Bring your kids for an afternoon of Renaissance Music about animals!
Hideki Yamaya (Renaissance Guitar, Renaissance Lute, and Baroque Guitar) and Catherine Hancock (Soprano) come together for a program of fun and accessible early music from Spain, Italy and England. Kids will learn about early instruments and singing, and hear music that includes chickens clucking, bees buzzing, and frogs croaking. Grown-ups will be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy an afternoon of beautiful music.    For all ages
 

Artist Biographies 

British-American Soprano Catherine Hancock has established herself as a versatile artist, equally comfortable in multiple genres and styles ranging from Renaissance music to opera, jazz  and performance art. She recently gained attention for her debut with Toledo Opera as Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), where the Toledo Blade described her as “The highlight of the evening" and "simply exquisite.” Catherine performs regularly throughout New York and New England, where is sought after for her interpretations of early and contemporary repertoire. Recent career highlights include performances at BAM, MoMA, Alice Tully Hall, the National Arts Club, and with The Mark Morris Dance Group, Sandcastle New Music Collective presented by Metropolis Ensemble, New York Festival of Song , The Glimmerglass Festival, and the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. She made her European debut under the baton of Richard Egarr singing Valletto (L’inoronazione di Poppea) at the Snape Malting Proms as a Britten-Pears young artist. She is a founding member of Anglica Antiqua, an early music group that performs underrepresented 17th century British repertoire, and The Moirae Ensemble, a contemporary ensemble that focuses of new works by women composers and poets. Catherine currently splits her time between New York City and Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where she acts as the Advancement Coordinator at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Locally, she performs with the Crescendo Ensemble and Christine Gevert, pianist Larry Wallach, the Arcadia Viols, guitarist Doug Schmolze, and lutenist Hideki Yamaya. Catherine holds both a Bachelor and Master of Music from The Juilliard School.  

Hideki Yamaya is a performer of lutes, early guitars, and early mandolins based in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Born in Tokyo, Japan, he spent most of his career in the West Coast before settling in New England, where he is a freelance performer and teacher.  He has a B.A. in Music and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied with Robert Strizich, and an M.F.A. in Guitar and Lute Performance from University of California, Irvine, where he studied with John Schneiderman. He also studied with James Tyler at University of Southern California and with Paul Beier at Accademia Internazionale della Musica in Milan, Italy.  

In demand both as a soloist and as a continuo/chamber player, Hideki has performed with and for Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland Opera, Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera, California Bach Society, Oregon Bach Festival, Astoria Music Festival, Music of the Baroque, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

A prolific recording artist, Hideki’s playing could be heard on Profil, hänssler CLASSIC, and Mediolanum labels.  His recordings have received glowing reviews from Early Music America, Classical Guitar Magazine, and the Guitar Foundation of America.

He is one half of the Schneiderman-Yamaya Duo and is the artistic director of Musica Maestrale, an early music collective based in Portland, Oregon.  He is an internationally acclaimed musician and has performed in Canada, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy.

“A stellar lutenist…” – Oregon Artswatch
“A sensitive and impeccable performance.” – Oregon Music News