Appearing October 1, 2023performances at the major international festivals in Vienna, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Prague, Budapest, Cracow, Milan, Florence, Zurich, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Tokyo, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Melbourne, Adelaide, Boston, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Berkeley, York, Edinburgh, Montpellier, Utrecht, Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Bremen, Dresden, Innsbruck, Tenerife, Copenhagen, Oslo, etc. have often been singled out as the highlight of those events. Mr. O'Dette is also active conducting Baroque operas. His recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers with Stephen Stubbs and the Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble won a Grammy for “Best Opera Recording of 2014,” as well as an Echo Klassik Award in the same category. In 1997, together with Stephen Stubbs, he directed performances of Luigi Rossi's L'Orfeo at Tanglewood, the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF) and the Drottningholm Court Theatre in Sweden. Since 1999 they have co-directed performances of Cavalli's Ercole Amante at the Boston Early Music Festival, Tanglewood, and the Utrecht Early Music Festival, Provenzale's La Stellidaura Vendicata at the Vadstena Academy in Sweden, Monteverdi's Orfeo and L'Incoronazione di Poppea for Festival Vancouver, Lully's Thésée, Conradi’s Ariadne (Hamburg, 1691) Mattheson’s Boris Goudenow, Lully’s Psyché, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Poppea, and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Agostino Steffani’s Niobe and Orlando generoso, Handel’s Almira, Campra’s Le Carnaval de Venise, Telemann’s Pimpinone, and a double bill of Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona and Livietta e Tracollo for the Boston Early Music Festival. Six of their opera recordings have been nominated for Grammy awards, including Ariadne as “Best Opera Recording of 2005,” Thésée in 2007, Psyché in 2008, La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers in 2014, Niobe in 2015 and Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants in 2019. The recording of Steffani’s Niobe, was awarded a Diapason D’or de l’année, an Echo Klassik Award and the prestigious Jahrespreis der Deutschenschallplattenkritik. O'Dette has directed numerous Baroque orchestras and opera productions on both sides of the Atlantic. Paul O'Dette has made more than 155 recordings, winning two Grammys, receiving eight Grammy nominations, 7 Diapason D’Or de L’année, 12 Diapason d’Or, 2 Echo Klassik Awards, a Jahrespreis der Deutschenschallplattenkritik, 7 Grammophone nominations, and numerous other international record awards. “The Complete Lute Music of John Dowland” (a 5-CD set for harmonia mundi usa), was awarded the prestigious Diapason D'or de l'année and selected as the “Best Solo Lute Recording of Dowland” by BBC Radio 3. “The Bachelar’s Delight: Lute Music of Daniel Bacheler” was nominated for a Grammy as “Best Solo Instrumental Recording of 2006.” In addition to his activities as a performer, Paul O'Dette is an avid researcher, having worked extensively on the performance and sources of seventeenth-century Italian and English solo song, Italian, German and French Baroque opera, basso continuo practices and instrumental music. He has published numerous articles on issues of historical performance practice and co-authored the Dowland entry in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Paul O'Dette is Professor of Lute and Director of Early Music at the Eastman School of Musicand Artistic Co-Director of the Boston Early Music Festival.
Appearing Feb 25, 2024
Paul Leenhouts, recorder, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where he was on the faculty as professor of recorder and historical development since 1993. He is a founding member of the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet since 1978. In 2002 he became director of the contemporary music collective Blue Iguana. He is also a composer, arranger and editor of numerous works for chamber music ensembles. Mr. Leenhouts has recorded for Decca L'Oiseau-Lyre, Channel Classics, Vanguard, Lindoro and Berlin Classics. Two L'Oiseau-Lyre recordings received the prestigious Edison Award. In 1986 he initiated the Open Holland Recorder Festival Utrecht and from 1993 he has been director of the International Baroque Institute at Longy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His special interest in renaissance consort repertoire led to the founding of The Royal Wind Music in 1997. As a conductor he won wide acclaim for Gabrieli, Guerrero and Morales productions at international early music festivals. In 2004 Mr. Leenhouts was elected president of the European Recorder Performers Society. As well as performing numerous concerts and coaching masterclasses within the early music field. He also regularly appears with contemporary and music theatre groups such as Musikfabrik, Nederlands Vocaal Laboratorium, ZT Hollandia and NT Gent. Mr. Leehouts is currently director of early music studies and the Baroque Orchestra at the University of North Texas College of Music.
Appearing April 7, 2024
Aaron Sheehan, tenor has quickly established himself as one of the leading tenors of his generation. His voice is heard regularly in the U.S. and Europe, and he is equally comfortable in repertoire ranging from oratorio and chamber music, to the opera stage.
His singing has taken him to many festivals and venues including; Tanglewood, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington National Cathedral, the early music festivals of Boston, San Francisco, Houston, Tucson, Washington DC, and Madison, as well as the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik. Known especially for his Baroque interpretations, his voice has been described by the Boston Globe as “superb: his tone classy, clear, and refined, encompassing fluid lyricism and ringing force” and the Washington Post praised his “Polished, lovely tone.” In the concert world, Aaron has made a name as a first rate interpreter of the oratorios and cantatas of Bach and Handel. The San Diego Classical Voice said, “Tenor Aaron Sheehan performed the role of Evangelist, and sang with assured vocal and linguistic fluency, tasked with telling the audience the story while imparting its drama. In this regard, he was superb.” He has appeared in Concert with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, North Carolina Symphony, New York Collegium, Charlotte Symphony, Boston Cecilia, Charleston Bach Festival, Baltimore Handel Choir, Pacific Chorale, Boston Early Music Festival, Tempesta di Mare, Aston Magna Festival, Washington National Cathedral, Boston Museum Trio, Tragicomedia, the Folger Consort, and Concerto Palatino. On the opera stage, Aaron made his professional debut in 2005 as Ivan, in the Boston Early Music Festivals world premiere staging of Mattheson’s Boris Gudenow, a role in which Opera News praised his voice as “Sinous and supple”. He has since worked with the company in leading roles such as L’Amour and Apollon in Lully’s Psyché, Actéon in Charpentier’s Actéon, and as Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. He also has worked on the opera stage with American Opera Theater and Intermezzo Chamber Opera in leading roles of operas by Cavalli, Handel, Weill, and Satie. Aaron also continues to work extensively in the chamber music world. He has sung with Theater of Voices, Blue Heron Choir, Fortune’s Wheel, La Donna Musicale, Newberry Consort, Dünya, The Rose Ensemble, and the Pro Arte Singers. Aaron has appeared on many recordings, including the Grammy nominated operas Thésée and Psyché of Lully, recorded with BEMF on the CPO label. A native of Minnesota, Aaron holds a BA from Luther College and a MM in Early Voice Performance from Indiana University. He is currently on the voice faculties of Wellesley College and Towson University.