CONCORDIA

Concordia plays the magical English music of the golden age and a wide range of renaissance and baroque repertoire from Italy, Spain, Germany and France.  Concordia often works with guest artists on other instruments and, above all, the human voice, regular collaborators including the countertenors Robin Blaze and James Bowman, and the soprano Rachel Elliott.  Perhaps because of the breadth and appeal of its stimulating programming, which also includes new commissions, contemporary dance and poetry, Concordia is now one of the most active British chamber groups, appearing at the Wigmore Hall, festivals throughout the country and major venues across Europe.

The regular members of Concordia are Mark Levy, Joanna Levine, Emilia Benjamin, Daniel Yeadon, Reiko Ichise, Alison McGillivray and Markus Tapio viols, Elizabeth Kenny lute and Gary Cooper organ & harpsichord.

Mark Levy founded Concordia in 1992 to explore music involving viols of all shapes and sizes. The ensemble has gone on to appear regularly at the major British music festivals and throughout Europe, as well as as at the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where they played in the first Royal Festival Hall Early Music Festival. Acclaimed in the British and European press for its concerts, radio and CD recordings, Concordia has gained a special reputation for its imaginatively themed programmes, often exploring links with the other arts. Concordia's innovative programming has led to performances combining music with newly-commissioned dance, poetry and drama: most recently a set of monologues for Elizabeth I premiered by the well-known actress Penelope Keith at the Covent Garden Festival and now on tour supported by Concordia's fourth major award from the Arts Council of England. Other collaborations have included work with Will Kemp of the Adventures in Motion Pictures dance company and the poet Glyn Maxwell, and future plans include a performance with Vanessa Redgrave at the Globe Theatre, while several recent concert appearances, radio broadcasts and recordings have been linked to major exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts and the National Gallery.

Recent appearances have included a return visit to the Bruges Festival, tours of Spain, Germany and Scotland, and concerts in the Spitalfields, Greenwich and Covent Garden Festivals, as well as numerous concerts for the BBC, German and Belgian Radio. Concordia's recent CD releases of music by Orlando Gibbons have been showered with awards including a Diapason d'Or, Choc de Musique and 10 de Répertoire in France, an award from Fonoforum in Germany, an Outstanding rating from BBC Music Magazine and an Editor's Choice in Gramophone. The latest release is of music by the brilliant maverick English composer William Lawes, whose 400th anniversary falls in 2002. Concordia have just given two recitals in the Wigmore Hall's Lawes anniversary series to great critical acclaim, and toured a Lawes programme on the Dutch Early Music Network, and they will shortly appear in two BBC TV programmes on Lawes. Other ongoing projects include a set of new commissions for viols, including pieces by John Tavener and Gavin Bryars.