choral music

Gregorio Allegri (1582

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (b. 3 February 1525 – 2 February 1526; d. 2 February 1594) was an Italian Renaissance composer and the most well-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. Palestrina became famous through his output of sacred music. He had an enormous influence on the development of Roman Catholic church music, and his work has often been seen as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony.

Claudio Monteverdi ("Green Mountain") (Cremona May 15, 1567 – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. His work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music. During his long life he produced work that can be classified in both categories, and he was one of the most significant revolutionaries that brought about the change in style. Monteverdi wrote the earliest dramatically viable opera, Orfeo, and was fortunate enough to enjoy fame during his lifetime.

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.