Richard Resch, tenor
Began his musical education in the Boys‘ Choir at Regensburg Cathedral and then studied music, piano and classical singing at the Leopold-Mozart-Zentrum in Augsburg, completing his early music studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. Richard has won prizes at several international opera singing competitions, and in 2012 he was awarded the Arts Prize of the City of Augsburg. He has performed at several German theatres, the Austrian Landestheater in Bregenz, the French Opéra National de Bordeaux and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He has worked with conductors including Howard Arman, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, Sigiswald Kuijken, Andrea Marcon, Marc Minkowski, Andrew Parrott, Philippe Pierlot, Joshua Rifkin, Helmuth Rilling, Christophe Rousset, Andreas Spering and Jos van Veldhoven. His performances have led him to renowned concert halls like the Berliner Philharmonie, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and Takemitsu Hall in Tokyo and at music festivals all over Europe like Bachfest Leipzig, Beethovenfest Bonn and Mozartwoche Salzburg as well as in Asia and the Americas. Recently his solo debut CD “Wenn ich nur Dich hab” with Northern German baroque music has been published at Carpe Diem Records.
Noam Schuss, violin
Principal of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, frequently performing as a soloist with the orchestra. She is one of the leading Baroque violinists in Israel, holding a Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, New York. She is a recipient of grants from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. She founded the string quartet Galatea, which performs on period instruments. Recordings of her concerts are regularly broadcasted in Europe and the United States. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as John Eliot Gardiner, Andrew Parrott, Joshua Rifkin, and others, both in Israel and abroad. She has appeared with selected ensembles in Israel and abroad, including the English Baroque Soloists, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and others. As an active educator, she promotes the teaching of the violin and Baroque music in Israel. She directs and conducts the representative string orchestra of the Givatayim Conservatory, which operates as a Baroque orchestra, the only one of its kind for youth in the country.
Yulia Lurye, violinist
Performing in bass viola da gamba, viola d’amore and rebec. Lurye has played with leading orchestras and ensembles in Latvia and Lithuania, such as the Baltic States Baroque Orchestra and the MusicAeterna Orchestra, Pocket Symphony, Cantores Vagantes, Ars Consoni, Pro Anima, Luteduo, the Cantores Vagantes and Ars Consoni Ensembles. She has taken part in festivals in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Perm.
Lurye founded the Novaya Gollandiya ensemble in 1989, which is active still today, and initiated performances of special series and projects in collaboration with the archives and Philharmonia of St. Petersburg. Those include special concerts comprising premieres of modern works, as well as recordings on original instruments and collaborations with musical ensembles from Estonia, Finland and Slovenia. She artistically directed and performed in 2002 a Haydn Marathon, in 2010 the modern premiere in Russia of Bach’s St. John Passion and in 2014 Rameau’s “Pygmalion” in historically informed performances.
Sonia Navot, viola da gamba
Completed her Bachelor’s degree in historical performance on the viola da gamba at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, under the guidance of Paolo Pandolfo. She began her studies of the cello at the age of 4 in the class of Maayan Matityahu. Later, she continued her studies with Hila Karni, Zvi Plesser, and Emmanuela Salvestrini. Her studies of the viola da gamba began with Amity Tipenbrun.
She has participated in various courses and masterclasses, including the Perlman Music Program, the Zeist Festival in the Netherlands, and the Jerusalem Music Center’s Outstanding Musicians Program. Additionally, Sonia is a recipient of grants from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, both for the cello and the viola da gamba.
Sonia frequently performs with the Phoenix Ensemble and the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. Additionally, she is a member of the Barrocade Ensemble, with which she regularly performs in Israel and across Europe.
David Shemer – organ
Prof. David Shemer has long been one of the leading figures on the early music scene in Israel. He taught harpsichord and early music at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and is often invited to hold master classes in Israel, Europe and the USA. David Shemer serves as artistic director and conductor of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, which he established in 1989. As a soloist, chamber musician and conductor he appears and records in Europe and the USA. His recording of J.S.Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” has received enthusiastic reviews from critics and audiences alike. A double-album of all Bach’s harpsichord Partitas, his Op. 1, played by David Shemer, appeared recently.
Among his most notable projects in recent times – performing, together with the British violinist Walter Reiter, sonatas for violin and harpsichord obbligato at the Bach Festival in the composer’s birthplace in Eisenach, Germany. Last summer the project was recorded and will be released in 2023.