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BIOGRAPHY
The Spinacino Consort is a Scottish based early music ensemble dedicated to reimagining the music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in passionate and engaging performances. Our programmes are grounded in the latest musicological research, uncovering lost works and providing new contexts. Having graduated from specialist early music postgraduate courses at universities and conservatories from across the UK, our members are leading early career performers in Scotland, performing with the finest ensembles in the UK including the Ancient Academy of Music, Dunedin Consort, Concerto Caledonia, RSNO, and the Linarol Consort of Viols.
The Spinacino Consort
The Spinacino Consort
The Spinacino Consort –My Lorde of Marche pavan and Hutchinsons galliard - James Lauder and Anon
The Spinacino Consort – Joy to the person & Adew Dundee – Trad.
The Spinacino Consort – A call to come to Christ – William Corkine/Elizabeth Melville
MEMBERS
ERIC THOMAS
Lutenist/Founder
Eric Thomas is a lutenist based in Edinburgh, and plays with leading ensembles including the Dunedin Consort, Concerto Caledonia, RSNO, New Trinity Baroque, and Dowland Works with Dame Emma Kirkby. He studied jointly at The University of Glasgow and the Royal Conservatiore of Scotland, under the supervision of John Butt and receiving lute tuition from Jamie Akers. Eric continued his studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, studying lute and theorbo with Fred Jacobs, and also attended the Urbino Early Music Festival to study with Paul O’Dette and Dartington International Summer School for lessons with David Miller. Eric is currently a Phd candidate at the University of Huddersfield, under the supervision of Elizabeth Kenny and Laurie Stras, researching the role of improvisation in early 16th century Italian lute music.
ANNEMARIE KLEIN
Recorders
Born in Luxembourg, Annemarie Klein completed her undergraduate music degree at the University of Edinburgh, and her Master in recorder performance at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, Belgium, where she studied with Bart Coen and Bart Spanhove. Recent performance highlights include recitals with David Gerrard (harpsichord) and with her ensembles Musica Mundana (with Eric Thomas, lute and theorbo, focussing on music of the Renaissance and early Baroque) and Atelier 32:44 (with Ward Ginneberge, accordion, exploring the tail ends of the classical music repertoire). She has also recently performed a programme of Vivaldi solo concertos with Ensemble Ad Libitum in Luxembourg and France, and premièred a new work, alongside soloists from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Based in Edinburgh, Annemarie is regularly invited to teach at various residential courses and to guest-conduct recorder groups around the UK.
CLAIRE HORACEK
Viol
Claire Horáček met Eric Thomas whilst studying for a MMus in performance on the viola da gamba with Elizabeth Kenny and Jonathan Manson at Southampton University. She did her first degree in Fine Art at Oxford University but spent a good deal of time there playing the 'cello and furthering her love of early music and interest in historical performance practice. She combines working as a freelance performer on both baroque and renaissance viols with teaching music & art as well as, when time allows, painting. She is a member of the Linarol Consort of Renaissance Viols which specialises in the repertoire of 16th century middle Europe and Ensemble Échos, a baroque chamber group formed by postgraduate students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
ELIZABETH UNSWORTH-WILSON
Mezzo-Soprano
Elizabeth Unsworth Wilson is a Scottish mezzo soprano with a masters degree in Historical Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with Sarah Pring. She has recently returned from Italy where she won the Elizabeth Luton Memorial scholarship to study at the Saluzzo Opera Academy this summer, where she performed in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea as Arnalta, Nutrice and Famigliare III. While studying in London she sang with many London based chamber groups, including Dowland Works with Dame Emma Kirkby and held alto choral scholarships with All Hallows church, in Gospel Oak and the Hampstead Chamber Choir. She took part in all of the departments Baroque Opera scenes and enjoyed singing as part of the chorus of Gabriel with Alison Balsam in Saffron Hall and the Barbican Centre. After moving to Scotland she sang in a recording for Proxima Arts project, Over Lunan and is looking forward to singing as the alto soloist for a charity come and sing event in Montrose of Handel's Messiah this coming Spring.
HÉLOÏSE BERNARD
Soprano
French soprano Héloïse Bernard graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018 after completing a Masters in French Literature in Paris, as well as a degree in Drama. Highlights on stage include Susanna in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro, with the Opera of Castellón, Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers, at the Festival d’Opéra Bouffe d’Etriché, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas, with the Young Northern Baroque Ensemble. Recently, she was casted as Iris in the first recording on period instruments of John Eccles’ Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music, directed by Julian Perkins. A lover of song and poetry, she collaborates closely with pianist José Javier Ucendo, with whom they were awarded at the Lied duo Estonian Academy of Music’s competition in Tallinn, and been invited to the Oxford Lieder Festival Masterclasses. A Live Music Now artist, she sings regularly across the UK with her ensemble Cordes en Ciel (lute and voice), and as a soloist for the Linarol Consort of Viols. She’s been awarded a bursury to work with Dame Emma Kirkby in Dartingon in Summer 2021 to deepen her knowledge of the early repertoire.
Aaron McGregor
Violin
Aaron McGregor is a freelance violinist and Lecturer in Music (Performance) at the University of Aberdeen. In January 2020, he completed a PhD at the University of Glasgow, working under the supervision of Dr David McGuinness and Professor John Butt. His research focusses on a far earlier history of the violin in Scotland than has previously been considered, investigating the social functions, repertoire, and cultural importance of fiddlers from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, and the emergence of a distinct Scottish national musical style. Aaron’s performance background ranges across a spectrum of styles, including modern & baroque violin and Scottish traditional fiddle. He has performed with ensembles such as the Dunedin Consort, Ludus Baroque, Oxford Baroque, Ex Cathedra, RSNO, Scottish Ensemble, Scottish Ballet, Manchester Camerata, the Cinematic Orchestra, the GRIT Orchestra, the Evergreen Ensemble (Australia), and Les Musiciens de Saint Julien (France), and the recently founded groups Scots Baroque and the Scottish Freelancers Ensemble. Aaron is a leading exponent of 17th and 18th-century Scottish fiddle music, performing regularly with Concerto Caledonia, with whom he has made four recordings, given several live performances on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland, and toured Ireland, Finland, and Australia.
CONTACT
