Jacqueline Schwab is excited to return to English Week! From the soundtracks of Ken Burns’s Grammy award-winning Civil War, Baseball, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin and many other PBS documentaries, to the White House, to the 2021 PBS American Roots special with the American Pops Orchestra, pianist Jacqueline Schwab has evoked the American musical past, but in a fresh, personal way. She spins musical stories, connecting listeners to the many strands woven into our American musical quilt.
Lisa Terry (viola da gamba, violoncello) practices, performs and teaches viola da gamba and violoncello in New York City, where she is a member of Parthenia and the Dryden Ensemble (Princeton). Lisa is principal cellist and viol soloist with Tempesta di Mare, Philadelphia’s baroque orchestra, and she serves the Viola da Gamba Society of America as Past-President. Lisa teaches viola da gamba and cello privately in New York and at workshops around the country,
Emily O’Brien is a native of Washington, DC where she played recorder from a young age. She studied recorder and french horn at Boston University, and recorder and Baroque flute at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany. She performs in recorder ensembles and historical chamber music, as well as English Country Dance bands. As a teacher, she works with private students and ensembles in the Boston area and at summer workshops.
A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Dan Meyers is a flexible and engaging performer of both classical and folk music; his credits range from premieres of contemporary chamber music, to headlining a concert series in honor of Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival, to playing Renaissance instruments on Broadway for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Company. He is a founding member of the early music/folk crossover group Seven Times Salt, and in recent seasons he has performed with the The Folger Consort,
Sarah Mead is a professor emerita of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she taught historical performance and music history for four decades and for several years chaired their Medieval and Renaissance Studies program. She served as Music Director for the annual Conclave of the Viola da Gamba Society of America for seven years, and will return to that role in 2025. Her handbook on Renaissance theory is used in historical music programs around the country.
Susan Kevra is a dance caller, musician and singer who makes her home in Nashville, Tennessee. She travels across the country and occasionally, around the globe to teach contra, square dances, English Country dancing and French dancing. She is an accomplished clarinetist and singer who specializes in French café music and English Country dance tunes and is a member of the band, Constellation. The composer of contra and square dances, Susan also represents a new voice in English country dance choreography.
Frances Conover Fitch has toured extensively in North America and Europe and performs with many prominent early music ensembles. She helped found the groundbreaking ensemble for 17th-century music, Concerto Castello, and has been described as a “delightfully inventive and compelling” continuo player. Ms. Fitch has participated in major music festivals, including Tanglewood, Aix-en-Provence, Pepsico Summerfare, Tage Alter Musik (Regensburg), the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Festival de Musica Antigua in Mexico.
Héloïse Degrugillier (recorder) has worked extensively as both a recorder performer and teacher throughout Europe and the U.S. She has performed with leading period ensembles, including the Boston Early Music Festival Opera, Newport Baroque, Harmonious Blacksmith, the Dunya Ensemble and L’Academie. Recent performances include a concert at the Indianapolis Early Music festival that was praised by the Indianapolis Nuvo: “Recorder players Justin Godoy and Héloïse Degrugillier blended their dissimilar-looking instruments to near perfection.” Héloïse also enjoys an active teaching career,
Michael Barrett is a Boston-based conductor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher. He serves as music director of The Boston Cecilia. Michael is also an Assistant Professor at the Berklee College of Music, where he teaches courses in conducting and European music history, and until recently served as Interim Director of the Five College Early Music Program. Michael has performed with many professional early music ensembles, including Blue Heron, the Boston Camerata, the Huelgas Ensemble,
Anney Barrett, soprano, holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame in Vocal Performance and Great Books and an MM in Vocal Performance from the Longy School of Music. An enthusiastic and adventurous musician, Anney is delighted to be a frequent collaborator with local composers in presenting and recording new solo and choral works, including a recent project with the Boston Composers’ Coalition. She performs regularly throughout the greater Boston area with her professional quartet,
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