Barbara Bonney Barbara Bonney is one of the leading lyric sopranos of her generation. With over 100 recordings to her name, her artistry has been documented for generations of singers to come. Her Sophie (Rosenkavalier) is legendary the world over, as are her Mozart roles of Susanna (Figaro), Parmina (Zauberflote). Ms. Bonney devoted much of her 30 year career to Lieder, and continues to sing Lied-Recitals and Orchestral Concerts. She is a devoted mentor of the new-generation-singer, and is currently Professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, as well as guest professor of the Royal Academy of Music in London. For Ms. Bonneys current concert schedule and more I invited to visit her official web-site at: http://www.barbarabonney.com Ms Bonney is represented internationally by Michael Storrs Music Ltd. http://www.michaelstorrsmusic.co.uk Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl was born on 10 November 1967 into a musical family of Kiedrich im Rheingau Catholic town of 4,000 inhabitants in the wine-growing region around Wiesbaden in Germany. The town is famous for its Gothic church which contains the relics of St Valentine and boasts the oldest playable organ in Germany. His sister is Elisabeth Scholl, the soprano. His brother, physician Johannes, is an amateur baritone and his parents were both choir singers. His second sister, Christine, who died in her twenties, was a talented and much-admired contralto. Growing up right next door to the church, Andreas Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbuben, first documented in the year 1333 as a schola of 'men assisting the priests on all Sundays, singing the Gregorian chants'. Later, it became a boys' choir school. In 1857, Sir John Sutton, an English Catholic baronet who was cruising down the Rhine, fell in love with Kiedrich's church, its choir and the organ the oldest playable organ in Germany, dating from 1500. Sutton had the organ repaired and the foundation which he set up for the Chorbuben enabled the engagement of teachers and the construction of school and rehearsal facilities, and paid for the reprinting of ancient books of Gregorian music. The street in which the church stands was re-named after Sutton who is buried in the garden of the church. As boys, Andreas Scholl's father and grandfather were both members of the Chorbuben. Scholl says: For me, the most wonderful thing about this choir was the amount of Baroque and Renaissance music it performed. This means I never grew up thinking of "early music" as some special category. To me it has always been as familiar as Beethoven and Mozart. Scholl returns to Kiedrich regularly from his home in Basel, Switzerland, and often gives concerts in the parish church in which his musical career began. "Stabat Mater" Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Stabat mater dolorosa juxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius. "The sorrowful Mother" At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last. Whitebabygrandpiano