RODOLFO RICHTER
British/Brazilian violinist Rodolfo Richter appears as soloist and director with, among others, Tafelmusik (Canada), Arion (Canada), Portland Baroque Orchestra (USA), Orquestra Barroca de Sevilla (Spain), B'Rock (Belgium), Cappella Mediterranea (France), Concerto Koln (Germany), Academia Montis Regalis (Italy), the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the English Concert and the of Academy Ancient Music (UK) in venues around the world, including such prestigious venues as London’s Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebow in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Wien, Sidney’s City Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall and the Alice Tuly Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Increasingly in demand as a director, he has been praised by the international press as ‘one of the most inspirational baroque violinist of his generation’ and has worked regularly with artists like Kristian Bezuidenhout, Alexander Melnikov, Raquel Andueza, Mireille Lebel, Maria Cristina Kiehr, Sonia Prina, Karina Gauvin and Bernarda Fink. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated in concerts and recordings with Monica Huggett, Andrew Manze, Giuliano Carmingola, Roel Dieltiens, Richard Egarr and Gustav Leonhardt. Since 2002 he is a member of the acclaimed Palladian Ensemble (now known as Palladians).
He has recorded Vivaldi’s solo concertos for Opus 111, Bach and Telemann's triple concertos for Channel Classics, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and Handel's trio sonatas op. 2 and op. 5 with AAM for Harmonia Mundi USA, Petersen’s violin sonatas and Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons for Etcetera, an album of sonatas by Tartini and Veracini and the first recording of the complete sonatas by Erlebach, both for Linn Records. Future recording plans include the premiere recording of Guretzkyi’s violin concerto, as well as sonatas and concertos by Bach.
Rodolfo studied violin with Klaus Wusthoff and Pinchas Zuckermann and composition with Hans Joachim Koellreutter and Pierre Boulez. He later specialized in the baroque violin with Monica Huggett and was a prizewinner at the prestigious International Early Music Competition for Ensembles in Bruges (2000) and first prize at the Antonio Vivaldi International Violin Competition (2001). From 2005 to 2015 he was concertmaster of the Academy of Ancient Music and professor of baroque violin at the Royal College of Music in London and from 2009 to 2018 he was concertmaster of B'Rock.
Currently he tours around the globe with his Richter Ensemble with programs like Vivaldi L’Estro Armonico/Reich and Ligeti, Schubert/Schoenberg, Rebel/Part, Bach/Webern, that combine his love for early 20th Century as well as new music and early music, exploring their hidden connections. He is also the musical director of the Early Music Course and Festival at the Oficina de Música de Curitiba in Brazil.
JAMES JOHNSTONE
James Johnstone studied organ and harpsichord in London and The Hague. For some 20 years he has been active as a continuo player on the UK early music scene playing with all of the major ensembles, notably as a principal of the Gabrieli Consort and Players with whom over 17 years he gave hundreds of concerts and made 22 recordings on Deutsche Grammophon. He has also performed with such artists as Yehudi Menuhin, Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle, Pinchas Zuckemann and James Galway.
These days his interests are now focused on recital work, chamber music and teaching. As a recitalist he has performed throughout the UK as well as in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Israel, Colombia and most recently the USA. His solo discs of works by Blow, Gibbons, Pasquini, Cornet, Elizabethan Virginalists and a Bach recital on the Waalse Kerk organ, Amsterdam, have been unanimously acclaimed. Chamber music has always been of primary importance and as such has played with Florilegium since 2001 (10 discs and tours of Europe and the Americas), Trinity Baroque, I Furiosi (Toronto), Harmonie Universelle (Florian Deuter, Köln), London Baroque, Concordia and La Serenissima. He also recently joined Trio Sonnerie at the invitation of Monica Huggett.
Respected as a teacher, James is professor of early keyboards at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at Trinity College of Music, and has given masterclasses in Europe and the States.
PAOLO ZUCCHERI
Paolo Zuccheri (Italy) studied contrabass at the Conservatory Benedetto Marcello in Venice (prof. A. Rasi and prof. G. Amadio), obtaining his diploma with the best evaluation. Afterwards he studied viola da gamba at the Conservatory Luigi Cherubini in Florence (prof. Paolo Biordi).
In 1995 he started playing as the first contrabass of the baroque orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre, directed by Mark Minkowsky. He has been playing regularly with this orchestra in the most important international early music festivals, opera houses and concert halls such as Wiener Konzerthaus, Opèra de Paris, Concertgebow in Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall in London, Lincoln Center in New York, etc. In 2001 together with Les Musiciens du Louvre (dir. by J. M. Quintana) he joined a tour “L’Europe baroque” in Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Cambodia to teach in the mastercourses of baroque music.
He is constantly collaborating with ensembles I Barocchisti (dir. by D. Fasolis), Il Giardino Armonico (dir. by G. Antonini), Zefiro (dir. by A. Bernardini), La Risonanza (dir. by F. Bonizzoni). Since 2005 he plays as the first double-bass and viola da gamba player in the baroque orchestra FestspielOrchester Gottingen (dir. by N. McGegan). He has recorded many CDs of French baroque operas by J. Ph. Rameau, J. B. Lully, M. A. Charpentier, and CDs of other composers, such as G. F. Handel, A. Corelli, J. S. Bach with soloists like Anne Sofie von Otter, Gidon Saks, Denis Sedov, Cecilia Bartoli and others.
In 2001 he established the ensemble Gambe di Legno. He is a teacher viola da gamba at the Conservatorio Agostino Steffani in Castelfranco Veneto.
