Elinor Frey (born August 23, 1979) is a Canadian-American cellist, specializing in music of the eighteenth century. She specializes in the music of underperformed composers from the later part of the baroque era, and has recorded this repertoire on the

Passacaille The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre. Origin The ter ...

label. In addition to her main focus on early music, she has a background in

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

music, and has commissioned new works for the baroque cello, recording several of them.

Biography

Elinor Frey was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, and started playing the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

at a young age. She was exposed to early music from an early age by listening to recordings of her aunt, the pioneering vocalist

Barbara Thornton Barbara Thornton (January 6, 1950 – November 8, 1998) was an American singer, musicologist, and groundbreaking performer of medieval music. Thornton, described as “one of the most eminent medieval voices of our time”, was born in Summit, New ...

. She pursued studies in cello performance at the

Mannes School of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School c ...

and

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most e ...

with an emphasis on new music. Her first solo recording (a recital of contemporary cello music with pianist

David Fung David Fung (born August 17, 1988) is a concert pianist. Fung was born in Sydney, Australia. Early life and education Fung attended James Ruse Agricultural High School in Sydney, where he received the James Ruse Medal for Dux and the Medal for Musi ...

) dates from this portion of her career. In 2008, she moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, where she still resides, to begin a doctorate at the

Schulich School of Music The Schulich School of Music (also known as Schulich) is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 555, rue Sherbrooke Ouest (555, Sherbrooke Street West). The faculty was named after benef ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. She began to work extensively in the field of

historical performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in whic ...

, receiving a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

to study

baroque cello A Baroque violin is a violin set up in the manner of the baroque period of music. The term includes original instruments which have survived unmodified since the Baroque period, as well as later instruments adjusted to the baroque setup, and mode ...

Como, Italy Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

for a year with Paolo Beschi. Frey was a founding member of the ensemble Pallade Musica (winners of the Early Music America Performance Competition in 2012). She now leads the Accademia dei Dissonanti, an organization for performance and research. She maintains a busy performance schedule, concertizing and recording across Canada, the US and Europe. She made her Australian debut in 2023, playing concertos with the Brandenburg Orchestra. Her extensive discography, of largely unknown repertoire, on the

and Analekta record labels, has won several prizes and critical acclaim. In addition to recording, she has also made critical editions of the complete cello music of Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco and

Antonio Vandini Antonio Vandini (1691 – 1778), a close friend of Giuseppe Tartini, was a cellist and composer. He was one of the foremost virtuoso performers of his era and spent the vast majority of his career as the first violoncellist of the ″Veneranda ...

. She is on the faculty of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University and the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

, teaching baroque cello and performance practice.

Awards and honors

* 2016 - Prix Opus: Disque de l’année (Musiques Médiévale, de la renaissance, Baroque), "Berlin Sonatas" * 2020 -

Diapason d'Or The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...

for "Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco Cello Sonatas" * 2021 - Prix Opus: "Performer of the Year" 2019-2020 * 2023 -

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

: Classical Album of the Year (small ensemble) for ''Early Italian Cello Concertos'' * 2024 - Prix Opus: Disque de l’année (Musiques Médiévale, de la renaissance, Baroque), for "Jean Baur: Chamber Music"

Discography

As featured soloist

* 2008 - "Dialoghi" with

Piano. Yarlung Records. * 2013 - "La Voce del Violoncello" with Esteban La Rotta and Susie Napper. Passacaille Records * 2016 - "Berlin Sonatas" with

Lorenzo Ghielmi Lorenzo Ghielmi (born in Milan on 1 September 1959) is an Italian organist and harpsichordist. He teaches old music at the ''Accademia Internazionale della Musica'' in Milan and at the "Schola Cantorum Basiliensis" in Basel. He was professor in Tr ...

and Marc Vanscheeuwijck. Passacaille Records * 2017 - "Angelo Maria Fiorè" with Susie LeBlanc,

and Esteban La Rotta. Passacaille Records * 2019 - "Guided by Voices" with Melisande McNabney. Analekta Records * 2020 - "Giuseppe Clemente Dall'Abaco Cello Sonatas" with Marco Valli, Federica Bianchi, and Giangiacomo Pinardi. Passacaille Records * 2021 - "Antonio Vandini: Complete Works" with Marc Vanscheeuwijck, Federica Bianchi and Patxi Montero. Passacaille Records * 2022 - "Early Italian Cello Concertos" with Rosa Barocca, Claude Lapalme dir. Analekta Records * 2022 - "The Cello According to Dall'Abaco" with Catherine Jones, Federica Bianchi and Michele Pasotti. Passacaille Records * 2023 - "Jean Bauer Chamber Music" with Antoine Malette-Chénier, Mélisande McNabney, Octavie Dostaller-Lalonde. Passacaille Records * 2024 - "Dall'Abaco and the Art of Variation" with Federica Bianchi, Michele Pasotti, Eva Lymenstull, and Octavie Dostaller-Lalonde. Passacaille Records

Other credits

* 2014 - "Back Venezia" with Pallade Musica.

ATMA Classique ATMA Classique is a Canadian record label based in Montreal, Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (witho ...

* 2017 - "Trio Sonatas - Shieferlien, CPE Bach, and Telemann" with Pallade Musica. ATMA Classique * 2018 - "Fauré, Duruflé Requiem" Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul dir Jean-Sébasitien Vallée ATMA Classique * 2022 - "Magnificat Fugues" with Space Time Continuo. Analekta Records. * 2021 - "Distance" Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul dir Jean-Sébasitien Vallée ATMA Classique * 2023 - "Lovers and Mourners" with Dorian Bandy and Hank Knox. Leaf Music

Publications

* Frey, Elinor. 2012. “We Are All (Baroque) Cellists Now : Baroque and Modern Italian Solo Cello Music in Direct Dialogue.” Dissertation, Montreal: McGill University. * Frey, Elinor. 2017. “Sonatas for Violoncello and Arias with Obbligato Violoncello : From the Como Manuscript I-COc, 2808 Autori Vari (XVII-XVIII Sec.) ; Edited by Elinor Frey.” Albese con Cassano: Musedita. * Frey, Elinor. 2018. “On Commissioning New Music for Baroque Cello.” ''Circuit'' 28 (2): 11–23. https://doi.org/10.7202/1051289ar. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2020. “6 Sonate Manoscritte per Violoncello E B.C., Ms. I-Vnm, D-B, F-PN.” Albese con Cassano: Musedita. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2020. “35 Sonaten FüR Violoncello Und Basso Continuo. Band IV, 8 Sonaten (ABV 32 - ABV 39).” Magdeburg: Walhall. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2020. “35 Sonaten FüR Violoncello Und Basso Continuo. Band V, 7 Sonaten (ABV 40 - 46 ).” Magdeburg: Edition Walhall. * Elinor Frey ed. 2021. “35 Sonaten FüR Violoncello Und Basso Continuo--Band III - 8 Sonaten (ABV 24-31).” Magdeburg: Edition Walhall. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2021. “35 Sonaten Für Violoncello Und Basso Continuo. Band I, 6 Sonaten (ABV 12-17).” Magdeburg: Edition Walhall. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2022. “Zwei Trios ABV 54-55, Für 3 Violoncelli.” Magdeburg: Edition Walhall. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2022. “Drei Duette ABV 47-49, Für 2 Violoncelli.” Magdeburg: Edition Walhall. * Frey, Elinor, ed. 2022. “35 Sonaten Für Violoncello Und Basso Continuo. Band II, 6 Sonaten (ABV 18-23).” Edited by Elinor Frey. Magdeburg: Edition Walhall.

References

External links

Personal Website

The Accademia dei Dissonanti

McGill University Faculty Page

Discogs Artist Page

AllMusic Artist Page

YouTube Channel

Frey's guest appearance on CBC radio's This is my music.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Elinor Living people 1979 births Canadian women classical cellists Women performers of early music 21st-century classical musicians Canadian performers of early music Juno Award winners