Performer Biographies
Elizabeth MacIsaac -
soprano
The Canadian singer Elizabeth MacIsaac enjoys a reputation in her own
country and abroad as an artist of great expressive range and technical
accomplishment, appearing with such organisations as the Victoria
Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Palm Court Orchestra.
While her reputation is very much centred around her performances of
early music, a strong interest in contemporary music has led to
premieres of works by composers such as David Loeb, Nicolai Sani and
Canadians John Abram and Nicolas Fairbank. In Victoria, Ms. MacIsaac is
the founding director of the women's medieval vocal group "Ensemble
Laude" in 1999 and co-founder, with the lutenist Douglas Hensley, the
Renaissance duo Continuum Consort. In 2003, Continuum Consort
commissioned a Canada Council sponsored work by John Abram. This coming
summer they will premiere new works by a collective of Korean
composers, with plans to take this project to Korea as well as
Canada. She is regularly heard on CBC radio, and has just
released her first CD.
Sonja
Boon - baroque flute
Currently playing principal flute with the Portland Baroque Orchestra,
baroque flautist Sonja
Boon has also appeared as a soloist with the Pacific Baroque
Orchestra and in performances for Early Music Vancouver. Ms. Boon
studied with Wilbert Hazelzet at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague,
The Netherlands and has also studied with Rachel Brown, Stephen Preston
and Barbara Kallaur. She holds a Master of Music degree with highest
distinction from Indiana University, where she was a student of Peter
Lloyd and Kate Lukas. Sonja has taught at the University of Wales and
UBC, as well as for the Early Music Vancouver Summer Programme and
Festival.
Paul
Luchkow - baroque violin
After graduating with a M.Mus. degree from UBC, violinist Paul Luchkow
moved to Holland where he became a member of the chamber orchestra
"Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam". In between Sinfonietta tours through
Holland, France and South Africa, Paul played with the Netherlands
Radio Symphony and the Baroque Orchestra of the Netherlands Bach
Society. On this side of the Atlantic, Paul is a long-time member of
the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, appears frequently in concerts for Early
Music Vancouver, and is the founding concertmaster of the Canada West
Chamber Orchestra. South of the border, Paul enjoys performing
regularly with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and BOMB (the Benevolent
Order for Music of the Baroque) in Seattle. When in non-musical moods,
Paul is a most excellent lab / field assistant for his wife Glenys, a
violist-cum-ecologist.
Nan Mackie
- viola da gamba & baroque cello
Nan Mackie studied cello at the Conservatoire de Musique
(Québec) and at UBC. There she began playing viola da gamba,
continuing her studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague.
She has performed with many of the leading Canadian and US early music
groups, including Tafelmusik, Seattle Baroque Orchestra and the
Portland Baroque Orchestra. As a member of the New World Consort, Nan
has toured throughout Canada, the US and Europe. She has recorded
extensively for CBC Radio, as well as with the BBC, Radio France and
West German Radio. Nan is a member of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra and
Les Coucous Bénévoles, and is a regular faculty member
and performer at the Vancouver Early Music Programme and Festival.
Valerie
Weeks - harpsichord
Valerie Weeks is one of Canada's outstanding harpsichordists. She has
been the recipient of many awards and prizes, including first prize at
the CBC National Talent Competition and second prize at the Edinburgh
International Harpsichord Competition. She has made several CD's of
chamber and solo music for RCA, EBS, Sony Classical and CBC and is
frequently heard on CBC Radio. In addition to her performance work, Ms.
Weeks is also a practising music therapist, currently working at St.
Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.
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