baroque concerto competition, Jonathan was a featured soloist with the IU Baroque Orchestra. Mr. Davis has performed throughout Italy as a soloist and chamber musician, most recently at the Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori, Florence, Italy.

Performing both baroque and modern repertoire, Edwin Huizinga enjoys collaborating with musicians worldwide. Next season Edwin will be touring North America, Europe and Asia with Tafelmusik and playing with the Aradia ensemble. Edwin has also been invited to guest direct the Atlanta Baroque orchestra and the Note Bene ensemble. Edwin will also be performing across North America with his chamber ensemble, the Silver Line. Season highlights will include performing with violinist Mark Fewer and the Da Camera Society in Los Angeles. Last season, Edwin was guest soloist with the San Bernardino Symphony, and performed with the Broken Social Scene, as well as Tafelmusik. Edwin has a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The "Puslinch Pioneer" wrote "[Mr. Huizinga's] ambition is to bring classical music to the attention of younger people in such a way that makes it more appealing to them. It was a wonderful, magical evening of music." Edwin also has recently recorded albums with the Mars Volta, the Wooden Sky, Nathan Lawr, and others. Edwin Huizinga currently resides in Toronto, Canada, where he is excited about Toronto's Chapter of the Classical Revolution, which is starting to come into fruition after almost 4 years of success in San Francisco where it started. Edwin plays on an original, although anonymous, Italian, 18th century violin. http://www.edwinhuizinga.com

Adriane Post lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is a member of baroque ensembles across the US, including Apollo's Fire in Cleveland and New Trinity Baroque in Atlanta. Adriane regularly performs with the Handel and Haydn Society, Concert Royal, Arcadia Players, Foundling, L'Academie, Trinity Wall Street, and has toured across the United States and Europe. Recent touring appearances this season include Grand-Théâtre de l'Opera in Bordeaux, and Grande Auditório in Lisbon as well as performances from Boston and Toronto to L.A. Based in New York, Adriane also freelances on the modern violin and is a member of the Knights, an adventurous chamber orchestra with a mission of innovative programming. US festival engagements include North Carolina's Magnolia Baroque Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, and the Piccolo Spoleto. Adriane received her master's degree from the Juilliard School on the Baroque violin, a graduate of the institution's first class in Historical Performance, studying with Monica Huggett and Cynthia Roberts. She completed her undergraduate degree in modern violin at Oberlin Conservatory studying with Marilyn McDonald. From Burlington, Vermont, Adriane performs on an 18th century violin that belonged to her great-grandmother.

GUEST ARTISTS

Photo: Robert Peterson

I-90 Collective

The I-90 Collective is quickly establishing itself as one the Northwest's premier chamber ensembles. With a repertoire extending from the very dawn of the baroque era to the works of Bach and Boccherini, the I-90 Collective's fresh, improvisatory style blends the virtuosity of violin and cello with the intimacy of voice and lute. Founded in 2009 on the interstate highway that links Seattle, WA and Bozeman, MT, the Collective is comprised of four of America's busiest baroque soloists, performing extensively across the country and abroad, and with many of America's leading period-instrument ensembles, including the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, New Trinity Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra and Magnolia Baroque."

Canadian soprano Linda Tsatsanis enjoys an active and diverse career. Hailed as "ravishing" (New York Times) and possessing a voice with "crystalline purity" (Seattle Times), Ms. Tsatsanis' career spans the concert hall, opera stage, and performance in movies and television. Ms. Tsatsanis has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Auburn Symphony, Orchestra Seattle, and Pacific Baroque Orchestra and has made recent appearances at the Magnolia Baroque Festival as well as the Indianapolis, Boston and Bloomington Early Music Festivals. She keeps a demanding performance schedule in the Pacific Northwest in addition to performances around the United States and Canada. Ms. Tsatsanis holds degrees from the University of Toronto and Indiana University. She has a solo album with Origin Classical, And I Remain: Three Love Stories, described as a "seductive recital of the darker sides of 17th-century love" (Gramophone), and can also be heard on recordings by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Naxos. Ms. Tsatsanis is a member of Plaine & Easie, winners of the 2009 Early Music America Renaissance Competition. Currently, Ms. Tsatsanis lives in Seattle where she studies with Joyce Guyer.

John Lenti has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician on lute and theorbo across the United States and abroad, and his performances have been broadcast on "Performance Today" and "Harmonia." His playing has been hailed as "a joy to behold" (Seattle Times) and praised for its "nuanced beauty and character" (Gramophone). His recording credits include And I remain..., an album of lute songs and lute solos with soprano Linda Tsatsanis, Division with Ostraka and The Amorous Lyre with La Monica. John has been assistant music director and plays continuo for the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and is a founding member of the ensembles Plaine & Easie and the I-90 Collective, and he maintains a busy freelance career on both coasts. He studied lute with Nigel North, Jacob Heringman, and Elizabeth Kenny and holds degrees from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Indiana University. John Lenti's theorbo was made in London in 2001 by Klaus Jacobsen after Italian models.

Carrie Krause serves as concertmaster of the Bozeman Symphony and a member of the Meritage String Quartet. She regularly appears as concertmaster of New Trinity Baroque and with Apollo's Fire, Chatham Baroque, NYS Baroque, Portland Baroque, Seattle Baroque, and the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. She teaches a baroque performance program at the Fairbanks Suzuki Institute, and has recently performed at the Spoleto Festival, Montana Baroque Festival, Astoria Music Festival, and Vamalla Festival in Finland. She grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, studied music performance at Carnegie Mellon University, and completed her master's studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her principal teachers include Andres Cardenes and Julie Andrijeski. In addition to performing, Carrie teaches thirty students at her home in Bozeman, MT. She plays on a violin made by M. de Hoog, 1997, Dublin, after 19th century originals.

Nathan Whittaker, baroque cello, has been described as "a soloist that was not merely good but rather extraordinary", with "musicianship of the highest order." (SSJT) As a member of Plaine & Easie, he won the Grand "Unicorn" Prize in the 2009 EMA Medieval and Renaissance Competition. Mr. Whittaker has served on the faculty at the Indiana University String academy, the principle cellist of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and associate principle cellist with the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra and has performed in early music festivals in Bloomington and Vancouver, as well as the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Currently, Mr. Whittaker is a member of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and teaches at Cornish College of the Arts and the Academy of Music Northwest. He can be heard on CBC broadcasts, and has recorded with the NPR and ATMA Classique labels. Having graduating Cum Laude from Indiana University with a Bachelor and Masters of Music Degree in Cello Performance, Mr. Whittaker is currently a DMA candidate in cello performance with Toby Saks at the University of Washington. His private instructors have included Helga Winold, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Stanley Ritchie, and Peter Wiley. He plays on a cello by Gustav Greiner, Breitenfeld Germany, 1875. Converted to baroque specifications by Stephen Schock, 2004.

Cited for his "stylish and soulful playing" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Josh Lee leads a mixed up musical life performing on viols and double bass with some of the world's leaders in early music. An alum of the Peabody Conservatory and the Longy School of Music, he studied double bass with Harold Hall Robinson and viols with Ann Marie Morgan and Jane Hershey. Josh is the founder of the ensemble Ostraka, and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Carmel Bach Festival, Musica Pacifica, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Wiener Akademie, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, New Trinity Baroque, Musica Angelica, Hesperus and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Josh's performances have been heard on Performance Today and Harmonia, and he has recorded for Dorian Sono Luminus, Reference Recordings, NPR and Koch International. A resident of San Francisco, Josh is director of the Viola da Gamba Society of America Young Players' Weekend.

Kathryn Montoya is currently her DMA at Indiana University, Bloomington in historical winds. Kathryn has performed with many ensembles, including the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Ensemble Arion, the Cleveland Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Chicago Opera Theatre, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Hesperus, and the Washington Bach Consort among others. She is a recipient of the prestigious PerformersCertificate at IU and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany. Ms. Montoya is currently professor of recorder at University of North Texas and has given master classes at Northwestern University,Eastern Illinois University, Iowa State University and appeared on faculty at Oberlin's Baroque Performance Institute. She has recorded for the Naxos, CPO, and NCA labels.

Violinist and violist David Sego has recently moved to the Bay Area from Phoenix, Arizona. As a student of William Magers, he received Bachelor and Master's degrees in viola performance from Arizona State University. He has studied Baroque violin with Marilyn McDonald and David Douglass, and has participated in masterclasses with Monica Huggett, Andrew Manze and Stanley Ritchie. In Arizona, David was an active freelancer, appearing with Bernadette Peters, Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Mathis and Sarah Brightman, among others. In the Spring of 2005, David enjoyed a stint as a member of the pit orchestra for Disney's The Lion King (Cheetah touring company). David has taught music at Tempe Preparatory Academy, violin at Arizona School for the Arts and baroque violin at Arizona State University. David has already established an active performing career in the Bay Area, appearing with Sacramento Baroque Soloists, Ensemble Mirable, Jubilate! and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. He is a member of Bay Area early music ensemble Galileo Project, which he co-founded in 2002.