early music

Tielman Susato (also Tylman) (c.1500 – c.1562) was a Renaissance Flemish composer, instrumentalist and publisher of music in Antwerp. While his place of birth is unknown, some scholars believe that because of his name—Susato meaning de Soest, of the town of Soest — he may be from the town of that name in Westphalia. Not much is known about his early life, but he begins appearing in various Antwerp archives of around 1530 working as a calligrapher as well as an instrumentalist: trumpet, flute and tenor pipe are listed as instruments that he owned.

The Hilliard Ensemble is a British male vocal quartet devoted to the authentic performance of early music. Founded in 1974, the group is named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard. Although most of its work focuses on music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, the Hilliard Ensemble also performs contemporary music, working frequently with the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and including in its concerts works by John Cage, Gavin Bryars, Giya Kancheli, and Heinz Holliger.

Born in a musical family (his father was part of popular South Jersey cover band Sweet Life), David James grew up surrounded by music. He started playing the piano at five and then learnt the saxophone in high school, where he also joined a cappella band. He then enrolled at The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and later moved to New York. In 2005 he went back to his musical dream and a friend helped him getting into Sony Publishing and Epic Records.