Counter Tenor: Andreas Scholl
Born in Germany, Andreas Scholl's early musical training was with the Kiedricher Chorbuben. He later went on to study under Richard Levitt and René Jacobs at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He is a winner of the 1999 ECHO Awards, Prix de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge and the Middle Ages/Renaissance category of the 2002 Edison Awards for his recording of A Musicall Banquet. He won a second ECHO Award in 2005 for his composition for Deutsche Grammophon's audio-book of Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes and The Nightingale.

Andreas Scholl has released a series of extraordinary solo recordings. Arias for Senesino, for which he won the 2006 Classical Brit Singer of the Year Award; Heroes, a disc of arias by Handel, Mozart, Hasse and Gluck; Robert Dowland's A Musicall Banquet; Vivaldi's Motets with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra; Wayfaring Stranger, a selection of specially arranged English and American folksongs with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; and Arcadia, a collection of rare and unpublished cantatas by composers Rome's Arcadian Circle—all released on the Decca label. His discography also includes Solomon and Saul under Paul McCreesh for Deutsche Grammophon. Recordings for Harmonia Mundi include the Gramophone Award-winning Stabat Mater and Caldara's Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo; Il duello amoroso, a selection of Handel's Italian cantatasthe Accademia Bizantina; and Crystal Tears—his latest recording.

A committed recital artist, Andreas Scholl performs in the world's leading concert halls and festivals. Concert performances have included appearances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester, Münchner Philharmoniker, and at the 2005 Last Night of the Proms. Operatic engagements include Bertarido (Rodelinda) at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and The Metropolitan Opera, and Giulio Cesare at Royal Danish Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Opéra de Lausanne.

Season highlights include a tour of staged concerts based around the life and work of Oswald von Wolkenstein, two concert performances of Giulio Cesare with Cecilia Bartoli at Salle Pleyel, Paris and concerts with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Dresdner Philharmonie and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Lute Solo: Edin Karamazov
Edin Karamazov's thrilling virtuoso performances on the lute and guitar have garnered rave reviews and unprecedented critical acclaim in Europe and America. As a soloist he has performed and recorded with leading international early music ensembles and artists including the Hilliard Ensemble, Hesperion XX, Andreas Scholl as well as Sting. A consummate interpreter and master technician on numerous early and contemporary stringed instruments and outstanding recital artist Edin Karamazov has appeared at the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Vienna, among many others.

Edin Karamazov began his musical career with the classical guitar and was awarded First Prizes at four guitar competitions. He continued his studies of the Baroque Lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Scola Cantorum Basiliensis.

His discography includes the CDs Come Heavy Sleep with works by Britten and Bach (Alpha Records), A Musical Banquet with lute songs with Andreas Scholl (Decca), Wayfaring Stranger —folk songs with Andreas Scholl (Decca) and Songs From the Labyrinth with Sting (Deutsche Grammophon). In 2009 his new CD The Lute is a Song with solo works by J.S. Bach, Domeniconi as well as arias with Andreas Scholl, Renee Fleming and Sting has been released by Decca.

Edin Karamazov plays several plucked instruments of various cultures and epochs and remains committed to exploring the use of lutes in modern music and contemporary improvisational contexts. In addition to his solo career he enjoys accompanying singers in different styles and backgrounds.

Programs
Anthony Holborne                  My Heavy Sprite, Oppressed with Sorrow's Might

Anon                                       O Dear Life, When shall it Be?

Daniel Batchelar                      To Plead My Faith

John Dowland                         A Fancy
Lute Solo: Edin Karamazov

Anon                                       Go, My Flock, Go Get You Hence

Richard Martin                        Change Thy Mind Since She Doth Change

John Dowland                         Lady, If You So Spite Me

John Dowland                         In Darkness Let Me Dwell

——Intermission——

French Airs
Pierre Guéldron                      If Key of Speech or Lock of Silence
                                              This Thought That Causes Me Such Endless Grief and Misery

Spanish Airs
Anon                                     Silently and Sadly Love Was Passing
                                             Love in All Its Mystery Is in Thine Eyes

Italian Airs
Domenico Maria Megli         Do Not Think That I Sigh

Giulio Caccini                       Must I Die Then?
                                             Amarillis, Thou Goddess Beloved

Anon                                    Sun, Moon and Stars

Ce penser qui sans fin tirannise ma vie by Andreas Sholl & Edin Karamazov