Conductor and harpsichordist, William Christie, is the founder of the group Les Arts Florissants and the most important promoter and interpreter of French Baroque music, as well as an eminent performer of the repertoire ranging from 16th- to 18th-century music. He was born in the United States; then, following his studies at Harvard and Yale he left America in 1971 to settle in Paris, where he entered the local Conservatory. As the leader of the group Les Arts Florissants, established in 1979, he has had a profound and personal impact on the reintroduction and exploration of the repertoire which, by then, had been forgotten or had sunk into obscurity, that is, first of all, of virtually all French Baroque music. Thus, he has become an emblematic figure of the resurgence of interest in such genres as tragedie lyrique and opéra-ballet, or the French motet. He has also proposed numerous outstanding creations and recordings of Italian and English works from the same period, from Gesualdo and Monteverdi’s madrigals to operas by Purcell and Handel.

The ensemble, whose name is derived from the title of a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, was founded in 1979 by the American-born French harpsichordist and conductor William Christie, with the intention to perform Baroque music on period instruments. The group pioneered in rekindling an interest in French Baroque repertoire. For forty-five years, it has participated in reintroducing countless musical treasures from the collections of the National Library of France, especially from the 17th-century French repertoire, or 17th-, and 18th-century European music – to audiences. Starting with the production of Lully’s ‘Atys’ for the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1987, the group has achieved its greatest triumphs in the field of opera. The ensemble has recorded over one hundred records for labels such as Harmonia Mundi, Warner Classics/Erato, and Virgin Classics. Their catalogue of DVD opera recordings is equally impressive.

World-famous conductor, performer and explorer of early music, particularly interested in Renaissance music that he studied at Oxford. It was there, too, that he founded The Tallis Scholars ensemble in 1973, a group performing sacred music a cappella. He has been their leader ever since and has given more than two thousand concerts. Phillips is a renowned promoter of the Renaissance polyphony, which he has been propagating through concerts, recordings, and articles as well as by running master classes and choral workshops all over the world. He is also the artistic director of choral singing courses The Tallis Scholars Summer Course. In 1980, he established the record label Gimell and, since 1995, has been the owner and editor of “The Musical Times” magazine. Apart from his output with The Tallis Scholars, Phillips has also collaborated with the BBC Singers, Collegium Vocale Gent, and Netherlands Chamber Choir.

British vocal early music ensemble founded by Peter Phillips in 1973. Over the years, the singers have won renown fore their historically informed performance and, by winning the ‘Gramophone Award’ in 1987 they confirmed their stature as a leading ensemble performing the vocal sacred music of the Renaissance period. The group is valued, first and foremost, for their clear and clean sound, which allows the listener to appreciate subtlety of the Renaissance polyphony. The group gives concerts all over the world, performing at both popular and sacred venues such as the Sistine Chapel or Basilica of Saint Mary Major. The Tallis Scholars’ ample discography comprises scores of recordings, including nine albums in its project to record and release all Josquin's masses before the 500th anniversary of the composer’s death. Their latest Gimell release in November 2024 is of music by Robert Fayrfax and was made Editor’s choice in ‘Gramophone’.

François Lazarevitch is a French flute virtuoso, early music scholar, and instrument collector. He studied at conservatories in Toulouse, Versailles, Brussels, and Paris. Constantly seeking new inspirations, he developed a fascination with traditional music and the music of other cultures. In 2006, he founded Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, a platform for musical experiments and the interpretation of works in various historical and cultural contexts. As a soloist, Lazarevitch has performed with ensembles such as Le Concert d'Astrée, Les Talens Lyriques, Ensemble 1700, Capilla Flamenca, and Micrologus. He has also collaborated with Pierre Séchet and Les Arts Florissants. His discography includes over twenty albums released by Alpha Classics label, covering both Renaissance and Baroque music as well as traditional music. As a researcher focusing on the connections between early and folk music, he uncovers forgotten repertoire and publishes musical notations. Lazarevitch is also a dedicated pedagogue, teaching Baroque flute and musette at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional in Versailles.

Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien is an early music ensemble founded in 2006. Under the leadership of founder and director François Lazarevitch, the ensemble has spent nearly two decades uncovering forgotten repertoire, sharing an interest in other cultures, and attempting to view the history of music from a different perspective. They have performed in prestigious venues such as Salle Cortot, the French Senate at the Luxembourg Palace, Logis de la Chabotterie in Saint-Sulpice in Montréverd, Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, and the Philharmonie de Paris. The ensemble has also appeared at La Maison Française in Washington, D.C., the Ciclo de Música Antigua festival in Mexico, the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci in Germany, the Festival Bach Montréal in Canada, and has held residencies at the Bach Academy in Arques-la-Bataille, as well as at the Festival Baroque de Pontoise and Festival Lanvellec. Numerous recordings for the Alpha Classics label have further solidified the ensemble's strong presence on both the French and international music scenes.

Conductor, harpsichordist, and French-horn player; founder of the Collegium 1704 orchestra and the Collegium Vocale 1704 vocal ensemble. He was educated at the Pilsen Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Luks also completed specialised studies in early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. The ensembles he has led have performed at renowned festivals and famous concert halls, contributing to the revival of interest in the music of Czech composers Jan Dismas Zelenka and Josef Mysliveček. Václav Luks’s activities are not limited to his work with both the Collegium ensembles. Since 2019, he has regularly conducted the Orchestre Nationale de France; since 2021 he has been guest conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra in Boston, and since 2022 – the resident conductor of the Kammerakademie Potsdam. He has performed with ensembles as famous in the world of early music lovers as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, and La Cetra Barockorchester Basel. In June 2022, Václav Luks was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Minister of Culture of the French Republic.

The Collegium 1704 Baroque orchestra was founded in 2005 in Prague by Václav Luks; and along with the orchestra, a vocal ensemble was also formed at the time under the name of Collegium Vocale 1704. The group specialises in performing Baroque music, particularly compositions by Jan Dismas Zelenka, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, George Frideric Handel, and Josef Mysliveček. The festivals where Collegium 1704 has performed include the Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival, Bachfest Leipzig, and the ‘Chopin and His Europe’ International Music Festival, as well as in famous concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Bozar in Brussels, Wigmore Hall in London, Theater an der Wien, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, or Opéra Royal de Versailles. In 2021, the Collegium inaugurated the Prague Spring International Music Festival with a performance of Bedřich Smetana’s ‘My Homeland’ cycle of symphonic poems.

An Italian tenor, conductor and artistic manager. He mainly dedicates himself to medieval and renaissance polyphony and to the music of Claudio Monteverdi. In his activity as a professional singer he has worked with most highly regarded early music ensembles. He has co-operated with, inter alia, La Venexiana, La Petite Bande, Hespèrion XXI, Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Concerto Italiano, Mala Punica, and has toured Europe, both Americas, the Middle East and Asia. He has recorded numerous CDs, several of which have received important awards, such as the ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’, ‘Diapason d’Or’ and the ‘Gramophone Award’. In 1995, Giuseppe Maletto co-founded the Cantica Symphonia ensemble dedicated to the performance of mediaeval and renaissance music. In 2008 Maletto became head of the newly created La Compagnia del Madrigale, which performs madrigals, principally by Gesualdo, Marenzio and Monteverdi.

The group was founded in 2008, when several singers with considerable experience in the repertoire of madrigals resolved to launch such a project on their own account, that is, without a conductor. Their self-dependent debut album – anthology of madrigals with lyrics derived from Ariosto’s ‘Orlando Furioso’, edited by the label Arcana – came out in 2011. Two years later the ensemble initiated a collaboration with the Glossa recording company, issuing madrigals and responsories by Gesualdo, Marenzio, Monteverdi, and many others, their successive albums winning a number of the most important international awards of the phonographic industry. The group regularly performs at the most prestigious festivals including MITO SettembreMusica, Unione Musicale in Turin, Schwetzingen Festival, RheinVokal, as well as in the most famous concert halls such as the Cologne Philharmonic, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Sala Accademica of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, and Wigmore Hall in London.

An outstanding German countertenor, captivating audiences around the world with his excellent technique and sensitivity to interpretative nuances on concert stages and in opera houses. He is renowned for the emotional depth of his interpretations. His repertoire spans from the Renaissance to contemporary music, with a particular focus on Passion, oratorio, and Baroque opera. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold (church music) and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Baroque music). In 2020, he was appointed professor of historical performance practice at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen. A central aspect of Schachtner’s teaching is an emphasis on interpretative accuracy, musical flexibility, and rich tonal color. Recordings featuring his performances (produced for labels such as Harmonia Mundi, Sony Classical, Accent, BR-Klassik, COP) have received numerous awards, including ICMA and ECHO Klassik.

Ukrainian countertenor. He studied singing at the A.V. Nezhdanova National Academy of Music in Odessa, initially as a baritone. He has participated in numerous singing competitions, becoming a finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. His repertoire includes works from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. He has performed in venues such as the Koninklijk Theater Carré in Amsterdam, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Teatro Manoel in Valletta, Theater Chemnitz, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Theater an der Wien, and Opéra de Lausanne. He has worked with conductors including Kazem Abdullah, Teodor Currentzis, Alan Curtis, Marc-André Dalbavie, Paul Daniel, Dan Ettinger, Grant Gershon, Reinhard Goebel, Simon Halsey, Roman Kofman, Andris Nelsons, Christopher Moulds, Vasily Petrenko, George Petrou, Mikhail Jurowski, and Vladimir Jurowski. His artistic achievements also include participation in the award-winning CD and DVD album ‘Artaserse’ by Vinci, featuring Philippe Jaroussky and Max Emanuel Cencic, conducted by Diego Fasolis, released by Virgin Classics.

He began singing while studying French and Spanish literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He then moved to Europe to study French Baroque music at the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles in France. Later, he continued his education at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He has developed his career both in Europe and the United States. As a soloist, he has performed with ensembles such as Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Les Talens Lyriques, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, Le Concert des Nations, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, Amarillis, and Gli Angeli Genève. His operatic repertoire includes roles in works by Lully, Mozart, Purcell, Leclair, and Monteverdi. He has collaborated with prominent conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Rousset, Frans Brüggen, and Jordi Savall. He regularly performs at prestigious festivals across Europe. His discography includes several albums featuring works by Charpentier, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Poulenc.

Lithuanian singer. He began his stage career as a boy soprano, performing, among other roles, the title role in ‘The Little Prince’ by Rachel Portman, and in Leonard Bernstein's ‘Mass’. He studied singing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius and at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. At the Les Arts Florissants Academy – Le Jardin des Voix, he sang under the direction of William Christie and Paul Agnew in ‘The Fairy Queen’ by Purcell during a tour in the United States and Europe. His repertoire includes operatic roles in works by Mozart, Britten, Puccini, Ravel, Rossini, and Gluck. He has also performed in works by contemporary composers, such as ‘Tri sestry’ by Peter Eötvös and ‘Hamlet’ by Brett Dean. He is a laureate of international singing competitions and a scholarship holder of the Richard-Wagner-Verband Düsseldorf (2021/2022).

Irish singer (bass). A graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, he honed his vocal skills at the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Stuttgart, as well as at the Les Arts Florissants Academy – Le Jardin des Voix and on a scholarship at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He has performed in renowned concert halls and opera houses, including Wigmore Hall, Northern Ireland Opera, Theater an der Wien, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Oper Leipzig, Theater Basel, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Konzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie de Paris, Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as at festivals such as Glyndebourne Festival, BBC Proms, Wexford Festival Opera, Salzburger Festspiele, Nevill Holt Opera, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, and the Edinburgh International Festival. His key events for the 2024/2025 season include performances at the Semperoper Dresden and Irish National Opera, concerts with Les Arts Florissants and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, as well as portrayals of roles such as Papageno in Mozart's ‘The Magic Flute’ and Henry Kissinger in John Adams' ‘Nixon in China’ at his home institution, Deutsche Oper Berlin.

The Cohaere Ensemble is a historically informed performance group founded in Katowice, Poland, in 2019. Its members are: Marta Korbel (violin), Marta Gawlas (flute), Natalia Reichert (viola), Monika Hartmann (cello), and Natalia Olczak (harpsichord). The name of the ensemble is meant to emphasise the sound coherence resulting from the highest level interpretation of music. Its four musicians, however, do not confine themselves to just this quartet of players, also performing in extended ensembles as well as in duos and trios. The group quickly won the recognition of the audience, as testified by its appearances both in Poland (at, for instance, Bach Festival Świdnica, Łazienki (Royal Baths) Park ‘Zone of Silence’ Music Festival in Warsaw, and the Młoda Muzyka Dawna Festival) and abroad (Musiques Baroques à Savennieres festival in France). Their output has also won distinction at international competitions, including the First Prize at the International Early Music Competition in the Loire Valley. In 2022–2023, was a member in the EEEMERGING+, a European project promoting the most talented early music groups.

Countertenor, graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy (now University) of Music in Warsaw; member of the International Opera Studio at Opernhaus Zürich. Associated for many years with the Warsaw Chamber Opera. This particularly versatile artist performs early music by Baroque, Classical and Romantic masters as well as most recent works by such Polish contemporary composers as Krauze, Pałłasz, m. Dobrzyński. His repertoire includes title roles in contemporary Polish operas: ‘Drach’ by Aleksander Nowak and ‘Anhelli’ by Dariusz Przybylski. Much sought-after as a soloist, Monowid has performed with Poland’s leading orchestras, delighting opera houses audience throughout Poland with his performances. A special place in Monowid’s discography is occupied by a unique CD series dedicated to Polish Baroque compositions by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki and Stanisław Sylwester Szarzyński. The artist’s numerous accolades include Fryderyk Awards of the Polish Phonographic Academy.

Harpsichordist and pianist specializing in historical performance. A laureate of numerous awards in competitions both in Poland and abroad, including third prize at the Concorso Internazionale di Clavicembalo in Milan in 2019 and first prize, along with a special prize from the Outhere publishing house, at the Musica Antiqua Competition in Bruges in 2023. He studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. The artist has performed in many venues in Poland, France, Belgium, and Japan. In 2019, he participated in the premiere recording of Roman Palestra's ‘Concertino per clavicembalo e dieci strumenti’ with Sinfonia Iuventus and Łukasz Borowicz, and he is an active promoter of the works of Franciszek Lessel. In 2024, his debut solo album ‘The Real John Bull’, showcasing the richness of the English composer's works, was released by Ricercar, recorded entirely on English and Flemish virginals.

Ewa started her harpsichord classes at the age of twelve having become fascinated with the records of Wanda Landowska. She is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Krakow and of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena and also studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In her career, Ewa Mrowca has focussed on performing on historic instruments, specialising in the continuo according to the original performance practice. She has found the music for the harpsichord of the French baroque her undying inspiration. Ewa Mrowca performs solo or in early-music ensembles and has been admired on concert stages in Poland, France, Germany, the USA and China. Among her collaborators are the ensembles of Jordi Savall, Simon Standage, Katherine McGillivray, Lilianna Stawarz, Olivia Centurioni, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Peter van Heyghen and Joshua Rifkin. She has also established, together with Jakub Kościukiewicz, her own Altberg Ensemble, a group performing the baroque which is based in Łódź. She teaches at the Academy of Music in Łódź and at the Academy of Music in Krakow.

Graduate of the Academy of Music in Gdańsk and the Netherlands Carillon School in Amersfoort, Kaźmierczak, and the bursary of the City of Gdańsk and of the Government of The Netherlands. She started to learn the carillon in 2000 during courses run by Gert Oldenbeuving organised by the Historical Museum of the City of Gdańsk. In 2005, she participated in master classes run by Geert D’hollander in Belgium. Since 2001, she has played the Gdańsk carillons; and since 2018 she has held the official position of Municipal Carillonist. She is a prize-winner of international carillon competitions and gives numerous concerts in Poland and worldwide. In 2011–2015 she was the chairwoman of the Polish Carillon Society, and in 2006–2017 – the director of the Gdańsk Burghers Choir. Currently, she holds the position of Assistant Professor at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk. Kaźmierczak has been the promoter of numerous cultural events, including several of the programmes of the annual Gdansk Musical Festival, Summer Carillon Concerts, or the Gdańsk Carillon Festival. In 2021 she recorded – for the Anaklasis label – an album called ‘Contemporary Carillon’ that was shortlisted for the Fryderyk Award. She won the ‘Splendor Gedanensis’ Award of the City of Gdańsk in the Field of Culture for the year 2020, and also received the Decoration of Honour – Meritorious for Polish Culture.

A harpsichordist and educator, he graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and completed postgraduate studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. He also studied at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Graz. In 2018, he received his doctoral degree from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, where he currently works as an assistant professor in the Department of Organ and Harpsichord. He is primarily interested in 17th- and 18th-century vocal and instrumental music and early opera. He took his first steps in conducting ensembles with the Gradus ad Parnassum orchestra of historical instruments, which he had founded. This ensemble has participated in such opera productions as Pergolesi’s ‘La serva padrona’, Monteverdi’s ‘Coronation of Poppea’ and Handel’s ‘Aci, Galatea e Polifemo’. Since 2018, he has been the musical director of the Capella Regia Polona Ensemble of Early Instruments of the Polish Royal Opera. He has conducted a number of opera performances with it, including Handel’s ‘Rodelinda’, Monteverdi’s ‘L’Orfeo’, Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’, and Scarlatti’s ‘Scene Buffe’.