Gold medalist and first-ever American laureate of the 7th International Bach-Abel Competition Arnie Tanimoto has quickly established himself as one of the foremost viol players in the USA. Described by the New York Times as a ”fine instrumental soloist” he has performed and recorded in venues across North America and Europe with the likes of Barthold Kuijken, the Boston Early Music Festival Ensemble, and the Smithsonian Consort of Viols.

Arnie was the first-ever viola da gamba major at the Juilliard School, where he soloed on both viola da gamba and baroque cello. In 2017 he was awarded with a Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Fellowship and subsequently finished his studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. His principal teachers include Paolo Pandolfo, Sarah Cunningham, and Christel Thielmann. As a teacher, Arnie serves on faculty at the Mountainside Baroque Summer Academy, as well as maintaining a private studio in New York City. He holds additional degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music.

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Ms. Igarashi is a ubiquitous presence in the NY early music scene. A first prize winner at the Aspen Music Festival Double Bass competition,  Ms. Igarashi studied double bass with Eugene Levinson at the Juilliard School, in addition with Franco Petracchi and Duncan McTier. After graduating from the Juilliard studied viola da gamba in France and spent years in intensive study with Marianne Muller, Wieland Kuijken, and Paolo Pandolfo, and most recently studied lirone with Erin Headley. She plays the viola da gamba, violone, the baroque double bass and lirone with various groups such as The American Classical Orchestra, Anima, Artek, Bach Collegium Japan, Boston Baroque, the Concert Royal, Dryden Ensemble and REBEL, Orchestra of St. Lukes, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, both on the East coast and in Japan. She appeared as a soloist for NY Philharmonic Brandenburg Concert No.6.

Ms. Igarashi appears in many of the above group’s recordings and is featured in jazz and popular music, accompanying the likes of Brad Mehldau, Natalie Merchant and others, and movies like WarnerBrothers’ Il Mistero di Dante, and Disney’ Casanova.

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Acclaimed cellist/gambist Caroline Nicolas enjoys an active and multifaceted career as one of the outstanding performers of music from the Renaissance to the Romantic eras. Noted for her “eloquent artistry and rich, vibrant sound” (Gainesville Times), she has been praised for her unique ability to combine emotionally rich interpretations with a historically inquisitive spirit. She regularly appears with leading ensembles as a soloist, chamber musician, and music director, and has collaborated with such eminent musicians as Andrea Marcon, Amandine Beyer, Jordi Savall, William Christie, and Stephen Stubbs. 

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Awards include having been selected as a fellow of The English Concert in America, given to young musicians “who appear likely to make significant contributions to the field of early music.”  Her performances have been broadcast on KING FM in Washington, KUHF in Texas, WDIY in Pennsylvania, and CCTV in China.

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A native of Winnipeg, Canada, Caroline was first introduced to the cello by her mother, an elementary school music teacher. After falling in love with the expressive possibilities of gut strings, she studied with Phoebe Carrai at The Juilliard School and Christophe Coin and Paolo Pandolfo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, lutenist Kevin Payne. More information is available at www.carolinenicolas.com

Lutenist Kevin Payne is active as a recitalist, accompanist, and continuo player. Recent ensemble work includes performances with Seattle Symphony, Tempesta di Mare, il Giardino d’Amore, New York City Opera, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Spoleto Festival, and the Boston Early Music Festival. He has worked with noted conductors including William Christie, Andrea Marcon, Richard Egarr, Monica Huggett, Jordi Savall, and Masaaki Suzuki. Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, and the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany. His playing has been broadcast on a number of nationally syndicated radio programs including Sunday Baroque and Performance Today.  

Currently residing in Philadelphia, Kevin is a graduate of the Peabody Institute, the Juilliard School, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland.  When not performing, Kevin enjoys cooking, reading, and attempting to delay the inevitable (and often imminent) demise of the houseplants he shares with his wife, cellist Caroline Nicolas.

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In recent years Maureen Murchie has performed with Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, NOVUS NY, Helicon, American Classical Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, Garth Newel Piano Quartet, Mark Morris Dance Company, Mercury Ensemble, Staunton Music Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, REBEL, Bethlehem Bach Festival, and in the Broadway pits of Tootsie and Farinelli and the King. Maureen holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she wrote a dissertation on the history of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra in Sendai, Japan. Having grown up in Japan and attended Japanese schools, Maureen also is in demand as a Japanese translator and interpreter. She is currently the Marketing Operations Manager at BIA, a litigation technology firm based in lower Manhattan. 

Charlie Reed is a multi-instrumentalist active in baroque and modern cello as well as viola da gamba. He has collaborated with distinguished musicians such as Catherine Meints and Mark Edwards, and as a part of Juilliard415, with conductors such as Rachel Podger, Masaaki Suzuki, Richard Egarr, Kris Bezuidenhout, Nicolas McGegan, and Robert Mealy. Last fall he made his oratorio debut performing an obbligato gamba solo in Telemann’s Der Tag des Gerichts under Suzuki. Currently, he is focusing on historical improvisation and composition as a member of Nuova Pratica, a New York based group of historical composers and performers.

He recently finished a Masters at the Juilliard School as the school’s first double major in gamba and baroque cello, studying with Sarah Cunningham and Phoebe Carrai. He also holds modern cello degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate, and Oberlin Conservatory. His past mentors have also included Steven Doane, Christel Thielemann, Amir Eldan, and Cathy Meints.