Musician Profiles

ANDREW FOUTS, violin & viola, has been noted for his “mellifluous sound and sensitive style” (WASHINGTON POST). In 2008, he won first prize at the American Bach Soloists’ International Baroque Violin Competition. He is co-artistic director of Pittsburgh’s Chatham Baroque, a frequent concertmaster of the Washington Bach Consort, and performs regularly with Apollo’s Fire, Opera Lafayette, the Four Nations Ensemble, and Ars Lyrica.

FRANCISCO FULLANA, violin, is a winner of a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2014 Johannes Brahms International Violin Competition, and has been hailed as a “rising star” (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE) and “a paragon of delicacy” (SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE). The Spanish-born violinist has appeared in recital at Carnegie Hall and with numerous European and American orchestras and festivals. Since 2018 he has performed regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His debut recording Through the Lens of Time (2018) includes Max Richter’s orchestral work The Four Seasons Recomposed, and contemporary works for solo violin and violin with piano. A second album, Bach’s Long Shadow, will be released in 2020-21. Mr. Fullana holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School and an Artist Diploma from the Thornton School of Music at USC.

EMI TANABE, violin, holds a Professional Diploma from Roosevelt University and a Master’s degree in music from the University of North Texas. She is an adjunct faculty member at Benedictine University in Chicago. She enjoys a multifaceted career as a violinist – performing not only with baroque ensembles but also with modern groups including jazz, Latin, world music, and theatrical Cirque-style dinner theater shows, among others.

BRIAN KAY, lute & theorbo, is a modernday troubadour. He is the first Artistic Leadership Fellow of Apollo’s Fire and in 2019 won a GRAMMY® Award for his work on the CD Songs of Orpheus. He has performed throughout the world at venues such as the National Concert Hall of Dublin, Belfast Castle (Ireland), Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. His live radio appearances include NPR, WYPR and 98ROCK (Baltimore), WGBH (Boston), and WCLV (Cleveland). He has recorded for AVIE and Sono Luminus labels, and has been heard on more than ten album releases. He is a multiinstrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, traditional and historical music specialist, poet, and painter.

PARKER RAMSAY, baroque harp, enjoys a career distinguished by its breadth, crossing instrumental boundaries and genres at the harp, organ, and harpsichord. He specializes in repertoire for early harps and new music for modern pedal harp. In 2019, he recorded his own transcription of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations for the pedal harp at the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. As a continuo player, he has worked with the Academy of Ancient Music, the Academy of Sacred Drama, and the Shanghai Camerata. In addition to his work as a performer, he is a staff writer for VAN Magazine (Berlin). He holds degrees from Cambridge University, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Juilliard School.

WILLIAM SIMMS, lute & theorbo, performs regularly with Apollo’s Fire, Tempesta di Mare, and the Washington Bach Consort, among others. He has performed operas and choral works with such groups as the Washington National Opera and Opera Philadelphia. Venues include the National Cathedral and the Kennedy Center. He has recorded with Apollo’s Fire, the Baltimore Consort, and Ronn McFarlane. Mr. Simms holds a Master’s Degree from Peabody Conservatory and is Instructor of Guitar at Mt. St. Mary’s University and Hood College, where he is founder and Director of the Hood College Early Music Ensemble.

ANTHONY TADDEO, percussion, is a Cleveland-based percussionist and composer. He has studied with world renowned percussionists such as Jamey Haddad, Kendrick Scott, and Jimmy Cobb. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from The School for Jazz at The New School in New York, and a Master’s degree in composition from Youngstown State University. Mr. Taddeo has toured North America and Europe extensively and his versatility as a musician has led him to be featured on over 30 albums. His most recent compositions have been performed by his ensemble Alla Boara, which seeks to bring recognition to Italy’s richly, diverse folk music. He is endorsed by Out of the Drawer Percussion as a performing artist.

RENÉ SCHIFFER, cello, is praised for his “interpretive imagination and patrician command of the cello” (THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER). He is a native of Holland where he was a protégé of Anner Bijlsma. He later studied baroque cello with Jaap ter Linden and viola da gamba with Catharina Meints. As a member of Sigiswald Kuijken’s La Petite Bande for sixteen years, he toured four continents and appeared many times on European television. He has also performed with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre, and in over forty projects with Tafelmusik of Toronto. As a concerto soloist, he has appeared throughout North America and Europe, and can be heard on acclaimed CD recordings of the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos and the Tango Concerto for Two Gambas (his own composition) on British label AVIE. He can be heard on more than forty CD recordings, on the Harmonia Mundi, Philips, Virgin Classics, Erato, Sony, and AVIE labels. He serves on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music as Teacher of Baroque Cello, and has given masterclasses and coachings for the New World Symphony (Miami), the University of Michigan, Oberlin Conservatory, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory.