harpsichord

Georg Philipp Telemann (14th March 1681–25th June 1767) was a German Baroque composer, born in Magdeburg. Self-taught in music, he studied law at the University of Leipzig. The most prolific composer of his era, he was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach and a life-long friend of Georg Friedrich Händel. While in the present day Bach is generally thought of as the greater composer, Telemann was more widely renowned for his musical abilities during his lifetime.

Known for the intricate artwork with which she adorns world-class harpsichords, the multitalented Janine Johnson is also a gifted harpsichordist and pianist in her own right. Her style of playing is elegant yet extremely agile, and she has performed extensively in the Bay Area and beyond. Ms. Johnson began her musical studies on the modern piano and started playing the harpsichord as a teenager. She majored piano performance and two dimensional art at California State University, Northridge and began building and decorating harpsichords in earnest at this time.

Richard Egarr is a British keyboard performer and conductor. He received his musical training as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge. His study with Gustav Leonhardt further inspired his work in the field of historical performance. Egarr has worked with all types of keyboards and performed repertoire ranging from fifteenth-century organ intabulations to Dussek and Chopin on early pianos, to Berg and Maxwell Davies on modern piano.

Read more about Richard Egarr on Last.fm.

Masaaki Suzuki is an organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan. He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christian and amateur musicians. He studied composition and organ at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and was later taught harpsichord and organ by Ton Koopman and Piet Kee at the Sweelink Conservatory in Holland. In 1993 he began teaching at Kobe University, and founded the Bach Collegium in 1990. The group began giving concerts regularly in 1992, and made its first recordings three years later.

Read more about Masaaki Suzuki on Last.fm.