Album Notes

About the Artist
Founded in 1990, Ensemble Galilei has evolved into a six-woman group specializing in the performance of Celtic music, Early musi and new compositions. Featuring Celtic harp, fiddle, Scottish small pipes, oboe, recorders, penny-whistle, viola da gamba and percussion, the repertoire ranges from instrumental arrangements of chant by Hildegard von Bingen, to Renaissance dance music, to chaconnes from the Baroque, to Irish jigthe barriers that normally exist between the audience and the performer. The repertoire is very engaging and the audience is clearly enthusiastic." They have been interviewed by Robert Siegel on All Things Considered and have performed and been interviewed on the Diane Rehm Show. The following is from Ensemble Galilei: The idea of Celtic/Early music crossover was a happy accident. Ensemble Galilei was founded on the premise that for us, it was the music making that was most important, rather than the genre. Each of the musicians brings to the group her personal strengths, and it happens that our backgrounds are Celtic and Early music. Sue Richards is a four-time U.S. National Scottish Harp Champion, and Carolyn Anderson Surrick, who has an MA in musicology, has performed early music on the viola da gamba for 22 years. Liz Knowles, the featured Irish fiddler on the Michael Collins soundtrack, also toured with Riverdance (and is equally at home playing Bach), and Sarah Weiner won the 1996 Indiana University Early Music Institute Concerto Competition on Baroque oboe. What we share is a passion for music, and for making music together.s and reels, to music composed by the performers in the traditional style to music celebrating the Holiday season. Excerpts of their performancetwenty times since 1990, including Christmas Day 1997, and the group has done two in-studio 30 minute concerts there. Ben Roe of Performance Today has said "Theres have been heard on NPR

Album Description
Celebrate the holidays, the winter solstice, traditional music, and all the best things about Christmas. From conservatory rehearsal rooms to all night sessions at Irish pubs, a montage of Early Music, Celtic, and traditional tunes blend and a glorious new sound is born. With crackling energy and brilliant performances Ensemble Galilei delivers a virtuosic display of lush sounds and joyous music-making for the Holiday season in a wondrous mix of timeless Christmas classics, Celtic carols from Galicia, Spain, and the Isles of Scotland and Ireland, Medieval and Renaissance dance tunes, and original compositions to celebrate the winter solstice. Recorded in the historic Great Hall of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, Ensemble Galilei captures the intimacy, warmth and joyous energy of Christmas in a small town.More Ensemble Galilei's recordings on the Maggie's Music label are: Music in the Great Hall: instrumental music from the Ancient Celtic Lands. It! was also recorded in the Great Hall and was a bestseller with numerous features on public radio.The CD includes Scottish fiddle Champion, Bonnie Rideout. Ancient Noels with Maggie Sansone, an INDIE finalist for "Best Seasonal Album of the Year". In 1994 Ensemble Galilei won a Wammie for "Best Chamber Ensemble" awarded by the Washington Area Music Association. They tour extensively throughout the USA.