Florilegium, Arakaender Bolivia choir - 28009 Bolivian Baroque vol. 3

Florilegium
Arakaendar Bolivia Choir and Florilegium – Directed by Ashley Solomon
Music transcribed by Piotr Nawrot
Solo Organ – James Johnstone

Florilegium
Ashley Solomon – flute
Simon Jones – violin
Jennifer Morsches – cello
Christine Sticher – bass
Sofie Vanden Eynde – theorbo/guitar
James Johnstone – harpsichord/organ

 
Domenico Zipoli Toccata in d minor

Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco Missa Octavo Tono

Anon Sonata “Chiquitana” No.IV AMCh 264 (So 18)
Allegro, Andante, Minuete

Domenico Zipoli All’Offertorio

Roque Jacinto de Chavarría Fuera, Fuera! Haganles lugar!

Anon Siempre Piano from Sonata XIV in G major

Domenico Zipoli Canzona in g minor

Juan de Araujo Al Llanto mas tierno

Anon Aires me hielan al Niño

Diego Casseda Silencio, no chiste el aire

Anon Sonata AMCh 399 in a minor

Juan de Araujo Oh que bien se suspenden los Cielos

Sebastián Duron Al compás airecillos

Anon Salve a 8

Encore: Anon Naranjitay - Huaiño (Traditional folk tune) arranged by Luis Craff

 Florilegium
Director Ashley Solomon

Regular performances in some of the world’s most prestigious venues have confirmed Florilegium’s status as one of Britain’s most outstanding period instrument ensembles. Since their formation in 1991 they have established a reputation for stylish and exciting interpretations, from intimate chamber works to large-scale orchestral and choral repertoire, frequently working with some of the world’s finest musicians.

Concert venues include Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Beethoven-Haus (Bonn), Handel-Haus (Halle) and Frick Collection (New York).

Among the numerous residencies Florilegium have held was the coveted post of Ensemble-in-Residence at London's Wigmore Hall, a position they enjoyed from 1998 to 2000, performing several series of concerts each year and becoming actively involved in the Hall's education work. Since September 2008 they have been Ensemble in Association at the Royal College of Music.

Their 19 recordings for Channel Classics have been awarded many prizes including a Gramophone Award nomination, Editor’s Choice from Gramophone, Diapasons d’Or and Chocs de la Musique. Florilegium’s CD of Telemann’s Paris Quartets Vol 2 received the Classical Internet Award from Classicstoday.com. The first volume of Baroque Music from Bolivian Missions was released to critical acclaim; the second volume was nominated for a 2008 BBC Music Magazine award, and their Bach Cantatas disc with Johannette Zomer was awarded a 2008 Edison Award.

Ashley Solomon
As its Director, much of Ashley’s time is spent working and performing with Florilegium, the ensemble he co-founded in 1991.
Ashley won a recorder and flute scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London where he was awarded first class honours. He has performed as a soloist throughout Europe, the Americas, the Far East and Australia. He frequently records programmes for radio and television and has been recording as a solo artist since 1998.
Much in demand as a teacher he has been Professor at London’s Royal College of Music since 1994 and given master classes and lectures in Australia, the Americas, across Europe and the UK. In September 2006 he was appointed Head of Historical Performance at the Royal College of Music.
As a result of his work in Bolivia and with Bolivian singers, which he started in 2003, Ashley was awarded the 2008 Hans Roth Prize, the first Briton to receive this prize. This prestigious Bolivian award has been given to him in recognition of the enormous assistance he has given to the Bolivian native Indians, their presence on the international stage and the promotion and preservation of this music.

Arakaedar Bolivia Choir
Director, Ashley Solomon

Arakaedar Bolivia Choir was founded in December 2005 by Ashley Solomon in order for them to work with Florilegium on their Bolivian Baroque projects. Ashley auditioned over 50 singers, who came from different cities and backgrounds from all over Bolivia, and selected a mixed choir of 16 voices. He then commuted each month from London to Bolivia (thanks to the generous support of the Prince Claus Fund and Association Pro Art y Culture (APAC) in Bolivia) to work with the choir.

This new national chamber choir was launched at the 6th International Festival of Renaissance and Baroque Music in Bolivia in April 2006. As well as giving four concerts in Bolivia they recorded a CD with Florilegium on the Channel Classics label in the mission church of Concepcion, and made a documentary for the American CBS '60 Minutes' programme which was aired nationwide across the USA on Easter Sunday 2007. That CD (Bolivian Baroque vol.2 – Music from the Missions and La Plata) was nominated for a 2008 BBC Music Magazine Award in the ‘Best Choral Recording of 2007’category.

The choir enjoyed three Bolivian national tours during 2007, each one directed by Ashley Solomon.

In February 2008 they undertook their first European tour, which included a series of concerts in major concert halls in The Netherlands, including Rotterdam, Enschede, Groningen and Utrecht. As part of the tour, this third volume of Bolivian Baroque music was recorded in the Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam. In January 2008 a Dutch television crew travelled to Bolivia to film the choir’s final rehearsals with Ashley before their European tour, and this documentary was shown on Dutch TV, as was the CBS ’60 Minutes’ programme, which was broadcast five times each day during the tour. In the UK, they performed a concert at the Royal College of Music, London, and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’.

In Bolivia in May 2008 the choir collaborated once again with Florilegium in the International Festival of Renaissance and Baroque Music in Conception and Santa Cruz. Both concerts were shown live on television, and in addition, at the invitation of HE The British Ambassador to Bolivia, they performed in a music festival in La Paz.

Arakaendar is a word in one of the indigenous languages of Bolivia, Guarayo – and means ancient or old.

“A robust performance from the Bolivian choir, with bouncing rhythms, tightly executed runs and beautiful change of pace and colour.” International Record Review, February 2007

“The overall sound, accompanied here by Solomon's Baroque-instrument group Florilegium, is enchanting. These are gossamer light and radiantly clear voices, singing with delicacy, a wonderfully springy sense of rhythm and true joy.” The Times, February 2008
 

James Johnstone is established as one of the UK’s leading performers on early keyboards. As a recitalist he is active in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Israel, Colombia and the USA. His six solo discs to date have garnered numerous awards both for their performances and their innovative programming. Besides Florilegium, he is a member of Trio Sonnerie with Monica Huggett, and Trinity Baroque. A respected teacher, he has given masterclasses in Europe and the States, and is professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at Trinity College of Music in London.

 BBC magazine CD of the Month (March 2010)