MEET US
Winchester Baroque is a music ensemble with an interdisciplinary background that was established by early music specialist Rudolf Balázs and art historian Daen Palma Huse in 2019. The group is comprised of a range of international musicians that perform across venues and repertoire.
Our mission is to provide access to early music through providing engaging presentations that include lesser-known Baroque composers and music from mainland Europe, England and Scotland. We also apply an experimental approach in relation to connecting Baroque performance practice and contemporary culture.
Rudolf Balázs
A Hungarian baroque violinist trained at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, Rudolf holds an MMus in Early Music, and studied with Caroline Balding and Elizabeth Kenny. He regularly appears with the Hanover Band and Musica Poetica and is artistic director of Winchester Baroque. His latest recording with Talenti Vulcanici is released by the label Arcana.
Daen Palma Huse
Art historian, writer, curator and researcher, Daen is a PhD candidate at University College London in History of Art, focusing on Latin America. Daen is Editor and Co-Founder of The Protagonist Magazine and has collaborated with The National Portrait Gallery, The Wallace Collection, Leighton House Museum, and Leica Gallery West Hollywood.
Dr Birgitta Huse
Social Anthropologist and researcher Birgitta is part of Winchester Baroque’s regulars. With her knowledgeable introductions, she invites our audience to partake in a musical experience, inspiring to connect.
Professor Daniel Brown
Danniel has taught English Literature at the University of Southampton and at the University of Western Australia. He has also been a visiting lecturer in film studies at the University of Hong Kong and Australian studies at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Most of his teaching has been in literary studies from the early eighteenth- to the early twenty-first centuries, as well as film studies. He has also published several books.
Regular and Previous Performers of Winchester Baroque
Petra Hajdochova
Harpischord
Petra completed her studies at Trinity College of Music, London and was awarded a TCM Scholarship, the Raymond Russel Prize as well as the June Emerson Wind Music Launch-pad Prize. Petra is known for her radio and television work, inclu-ding a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and has recorded with The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen.
Elizabeth Kenny
Theorbo
Elizabeth’s playing has been described as “incandescent” (Music and Vision), “radical” (The Independent on Sunday) and “indecently beautiful” (Toronto Post). Her research interests have led to recordings of Lawes, Purcell and Dowland, and to the formation of her ensemble Theatre of the Ayre. Elizabeth appears alongside Ian Bostridge on Warner Classic’s Shakespeare Songs, which won a 2017 Grammy Award for ‘Best Classical Solo Vocal Album’.
Monika Toth
Violin
Specialised in early music under Enrico Gatti in Milan, and Enrico Onofri in Palermo, Monika is one of Europe’s leading awardwinning baroque violinists with a discography of around 50 recordings. She gives masterclasses and is teaching at the Music Academy of Ljubljana. Monika regularly appears with Ensemble Imaginarium, I Barocchisti and Zefiro.
Jonathan Bought
Theorbo
Graduate of the Royal College of Music (RCM), London, award winning theorbist and guitarist Jonatan has studied with Jakob Lindberg, Carlos Bonell and Chris Stell as an RCM Scholar supported by the Musician’s Company Lambert Studentship. Jonatan has played at the Royal Albert Hall, Shakespeare’s Globe and across various venues in Europe and Brazil.
Chistopher McClain
Viola & Violin
Chris is a London-based violist and violinist. He performs across early modern and contemporary repertoire.
Emma Alter
Viola & Violin
British Violist Emma has been described by Paul McCreesh as “one of the finest players of her generation,”” and has been saluted by Music and Vision for her "beautifully rich tone, and an almost gypsy earthiness." Her expertise spans from renaissance extemporisation to the romantic works of Brahms and beyond. She has been in demand since 1997, performing, touring and recording with early music ensembles in the UK.
Salomé Rateau
Violin
Salomé graduated from Université de Paris-Sorbonnes and Université de Poitiers for Musicology and earned a Masters degree with distinction in from the Royal Academy of Music. She has played a wide variety of repertoires - from early baroque operas to contemporary Indian music, classical to poprock. She has played from the age of 15, with Philippe Herreweghe and François-Xavier Roth.
Máté Szigeti
Recorder & Harpsichord
Máté is a Hungarian composer, currently based in Southampton (UK). His music is regularly played in various venues all over Europe. He is a member of Hermina Alkotócsoport (formerly known as Hermina Galéria), a collective of Hungarian composers and visual artists, and of the Out-Take ensemble, an experimental music group.
Katarzyna Solecka
Violin
Rome-based, Katarzyna trained with Z. Kaczmarski in Krakow and Enrico Onofri in Palermo, receiving an MA. Katarzyna has produced recordings including the first recording of Complete Sinfonias of C.A. Lonati and L. Colista with Ensemble Giardino di Delizie for Brilliant Classics. She has performed with Vittorio Ghielmi, Christophe Rousset, Enico Onofri and Fabio Biondi.
Maxim del Mar
Violin
British violinist Maxim is a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London, supported by a Musicians' Company Lambert Studentship. Maxim performs a wealth of solo, chamber, and orchestral music spanning from Monteverdi to Beethoven on original set-ups. He has performed with many leading period orchestras including the Hanover Band, I Fagiolini, Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, London Handel Orchestra and Players, and Florilegium, and at Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, with an RCM period string quartet.
Contact us:
For questions about upcoming events, tickets, bookings or getting involved on a collaboration, please e-mail us!
Please e-mail Daen Palma Huse directly on daen.huse.20@ucl.ac.uk.