Mieneke van der Velden & Fred Jacobs
Biographie Mieneke van der Velden & Fred Jacobs
Mieneke van der Velden
studied viola da gamba with Wieland Kuijken at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, and was awarded the soloist diploma in 1988. One of northern Europe's leading players, she has been invited to play at various festivals in the Netherlands and across Europe, in a wide range of chamber-music en- sembles as well as a soloist in renowned ensembles such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman), Concerto Vocale (René Jacobs), Collegium Vocale (Philippe Herreweghe), Les Talens Lyriques (Christophe Rousset), the Netherlands Bach Society (Jos van Veldhoven) and Cantus Cölln (Konrad Junghänel).
She plays music ranging from the French viola da gamba repertoire, and 17th century English music, to Bach's obbligato solo arias. Mieneke van der Velden has recorded three discs with the Dutch label Channel Classics, and four for Ramée, including with her ensemble L'Armonia Sonora, all of which have been enthusiastically received. She cur- rently teaches viola da gamba at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatoire and at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where she has instituted a consort-tradition, together with the recorder-, lute- and singing-departments.
Fred Jacobs
studied lute and theorbo with Anthony Bailes at the Sweelinck Conservatoire in Amsterdam. In 1985 he co-founded The Locke Consort, widely praised for their interpretations and recordings of 17th-century English chamber music.
He is a member of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, The Parley of Instruments, the Ba- roque Orchestra of the Netherlands Bach Society and the Monteverdi Continuo-ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera. Fred Jacobs is a regular accompanist of many distinguished singers, such as Charles Daniels, Michael Chance and Maarten Koningsberger. With Johannette Zomer he has recorded a series of programmes devoted to 17th-century monody, for which his research has unveiled many hidden treasures (Channel Classics).
Over the years Fred has been a guest at many of the major early music festivals in Europe and the United States. He performs in opera productions in London, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Vienna and Florence, and has worked with conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Ton Koopman, Ivor Bolton, Andrew Parrott, Marc Minkowski and Richard Egarr. With Emma Kirkby, Johannette Zomer and Maarten Koningsberger he runs workshops on the English lute song, and the French Air de Cour. Since 1995 he has been teaching lute and theorbo at the Amsterdam Conservatoire.
