Kees Boeke and Fred Thomas play French and Italian medieval duos from the Modena & Squarcialupi Codices, as well as the music of Paolo da Firenze, Matteo da Perugia, Giovanni da Cascia, Ciconia, Francesco Landini, Lorenzo Masini and Guillaume de Machaut.
Kees Boeke – recorders
Fred Thomas – vielle
Kees Boeke is an internationally acclaimed artist in the field of early music, specialising in recorders and medieval fiddle both as a performer, teacher and director. He has recorded over 80 CDs with various labels including his own record label, Olive Music, founded in 2001. He has been published as a composer and editor of renaissance and medieval music (Zen-On, Schott, Donemus, Olive Music Editions).
His activities in the realm of medieval music began as a member of Kees Otten’s ensemble Syntagma Musicum in the mid 1970’s, continuing with the renowned ensembles Quadro Hotteterre (1968), Sour Cream (1972), and later Little Consort Amsterdam (1978) and Mala Punica (1989). In 2003 he founded his medieval ensemble Tetraktys.
Professor at the Institut fur Alte Music in Trossingen, Germany, Kees Boeke became Director of the Medieval/Renaissance program there. He was also professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich for 25 years. Presently, he is in his seventh year as director of the medieval summer course Settimana musicale del Trecento in Arezzo, Italy. He regularly gives master classes all over the world including Amsterdam, The Hague, Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan, Tel Aviv, Palermo and Innsbruck. Kees has lived in Toscana for over 40 years, where he makes organic olive oil. www.o-livemusic.com
Based between the UK and Italy, Fred Thomas is an ECM artist and one of London’s most sought after multi-instrumentalists and composer/arranger/producers, known for his breadth of musical styles as well as for specialising in creative re-interpretations of J.S. Bach. He has appeared all over the world, performing in venues such as the Berlin Philarmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Wiener Konzerthaus and Teatro Liceo. Described as “remarkable” and given 5 stars by International Piano Magazine, his debut on the ECM New Series label was ‘Three or One’, 24 pieces by Bach transcribed for trio and solo piano by Thomas himself, featuring Lucy Railton and Aisha Orazbayeva.
Of Italian, British and Argentinian background, Thomas has collaborated with a huge variety of artists including Brian Eno, Yo-Yo Ma, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Jordi Savall, Rachel Podger, Meredith Monk, Jarvis Cocker, Abel Selaocoe, Lianne Le Havas, Elizabeth Kenny, Jill Feldman, Lucy Crowe, Ethan Iverson, Larry Grenadier, Benoît Delbecq, Tamara Stefanovich, Leo Abrahams, Dudu Kouate, Olivia Chaney and Kees Boeke. Thomas is published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen and has a discography of over fifty albums across various genres, including appearing on the ECM jazz label as pianist, drummer and viellist.
Described as “a revelation” by Apple Music and “mesmerising” by BBC Music Magazine, Fred Thomas started to play classical piano at the age of five, later studying jazz piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He works regularly as Musical Director at Shakespeare’s Globe and teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, London. As a producer, Thomas has overseen albums for labels such as Warner Classics and his recent compositions were performed internationally and at the Royal Opera House.
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