Performers
at our other concerts
Cheyls Consort of Viols
Described by Gramophone as having released 'unquestionably the most beautiful recording of the Lachrimae', Chelys have garnered a reputation for their faithful yet fresh interpretations of the consort repertoire. They take their name from an ancient Greek word which referred to a bowed lyre, said to have been invented by the god Hermes. The word was borrowed by the English violist Christopher Simpson on the title page of his treatise The Division Viol when he translated the work into Latin.
The members of Chelys are among the UK's leading exponents of the viol, particularly as a consort instrument, and their consort viols are strung entirely in gut (not strings overwound with metal), which lends them a particularly distinctive sound. They frequently collaborate with other period instrumentalists and singers, especially enjoying repertoire for voices and viols. A recent highlight has been recording songs and consort music by William Byrd with mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston in Byrd's 400th anniversary year. A collaboration with vocal consort Fieri saw Chelys performing and recording the complete five-part viol fantasias of Michael East alongside some of East’s compositions for voices and viols, where the two ensembles also commissioned a piece from composer Jill Jarman. Chelys have continued their association with Jill in an exciting current project The Language of Bells, a major new commission alongside percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and four singers.
The consort record for the BIS label, and their version of the complete fantasias and in nomines by Henry Purcell received a five star review in BBC Music Magazine, as well as The Strad, praising its 'beguiling fidelity' and 'in-depth luxuriousness'.
The members of Chelys can be found in all sorts of other places in the wider Early Music world: playing with ensembles such as the Rose Consort of Viols, Fretwork, Musica Secreta and Ensemble Moliere, teaching on courses including the Benslow Trust, NORVIS, Dartington, the Irish Recorder and Viol Summer School, and the Easter Early Music Course, and coaching viol consorts at Morley College, the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music.
www.chelysconsort.co.uk
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Emily Atkinson
American soprano Emily Atkinson studied at the Crane School of Music, New York and the Royal College of Music, London, and now enjoys performing both as a soloist and consort singer.
She has sung with many leading vocal groups, including The Tallis Scholars, with whom she has performed hundreds of concerts across five continents, and appeared in the UK and abroad with The Academy of Ancient Music, The English Concert, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and Florilegium. A recent project with Chelys Consort of Viols, presenting new music by Jill Jarman, and featuring percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, was a particular highlight for Emily, herself an amateur marimba player.
Emily is also a proud member of the City Bach Collective, carrying on a decades-long tradition of performing Bach cantatas liturgically at Lutheran services in the City of London.
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Daniel Gilchrist
Daniel Gilchrist grew up in Cheltenham. A first-study cellist as a teenager, his focus shifted to singing whilst studying at Cambridge, where he sang in the choir of Gonville & Caius college under various directors, and later for a year in that of King's College under Daniel Hyde. Following a two year period in Oxford, where he sang frequently with the Oxford Bach Soloists, he now lives in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
Daniel has a very keen interest in Lieder and English song, and with accompanists including Lilly Vadaneaux and Tammas Slater has given well-received recitals encompassing several key song cycles from both traditions, including Beethoven's Andie Ferne Geliebte, Schumann's Dichterliebe and Liederkreis op. 39, and Finzi's 'til Earth outwears.
He has significant experience in oratorio and particularly in Bach cantatas, as well as delivering one of the Evangelistparts in Bach's contemporary Stölzel's excellent passion setting at the Three Choirs Festival in 2023. He is also developing an increasing interest in opera.
Daniel is also the musical director of early-music focused consort Selene, founded in Oxford in 2022.
www.dtgilchrist.co.uk
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Incantati
Incantati means "enchanted". The group was formed in 2021 by Emma Murphy, bringing together timbres used in the baroque period to represent otherworldliness or enchantment.
More on each of the performers can be found on their websites:
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Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt - violin [biog page]
- Solo performance on YouTube
Intesa Duo
Intesa was formed in 2023 at the Royal Academy of Music by Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti, with the goal of celebrating the viol's combination with the voice. Intesa is an Italian word meaning "understanding" or a meeting of minds. This ethos of collaboration and agreement is embodied in the duo’s programming, where folk and early music repertoire are placed side-by-side, bringing together European and Armenian traditions through narrative and self-accompaniment.Since their founding, Intesa were awarded the 2023-24 Chamber Music Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music, won Second prize at the #GeneraciónSMADE competition in Estella (Spain), and are one of five winners of the Tunnell Trust Awards in 2024.Intesa performs regularly in the UK and internationally. They have performed several sold-out concerts at Handel Hendrix House and Fidelio Cafe, and have been invited to perform at the York Early Music Festival and at the Leeds Conservatoire. Overseas engagements have included two performances at the Utrecht Fringe Early Music Festival, a residency at Ferrandou Musique, a concert at Vilalte Festival, and a New York debut concert the Harold Pratt House and Peterson Hall in as part of an Armenian General Benevolent Union event celebrating Armenian culture, and the Gotham Early Music Scene Midtown Concerts series. In January 2025, they will perform in Vienna as part of the Resonanzen early music festival.
Satoko Doi-Luck
Satoko Doi-Luck has a diverse career, as a keyboardist, a composer, and a director. Satoko regularly gives solo recitals as well as enjoys playing with orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Rachel Podger with Brecon Baroque, and English Touring Opera with whom she has directed the performances of Bach's St John’s passion. In 2022, she directed Hasse's opera Antonio e Cleopatra from the keyboard at the Buxton Festival. She was the Assistant Music Director and Repetiteur at the Longborough Opera for the production of Purcell's Fairy Queen last summer.
As a keen chamber musician, Satoko is a founding member of Ensemble Molière and Ceruleo. Ensemble Molière was the first-ever BBC Radio 3 New Geration Baroque Ensemble (2021-2023) and a finalist in the York International Young Artists Competition (2017), and has been performing throughout Europe and in the UK.
