ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MATTHIAS MAUTE has achieved an international reputation as one of the finest recorder and Baroque flute players of his generation and as a composer. In 1990, he won First Prize in the soloist category at the prestigious Early Music Competition in Bruges, Belgium. Mr. Maute is also esteemed for his artistic direction of Ensemble Caprice, for whom he produces ingenious and fascinating programs. The ensemble has appeared at several important venues in Europe, North America, Taiwan, and Israel. In addition to his work with Ensemble Caprice, Mr. Maute is invited to appear as a soloist at important festivals in Europe and the United States, as well as with the Baroque ensemble REBEL. In 2003 and 2005, he was the featured recorder virtuoso at the Boston Early Music Festival and he will make his début at New York City’s Lincoln Center in December 2008. His compositions play an important place in the world of contemporary recorder music and are published by Breitkopf & Härtel, Amadeus, Moeck, and Carus. Mr. Maute has made twenty recordings on the Analekta, Vanguard Classics, Bella Musica, Dorian, Bridge, and ATMA Classique labels. He is a professor at McGill University in Montreal.

SOPHIE LARIVIÈRE has been a member of Ensemble Caprice since 1997 and is the Artistic Co-Director. In this capacity, she helps to enrich the creative direction of the ensemble in its quest for musical discoveries that blend virtuosity with expressivity. With Ensemble Caprice, Ms. Larivière has appeared in numerous concerts, in particular in Israel (Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Arts Festival), Europe (Vienna, Berlin, and Stuttgart), the United States (Los Angeles and the Boston Early Music Festival), and throughout Canada. A facile and eloquent performer, Ms. Larivière is invited regularly to appear with such early music ensembles as the Arion Ensemble, the Opéra de Montréal, Le Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, La Nouvele Sinfonie, the Theatre of Early Music, REBEL (New York), Les Violons du Roy (Quebec), the New York Collegium Musicum, and Le Concert Spirituel (Paris). She has made recordings on the Analekta, Virgin Classics, ATMA Classique, Antes Edition, and Interdisc labels.

SUSIE NAPPER was awarded Quebec’s “Personality of the Year” Prix Opus in 2002. She is the founder and Artistic Director of the Montreal Baroque Festival. Having grown up in an artistic milieu in London, she then studied at the Juilliard School in New York and later at the Paris Conservatory. Since then, Ms. Napper has appeared with several internationally-known early music ensembles, such as the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Stradivaria in France, the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the Trinity Consort of Portland, Tafelmusik, Ensemble Caprice, and the viola da gamba duo Les Voix Humaines. Her concert tours have taken her as far afield as China, Japan, New Zealand, India, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Ms. Napper’s recordings, which include most of the known repertoire for two viols, can be heard on the Harmonia Mundi, EMI, Erato, ADDA, CBC Records, Naxos, Analekta, and ATMA Classique labels.

DAVID JACQUES studied classical guitar at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec where he won the prize with high distinction for chamber music. He also has his master’s degree in Performance from Laval University and is currently completing his doctorate on the interpretation of early music at the University of Montreal. Mr. Jacques has appeared with the Bande Montreal Baroque, Les Voix Humaines, Les Voix Baroques, Stadacone, Musica Divina, as well as Ensemble Caprice. His concert tours have taken him to the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Far East, Australia, and New Zealand. Mr. Jacques is a professor of classical guitar at Laval University and at the Cégep de Sainte-Foy and is frequently invited by other musical organizations to give master classes and workshops. He has published several arrangements for guitar for Les Productions d’OZ and recorded more than sixteen CDs on such labels as XXI-21, Universal records, Analakta, and ATMA Classique.

Born in 1979, ZIYA TABASSIAN began playing the tombak at the age of eleven. He went on to formal training in Iran, pursuing his studies with Master Tehrani’s method. In Canada, he studied classical percussion with Julien Grégoire at the University of Montreal and later returned to Iran to continue his training with M. Bahman Rajabi. Mr. Tabassian is an active member of Constantinople, which he co-founded with his brother Kiya Tabassian. In addition to Ensemble Caprice he has collaborated with the Kronos Quartet, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, En Chordais, and the Studio de musique ancienne de Montreal. His solo CD, entitled TOMBAK, was recently released on the Ambiances Magnétiques label.

Purchase Tickets: $64, $49, $38, $25

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