Praised by the New York Times for her “splendid playing,” Natalie Rose Kress is a period violinist based in Washington, D.C.. Following three summers as a Tanglewood Fellow, she was awarded the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize from the Tanglewood Music Center and performed with Yo-Yo Ma at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, honoring Seiji Ozawa. Recent highlights include winning the 2022 English Concert in America Fellowship, the 2021 Mercury Chamber Orchestra Fellowship, as well as performing the World Premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s “Music for String Quartet” at The Tanglewood Music Center in 2021 with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She can be heard on the premiere recording of Bernstein’s quartet paired with the rarely performed, "Elegies" for violin and viola by Aaron Copland, to be released this September by Parma Records. She performs as a core member of Quartet Salonnières, Relic Ensemble, Repast Baroque Ensemble, and Musicivic Baroque and is concertmaster of La Grande Bande. Natalie plays regularly with The Handel and Haydn Society, the Washington Bach Consort, The Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, The English Concert, Opera Lafayette, and the Staunton Music Festival. An alumni of Stony Brook University and The Juilliard School, she is currently a Doctorate student at the University of Maryland and lives with her husband, Jonathan Davies, and dog, Henry, in Greenbelt, MD.

A curiosity in the cultural background behind the music she plays led Sarah Stone to baroque cello and viola da gamba. "The show is not over... Questlove keeps spinning into the early morning. Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading a Shakespeare sonnet everyday. Sarah Stone, who plays cello and viola da gamba, has stuck to her “Bach Everyday” performances...Since March 19, she’s done a Bach Chorale each day.” (Geoff Edgers, The Washington Post, 2020). At the start of the pandemic Sarah created Everyday Bach, recording multi-instrumental Bach everyday for a year, featured in the Washington Post, The Greene Space (WNYC), and Early Music America. Sarah is Associate Artistic Director of New York Baroque Incorporated and a core member of Repast Baroque. She performs with The Sebastians, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Seraphic Fire, Washington National Cathedral, Apollo’s Fire, The Thirteen, and Baroque Music Montana. Sarah holds degrees from The Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Rice University. www.sarahabigaelstone.com

Harpsichordist Gabe Shuford performs throughout North America and abroad, and is the recipient of several awards, including the 2011 Baron Prize from Stony Brook University and second prize at the 2007 Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. He is a member of Repast Baroque Ensemble and has been a frequent guest of others, including A Far Cry and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The New York Times called his performance with Speculum Musicae of Elliott Carter’s Sonata “assured, polished and beautifully nuanced.” Gabe earned a doctorate from Stony Brook University, where he studied with harpsichordist Arthur Haas. He has served on the faculties of Luther College and Sarah Lawrence College.

Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a dignified and beautiful singer, bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton performs and records in opera, concert, and chamber music throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In 2023-2024 he debuted at Seattle Symphony in Bach’s St. John Passion as Christus, returned to Tokyo for Handel’s Messiah with Bach Collegium Japan, and sang the role of Jupiter in John Eccles’ Semele with American Baroque Opera, being called “gloriously godly” by Scott Cantrell at the Dallas Morning News. 

Recent seasons include Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Bach Collegium Japan and Masato Suzuki for a debut in Tokyo, covering the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at Handel and Haydn Society under Raphaël Pichon, Haydn’s Creation with Pacific Symphony and Robert Istad, Christus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion for a debut at Spoleto Festival USA, the role of Street Singer in Bernstein’s Mass in a collaboration between Austin Opera & Austin Symphony Orchestra under Peter Bay, the role of Archibald Grosvenor in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience with Odyssey Opera & Gil Rose, and Plutone in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Göteborg Baroque, in addition to regular collaborations with Conspirare, Washington Bach Consort, True Concord, Kinnara, and Tenet Vocal Artists. Recent recordings include the role of Christus in Bach’s St. John Passion and the Mass in B Minor with Cantata Collective and Nic McGegan for Avie Records, the role of Phoebus in Bach’s Cantata No. 201, Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde with Dana Marsh & the Washington Bach Consort for the Acis label, and solo bass cantatas by Nicolaus Bruhns with Masaki Suzuki at Yale Institute of Sacred Music for BIS Records, along with several releases with Cut Circle & Jesse Rodin for Musique en Wallonie.

Mr. Tipton trained on full fellowship at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor, being mentored by mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee, tenor George Shirley, and collaborative pianist Martin Katz. He is a 2010 graduate of the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music in Oratorio & Early Music, studying with tenor James Taylor. In 2012 he was made a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music in Boston. Mr. Tipton resides in New York City. www.paulmaxtipton.com

Early music artist Adam Cockerham specializes in theorbo, lute and baroque guitar. Beginning his performance career as a classical guitarist, he then gravitated toward historical plucked strings, preferring the collaborative opportunities of chamber music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. As an accompanist and continuo player, Cockerham has performed with numerous ensembles in North America. He founded voice and plucked string duo Jarring Sounds with mezzo-soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah.

Beyond chamber music, Cockerham concentrates on 17th-century Italian vocal music. He is the Associate Music Director of the Academy of Sacred Drama and has been involved in numerous modern world premiere performances with companies such as Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and Ars Minerva. Cockerham received his doctorate from the Juilliard School where he was awarded the Richard F. French Prize for best dissertation.

Rebecca Nelson is a songwriter from Germany. After earning two degrees as a violinist, Rebecca diverged from her classical training, diving head first into Historical Performance and through her new love of baroque music and old love of folk and bluegrass, Rebecca found her voice as a composer. Since graduating from The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program, she has joined and co-founded ensembles including Relic and Nuova Pratica and released an album called Do Not Lament.

Violinist Shelby Yamin is a sought after chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist. Recent season highlights include appearances as soloist with the Albany Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players, New York Baroque Incorporated, House of Time, and Voices of Music. Her passion for bringing historical music into historic spaces has led to concerts at the Hammond-Harwood House and George Washington's Mount Vernon. Based in New York, Shelby can be regularly heard with the city's premier period-instrument ensembles, including Trinity Baroque Orchestra and The Sebastians, and she has been a core member of Les Délices (Cleveland, OH) since 2022. In addition to her active performing and teaching career, Shelby is the associate producer of Les Délices's award-winning early music webseries and podcast, SalonEra. Shelby holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and The Juilliard School, where she won the historical-performance concerto competition.

 With an eclectic repertory that spans from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, acclaimed cellist/gambist Caroline Nicolas enjoys an active and multifaceted career as one of the outstanding performers in her field. Noted for her “eloquent artistry and rich, vibrant sound” (Gainesville Times), she has been praised as “one of the finest gambists working today” (Gotham Early Music Scene). She regularly appears with leading ensembles as soloist, chamber musician, and music director.

Ensembles she has worked with include the English Concert, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Mercury Orchestra, Ars Lyrica Houston, Juilliard Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque, Pacific MusicWorks, Kammerorchester Basel, New World Symphony, and Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein. Notable venues include the KKL Luzern, Berliner Philharmonie, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Benaroya Hall. Caroline resides in New York City. 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 Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Twelfth Night, Blue Heron, Handel and Haydn Society, and Bach Collegium San Diego. Festival appearances include Caramoor, Tanglewood, Spoleto, and Newport Classical. Performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, 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. 

When not performing, Kevin enjoys cooking, reading, watching Star Trek (P’Tach!) and attempting to delay the inevitable (and often imminent) demise of the houseplants he shares with his wife, cellist Caroline Nicolas.

New York City based (and Boise born and raised) singer, songwriter, and cellist Erin Hall has been sashaying the city streets for more than a decade.  Known for her genre-blending style and theatrical flair, Hall has graced stages from NYC’s Joe’s Pub and BAM Café to World Cafe Live in Philadelphia and the Visual Arts Collective in Boise, Idaho. She has been featured on WNYC’s New Sounds, Broad City Live, and has opened for the Portland Cello Project and Tig Notaro, among others. Erin Hall has independently released Great Blue (2019) and two acclaimed albums under the name Erin and Her Cello. Her most recent release is her most personal work to date: “Lullaby of 55” — a heartfelt tribute to her late father, Richard Hall.

Written as a lullaby to ease her father to sleep in his final days, “Lullaby of 55” traces the familiar path along Idaho’s Highway 55, from Boise to the family’s beloved cabin at Jug Mountain Ranch near McCall. The track is now available on all streaming platforms, following an exclusive Bandcamp release in late March.

“Lullaby of 55” was featured in Idaho Public Television’s series “Idaho In Song,” part of the Idaho Experience, Season 8, episode 5. The episode was shown on Idaho Public Television and is currently streaming online. 

Erin Hall’s previous album, Great Blue (self-released 2019), defies easy categorization, jumping from latin, funk, jazz and blues, to French pop. Her interest in French culture came from living in Belgium for a year on a Rotary Exchange scholarship. Her lyrics, whether in French or English, tell stories about the ordinary details of city life, conquering the monotony of a nine to five job, and discovering the beauty of nature in unexpected places — like the pond in Central Park where she spots the majestic Great Blue Heron. 

The singer, songwriter, and cellist is often backed by her six-piece band consisting of keys, drums, percussion, sax, and backing vocals. Great Blue featured musicians Aya Kato, Gabe Shuford, Adam Enright, Lars Jacobsen, Jacquelene Acevedo and John Bollinger. Past shows include: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, (le) Poisson Rouge, Rockwood Music Hall, The Greene Space at WNYC, World Cafe Live (Philly), Visual Arts Collective (Boise), The Jewelbox Theater (Seattle), and Alberta’s Pub (Portland).

Ensemble Ipse is a 501(c)(3) contemporary music ensemble dedicated to showcasing the wide variety of practices in the current new music scene. The ensemble presents concerts of recent music that transcends aesthetic categorization and strives to create a forum for composers and sound artists on the edges of the mainstream of contemporary music. With this in mind, Ensemble Ipse is committed to performing and commissioning the music of emerging composers, as well as composers who have been traditionally under-represented in the larger new music community, including women, people of color, and LGBTQ+.  Since forming in 2016, Ipse has premiered 40 works, 19 of them commissions, held numerous calls for scores for emerging composers, received support from the New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New Music USA, the Queens Council on the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council, Network of Ensemble Theaters, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and released an album on New World Records in May, 2019.