MUSIC

The Ars Lyrica 2012-13 season begins with It Takes Two. Bach’s 4th “Brandenburg” Concerto, Haydn’s Concerto in F Major for violin and harpsichord, and other works for two or more soloists. Featuring Canadian violinist Marc Destrubé, Dutch recorder virtuoso Paul Leenhouts, Kathryn Montoya on Baroque oboe and recorder, and Matthew Dirst at the harpsichord.

Kathryn Montoya (Baroque oboe) currently teaches baroque oboe and recorder at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of North Texas. She appears with a variety of orchestral and chamber music ensembles including the internationally-acclaimed Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Wiener Akademie, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Arion, Musica Angelica, and Apollo’s Fire among others.

Her interests extend to medieval and renaissance repertoire where she has performed on recorders, shawms, and sordune with Hesperus and the Newberry Consort. Kathryn received her degrees at Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington. While at IU she was the recipient of the prestigious Performer’s Certificate and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany. Kathryn very much enjoys the various thrills of recording, has been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today and can be heard on the Naxos, CPO, NCA, and Dorian Sono Luminus labels.

Marc Destrubé (pictured, Baroque violin) appears internationally as soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster or director of orchestras and divides his time between performances of the standard repertoire on modern instruments and performing baroque and classical music on period instruments. He is currently first violinist with the Axelrod String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., a member of the Turning Point Ensemble in Vancouver, and first violinist with the newly-formed Microcosmos Quartet. He appears as soloist and guest director with orchestras across North America, and is a regular guest with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

He is co-concertmaster of Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the 18th Century (Amsterdam), with whom he has toured the major concert halls and festivals of Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. He was concertmaster of the CBC Radio Orchestra from 1996 to 2002 and director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra from its founding in 1991 until 2007. His recording of Haydn Violin Concertos (ATMA) has received wide acclaim, and he has also recorded for Sony, EMI, Teldec, Channel Classics, Hänssler, Globe and CBC Records as well as being broadcast regularly on the CBC.

Paul Leenhouts (Recorder) is director of Early Music Studies and the UNT Baroque Orchestra at the University of North Texas. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where he was on the faculty from 1993 to 2011. 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. 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 performs with contemporary and music theatre groups such as Musikfabrik, Nederlands Vocaal Laboratorium, ZT Hollandia and NT Gent.

Matthew Dirst (Artistic Director, Harpsichord) is the first American to win major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord, including first prize at the American Guild of Organists Young Artist Competition (1990) and second prize at the Warsaw International Harpsichord Competition (1993). In addition to his work with Ars Lyrica, Matthew also serves as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and organist at St Philip Presbyterian Church. His degrees include a PhD in musicology from Stanford University and the prix de virtuosité in both organ and harpsichord from the Conservatoire National de Reuil-Malmaison, where he spent two years as a Fulbright scholar.

Noted for his stylish playing of Baroque music in particular, his recent performances of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” were praised as “an extremely taut and accurate traversal” (The New York Sun), “a technically dazzling, deeply moving performance” (Houston Chronicle), “of irresistible rhythmic impulse [and] dazzling virtuosity” (Dallas Morning News). His most recent recording, Bach Organ Music for the Christmas Season, has just been released on the Centaur label and is available for purchase at all Ars Lyrica performances.

“virtuoso technique”
— Washington Post

“individual yet unselfconscious and has a fresh simplicity of approach ”
— The Strad Magazine, London

“a stylish, tasteful, and technically commanding performance…expressive and brilliant playing.”
— Early Music America