2024-25 Musicians
Edward Parmentier, harpsichord
The American harpsichordist (and organist), Edward Parmentier, studied with Albert Fuller in New York City and Gustav Leonhardt, in Amsterdam. He holds degrees in classical languages, literatures and musicology from Princeton University and in humanities and teaching from Harvard University. Parmentier is internationally renowned for his brilliant performances of early keyboard music. A specialist in the harpsichord music of J. S. Bach, the English virginalists, and the French clavecinistes, has performed widely throughout the USA, Russia, Western Europe, Japan, and Korea. He is a frequent recitalist, lecturer and adjudicator at symposia and festivals. His solo appearances include recitals on both harpsichord and historic organs. He also appears frequently in ensemble settings as a continuist and concerto soloist, and conducts modern instrument chamber orchestras in performances of Baroque and classical repertory.
Parmentier is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Music, Emeritus, School of Music, Theater and Dance, University of Michigan. For 38 years he taught harpsichord performance and academic courses and seminars in early music. He conducted the Renaissance/Baroque Choir, early music instrumental ensembles, and co-directed the Baroque Chamber Orchestra. He taught harpsichord performance workshops each summer. His recordings have won widespread critical and popular acclaim. On the Wildboar label: English virginal music, 17th-century German harpsichord music, 17th-century French harpsichord music (sonatas of Scarlatti), Iberian music played on an 18th-century Portuguese fortepiano, early Italian harpsichord music, Arcangelo Corelli ensemble works, the anthology Splendor of the Harpsichord, Scarlatti sonatas, and the complete Bach Partitas, Toccatas (BWV 910-916), and English Suites (BWV 806-811). He has also recorded Bach’s trio sonatas BWV 525-530 in an ensemble version (“Musica Pacifica” of recorder-violin-cello-harpsichord) on Virgin Veritas, and various other non Bach recordings published on Crystal, Titanic, and University of Michigan discs.
Jacques Ogg, harpsichord
One of the most prominent and influential modern masters of harpsichord and fortepiano, Jacques Ogg performs worldwide as a soloist and continuo player. He was a member of one of the world’s leading period-instrument ensembles, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, directed by the late Frans Brüggen, and also worked with Baroque orchestras in Salamanca and Sevilla, Spain. Highly sought after as a pedagogue, he was a harpsichord professor at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, one of the world’s foremost institutes for early music. Mr. Ogg co-directs the International Baroque Instrumental Program, an intensive summer music course in the Twin Cities, and has been the artistic director of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra since 2000. His discography includes more than 60 recordings with labels such as Philips, Sony, EMI, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Glossa.
Linh Kauffman, soprano
Praised as “vocally and dramatically powerful” by the Washington Post and “radiant” by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, soprano Linh Kauffman enjoys an active career in opera, oratorio, and recital. Recent performances include Carmina Burana for the Prague ChoralFestival, Joshua with the Panama National Symphony, Carmina Burana and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Minnesota Orchestra, Ariadne auf Naxos with Minnesota Opera, Acis and Galatea for Antiqva Panamá, and appearances at Festival Musica Antica Urbino, Salle Bourgie Montreal, Festival Musica Antigua Panamá, and Festival Musique en l’Île de Paris. A prolific concert artist, Ms. Kauffman has appeared with the Oregon Bach Festival, Pittsburgh Symphony, Akron Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Quad City Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others, and as a chamber musician with Spire Chamber Ensemble, Seraphic Fire, and Consortium Carissimi. She made her Latin American debut in Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus at the Teatro Nacional de Panama and has appeared in opera and musicals across the U.S. A native of Connecticut, Ms. Kauffman earned her DMA from the University of Minnesota, MM from the University of Maryland, and BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, with further study at the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall and the Salzburg Mozarteum. She is a founding member of MBE and currently teaches on the voice faculty at Macalester College.
Louella Alatiit, violin
Louella Alatiit is a violinist with a diverse performing career. Her musical inspiration extends from the expressiveness and improvisatory elements of baroque music. She has worked with some of the world’s leading period instrument ensembles such as, The English Concert and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, among others. She has played with many renowned conductors and directors and has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. A graduate of three prestigious schools, Ms. Alatiit holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Violin Performance from McGill University, a Diploma in Baroque Violin from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, as well as a Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University, NY.
Her experience and training are something she aspires to impart to the next generation of musicians, and as a passionate educator she has done this for more than 20 years. She has given coachings to undergraduate/graduate performance students in Stony Brook University’s baroque ensemble and at Grinell College. In the Fall and Winter semesters of 2022, she taught a chamber music class as a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto, Scarborough in the Music & Culture Department. After living in the Netherlands for 15 years, she has recently relocated back to Canada.
Marc Levine, violin
Marc Levine enjoys a career as a chamber musician and orchestral leader specializing in performances on both modern and baroque violin. On baroque violin, Marc performs with Early Music Minnesota, of which he is a co-founder, and his chamber ensemble, Flying Forms, that, in addition to performing standard and contemporary repertoire, has also presented larger scale programs including oratorios and operas. In Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he is based, Marc regularly appears as leader or section member with the Bach Society of Minnesota and the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, among others. On modern violin, Marc performs chamber music from all eras on various series, most recently with the Lux String Quartet and on the MacPhail Spotlight Series. With these groups and others, both recorded and live, Marc has been featured many times as a soloist and ensemble player on Minnesota Public Radio. A noted entrepreneur, Marc co-founded The Baroque Room, a performance space in downtown Saint Paul that, from 2011-20, hosted nearly 50 events each year, and the Saint Paul Classical Music Crawl, an event held four times between 2015-19 featuring the entire city's classical music scene and named one of the top ten classical music events of 2015 by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.
Tulio Rondon, cello
Cellist Tulio Rondón performs throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as a soloist and chamber musician. Known for his vivid and passionate performances, he started his professional life early as principal cellist of the Aragua Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela. Tulio Rondón's performance career has taken him all over the world, sharing the stage with many internationally celebrated artists.
Born in Venezuela, Tulio Rondón began his cello studies through El Sistema. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Simón Bolivar Conservatory, his Master of Music from Miami University (Oxford, OH), and Doctoral Degree in performance at the University of Arizona. Pursuing his strong interest in historic performance practice, he continued his studies in The Netherlands, completing post-graduate studies on baroque cello and viola da gamba with Jaap ter Linden and Rainer Zipperling at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Tulio Rondón is in demand as a chamber musician and early music specialist.
Currently Tulio Rondón is the violoncello professor at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.
Tami Morse, harpsichord
Tami Morse, a Japanese American harpsichordist, is active as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States and abroad. She is the former Executive Director of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra and co-founder of The Baroque Room, a performance space in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has performed with ensembles such as Foundling, the Long Island Baroque Ensemble, North Shore Pro Musica, Ensemble 212, the Bach Society of Minnesota, Glorious Revolution Baroque, the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Minnesota Bach Ensemble, Big Apple Baroque Band, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She has performed in notable venues such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Symphony Space, the Dakota, and Le Poisson Rouge. She was a finalist in the Jurow International Harpsichord Competition in March, 2012.
Tami is a founding member of the baroque ensemble Flying Forms, known for innovative, interdisciplinary performances and considered “names to watch” (Berkshire Review for the Arts) and “the bright future of early music” (Arthur Haas, harpsichord). She received her Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan with Edward Parmentier and has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University where she studied with the acclaimed harpsichordist and teacher Arthur Haas. In addition to her studies in the United States, Tami was awarded a prestigious DAAD grant, which she used to study in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Ketil Haugsand.
Tami is dedicated to making early music accessible to today’s audiences and laying a foundation for its study and performance in the United States.