Ensemble Piú Corde Ensemble Piú Corde Piú Corde explores the variety and richness of music styles across Europe in the second half of the 18th and beginning of 19th century. The core of the group is the fortepiano supported by a strings. The ensemble was formed in 2015 by graduates of Royal Conservatory in The Hague who found common passion in popularizing late classical and early romantic repertoire on historical instruments. The group’s aim is to put the music in the context of history, philosophy, politics, art and social life of people at that time. Industrial and social revolutions, thoughts of Voltaire, Rousseau, Adam Smith, pre-romantic poetry influenced composers and their music. The ensemble wants to present the audience how works of Haydn, Beethoven, Pleyel and other composers resemble the time in which they were composed. The music of this politically and socially stormy period contains a wide palette of emotions which change rapidly. One can find melancholy, longing, joy, fear. Piú Corde wants to revive the emotions written in the music and bring them to the listeners. In the ongoing search for a form of expressions the group experiments with the sound possibilities of historical bows, strings an Anna Jane Lester – baroque violin Anna began her violin studies at the age of four in Florida. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in violin playing from Vanderbilt University with Cornelia Heard, she went to the Juilliard School for a Masters of Music in Historical Performance, studying with Monica Huggett and Cynthia Roberts. Since then she has moved to the Netherlands and completed her studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Walter Reiter and Kati Debretzeni. As a baroque violinist, Anna Jane performs with the International Handel Festspiele Göttingen Orchestra, Holland Baroque and PRJCT Amsterdam with Maarten Engeltjes. Anna is also an enthusiastic chamber musician, whose chamber performances have taken her on stages from the Concertgebouw Amsterdam to the Smithsonian Institute to the Utrecht Early Music Festival. As an orchestra musician she has played under the direction of renowned musicians such as William Christie, Richard Egarr, Jordi Savall, Nicolas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Rachel Podger, Ton Koopman and Kristian Bezuidenhout. As a soloist she also performed as a semi-finalist in the International Competition Musica Antiqua 2017. Ania Katynska – baroque cello, gamba, bass violin Ania Katynska is a Polish musician specialising in baroque cello, gamba and bass violin. Her teachers included Jaap ter Linden, Phoebe Carrai, Markus Möllenbeck, Mieneke van der Velden, and Mark Caudle. Ania participated in the Jerwood / Experience Project of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, la Academie Baroque Européenne d’Ambronay, Generation Baroque, and European Union Baroque Orchestra. She has also collaborated with Arte dei Suonatori, Concerto Copenhagen, Le Parlement de Musique, Vox Luminis, Opera2Day, International Baroque Players, Brabants Muziek Collegie, and Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra. Ania has also worked with famous masters including Masaaki Suzuki, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Ivan Fischer, Jordi Savall, Herve Niquet, Enrico Onofri, Mark Padmore, Peter van Heyghen, Martin Gester, Kati Debretzeni, Chiara Banchini, and Margaret Faultless. In December 2008 she took part in the recording of GF Handel’s Water Music with Lars Ulrik Mortensen. She also took part in a DVD recording of A. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Kati Debretzeni and Arte dei Suonatori. She has also recorded CDs with International Baroque Players and Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra. Ania has given solo recitals at the Bach Festival in Katowice (Poland), Bach-Fest in Sumy (Ukraine) and in Eu (France). She is co-founder of ensemble Continuo Company and member of ensembles Piu Corde and Quartet Nova Vita (Norwegie). Besides playing, she teaches cello and gamba in her studio in Rotterdam. Liene Madern-Stradina – fortepiano and harpsichord Liene was born in Riga (Latvia), where she obtained a master’s degree in piano from the Riga Conservatory. During this period she also participated in international piano competitions and followed master classes in Italy, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria. Because of her interest in historical performance practice, she came to the Netherlands to study Early Music. Liene studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, harpsichord with Ton Koopman, Tini Mathot, Fabio Bonizzoni, Patrick Ayrton and fortepiano with Bart van Oort. In 2018 she completed a master study “Early Keyboards” at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She gives concerts in the Netherlands, Early Music Festival in Stockholm, Sweden, Early Music Festival in Latvia.