Rogers Covey-Crump (born 1944 in St Albans, Hertfordshire) is an English tenor, especially acclaimed for his Purcell recordings made for the Hyperion label and for his interpretation of the role of Evangelist in JSBach's Passion settings, well known for his membership in the world-famous Hilliard Ensemble. Rogers's comprehensive discography can be found at http://www.contrapunctus.yoyo.pl/rcc/.
Paul Goodwin is regarded as the foremost baroque oboist of his generation, is now firmly established as a conductor. He has made more than 20 solo and concerto recordings and was soloist with many of Europe's finest early music groups. Goodwin's experience as an oboist helps bring lyricism, phrasing, and architecture to his conducting.
Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born 1941, in Igualada, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish-Catalan viol player and composer. He is one of the major figures in the field of early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for bringing the viol (viola da gamba) back to life on the stage. His repertory ranges from medieval to renaissance and baroque music. Savall's musical training started in the school choir of his native town (1947-55).
Accademia Bizantina was formed in 1983 with the intent to make music "like a large string quartet", with equal dedication, participation and collective satisfaction.
With the same "chamber" approach today as then, the group is entirely run by the members, who together decide objectives and guidelines.
Since 1996 Ottavio Dantone and Stefano Montanari have collaborated in total harmony to provide the musical direction of the ensemble, covering respectively the roles of music director and of concertmaster, melding together the best of their human and artistic qualities .
Georg Philipp Telemann (14th March 1681–25th June 1767) was a German Baroque composer, born in Magdeburg. Self-taught in music, he studied law at the University of Leipzig. The most prolific composer of his era, he was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach and a life-long friend of Georg Friedrich Händel. While in the present day Bach is generally thought of as the greater composer, Telemann was more widely renowned for his musical abilities during his lifetime.
Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674-1st December 1707) was an English baroque composer. Thought to have been born in London in 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal. "A violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank superior to his own" caused him to commit suicide by shooting himself. He was succeeded in his post by William Croft.
Gregorio Allegri (1582
Rachel Podger is a violinist specialising in music from the Baroque era and known for her performances on a Baroque instrument (roughly a full tone lower than a modern violin and usually played with gut strings). Podger's recordings of the Bach's solo sonatas and partitas, and her recording of the same composer's double violin concerto (with Andrew Manze) and sonatas with harpsichord (with Trevor Pinnock), have all been met with critical acclaim.
Thomas Weelkes (1576
Masaaki Suzuki is an organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan. He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christian and amateur musicians. He studied composition and organ at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and was later taught harpsichord and organ by Ton Koopman and Piet Kee at the Sweelink Conservatory in Holland. In 1993 he began teaching at Kobe University, and founded the Bach Collegium in 1990. The group began giving concerts regularly in 1992, and made its first recordings three years later.