Profile & Vita
Updated September 2011
I work as a harpsichordist, fortepianist and musicologist, and am a harpsichord and continuo instructor at the Högskolan för scen och musik, Göteborg, West Sweden. Beginning in 1991, I held a position with the baroque ensemble Corona Artis based in Göteborg, performing a wide variety of continuo and solo literature in all Baroque styles and in the earlier Classical style. Corona Artis became a freelance ensemble in January 2007. I continue being a member of this group, but am now primarily active as a researcher and freelance performer.
I am specialized in solo performance on the harpsichord and continuo playing. I also have a special interest in the early piano, its construction and its repertoire. Since 1997 I have conducted research in Beethoven performance practice on the piano. My Ph.D. dissertation (2007) combined historical and organological analysis to develop some guidelines for performing Beethoven’s early keyboard works. My present research focuses on progressive and conservative influences on the development of Viennese pianos after 1800.
I am especially interested in practicing techniques and in teaching. I have pursued this interest throughout my career by coaching and giving private lessons, as well as by lecturing and giving instrument demonstrations to both music students and the general public.
I have maintained my own instruments since 1979, and am offering a course on harpsichord maintenance.
My whole musical life has been dedicated to historically informed performance practice of early music. At the same time, my musical interests stretch far beyond my own field of historical performance practice. I think it is important to see the performance practice movement as a phenomenon of our time, and as a trigger for our creativity rather than a mere set of rules.
Vita:
1959 Born in Bremen, Germany
Performance studies 1979-1987, 1999
1986 Teaching degree from Sweelinck Conservatory, Amsterdam
Studies with Bob van Asperen (1979), Anneke Uittenbosch (1980-1983), Ton Koopman and Tini Mathot (1984-1986).
1986-1987 Harpsichord studies
With Gustav Leonhardt, Amsterdam.
Fall 1999 Fortepiano and performance practice studies, Cornell University
With Malcolm Bilson. In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Ph.D.
Musicological studies 1997-2007
1997-1998 Pre-doctoral course (C-kurs), Department of Musicology, Göteborg University
Thesis, “Keyboard Instruments of the Young Beethoven.”
2007 Ph.D., Department of Musicology, Göteborg Univeristy
Dissertation, “Beethoven the Pianist: Biographical, organological and performance-practical aspects of his years as a public performer.”
Postdoctoral research 2009-2011
Project title “Stability and change in Early Romantic Viennese piano culture.” A new Book and several articles are in preparation.
Continuo and solo performance with Corona Artis 1991-2006
Full-time until 1997; then half-time until December 2006. Harpsichord and organ continuo and harpsichord and fortepiano solo performance in projects covering repertory from early Baroque to Beethoven. Three to five tours annually in West Sweden. Collaboration with Paul O’Dette, Gottfried von der Goltz, Monica Huggett, Andrew Lawrence-King, Wieland Kuijken, Andrew Manze and Jaap Schroeder. Numerous productions for Sveriges Radio and Sveriges Television.
1992 Production of opera intermezzi, Läckö Castle, Sweden
Musical leader of the production.
1993 Production of opera intermezzi and J.S. Bach’s ‘Kaffeekantate’ and Concerto for Two Harpsichords, Läckö Castle, Sweden
Coach of singers and instrumental soloist.
1998 Productions of J.S. Bach’s ‘Magnificat’ and M. Marais’ ‘Alcione,’ School of Music, Göteborg
Continuo instruction, coaching and continuo.
Freelance continuo and solo performance 1984-present
Solo recitals, chamber music performances, and continuo performance on historical harpsichord, virginal, organ, and fortepiano (English and Viennese) in repertory ranging from Baroque to Viennese Classical. Concerts initially in Holland and Germany, after 1991 throughout West Sweden and internationally. Solo recitals at Cornell University (2000, 2001); the National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota (2001, 2003); regular appearances at the Göteborg Organ Academy; tours in Germany and Israel. Ongoing chamber music collaboration. Most recently (since summer 2007) concerts and recordings with the German baroque orchestra Le Chardon with Hajo Wienroth and Simon Standage.
1996 Production of G. Melani’s ‘Il Girello’ with the Vasa Marionette Opera Theatre, Denmark and Holland
Conducted by Mark Tatlow. Concerts at the Utrecht and Copenhagen Early Music Festivals.
1996-present Collaboration with Maria Bania (traverso, classical flute)
Programs including the flute sonatas of J.S. Bach and other Baroque repertory, and classical repertory by Beethoven and Kullak. Concerts in Rostock, Göteborg and West Sweden.
2002, 2004 Performances of J.S. Bach’s Violin Sonatas with Antoinette Lohmann (baroque violin), Europe and Japan
Concerts in 2002 at the Göteborg International Organ Academy and West Sweden, in Bremen, at the Amsterdam Bach Festival, and at the Paris Baroque Festival at the Institut Néerlandais. Concerts in 2004 in a tour of the Shizuoka area, Japan.
2005-2007 Collaboration with Kristian Berg (cello)
Programs including selections from Beethoven’s cello sonatas and variations for cello and fortepiano. Concerts in Göteborg and West Sweden.
2009-2011 Concerts at Southampton University
Various programs, including a double concerto by J.S.Bach and a harpsichord solo recital.
Languages:
Fluent German, English, Dutch, Swedish. Basic spoken and written French. Basic Italian and Latin.
Interests:
Cooking, esp. Italian and Indonesian cuisine, photography, woodworking, drawing and N-gauge model trains.
