Phantasm is a

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

currently based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was founded in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Laurence Dreyfus Laurence Dreyfus, FBA (born 1952) is an American musicologist and player of the viola da gamba who was University Lecturer and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Early life Dreyfus was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and lived in Ch ...

. It catapulted into international prominence when its debut CD won a

Gramophone Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

for the Best Baroque Instrumental Recording of 1997. Since then, they have released seventeen further recordings, won several awards, and in the words of their website, "have become recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today". Phantasm in St

History

In 2005 Phantasm were named Consort-in-Residence at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where they regularly appeared at the

Holywell Music Room The Holywell Music Room is the city of Oxford's chamber music hall, situated on Holywell Street in the city centre, and is part of Wadham College. It is said to be the oldest purpose-built music room in Europe, and hence Britain's first concer ...

and other University venues. In 2010, Phantasm became Consort-in-Residence at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

where they perform in Magdalen College's Chapel and collaborate with Magdalen College Choir. Since the beginning of 2016 PHANTASM – with its members hailing from the USA, Britain and Finland – has established its new home in Berlin, Germany. Critics have called their performances and recordings: 'intoxicating', 'revelatory', 'electrifying', 'interpretations pervaded by a truly burning spirit'. The history of Phantasm and its recordings was featured on the Early Music Show,

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

with

Lucie Skeaping Lucie Skeaping (née Finch) is a British singer, instrumentalist, broadcaster and writer. She was a founder of the early music group the City Waites and the pioneering klezmer band the Burning Bush. She presents BBC Radio 3's '' Early Music ...

, and they illustrated an audible 'history of English consort music' with BBC Radio 3 presenter

Catherine Bott Catherine Bott (born 11 September 1952) is a British soprano and a Baroque specialist. She has also pursued a broadcasting career. Following her studies at The King's High School For Girls and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Arthur Rec ...

before their appearance at the Lufthansa Festival in London. Along with concerts at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...

, Oxford, and at the Holywell Music Room (Oxford) they appeared at the Barcelona Early Music Festival in May 2009 with a concert of

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...

's Complete Fantasies and

In Nomine In Nomine is a title given to a large number of pieces of English polyphonic, predominantly instrumental music, first composed during the 16th century. History This "most conspicuous single form in the early development of English consort musi ...

s, and at the Hong Kong International Music Festival in 2013. Their CD, the complete five- and six-part works of the Jacobean composer John Ward for

Linn Records Linn Records is a Glasgow-based record label which specialises in classical music, jazz and Scottish music. It is part of Linn Products. History While Linn engineers were testing their flagship product, the Sondek LP12 turntable, they became fru ...

, was launched after their final concert at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in 2011. The disc follows the success of Phantasm's 2007 CD, John Jenkins's Five-Part Consorts, which was a finalist for the Gramophone Award in Early Music, and for the MIDEM Classical Award in Early Music.] Their 2012 William Lawes, Lawes disc was a Finalist for a Gramophone Award in the Baroque Instrumental category. They have also recorded on the

Channel Classics Records Channel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conserv ...

, GMN, Simax, and

Avie Records AVIE Records is a UK-based independent classical music recording company founded in 2002 by Simon Foster and Melanne Mueller who devised a unique business model based on artist ownership. Foster and Mueller continue to run the company together with ...

labels.

Members

, treble viol and director *

Jonathan Manson Jonathan Manson is a Scottish cellist and viol player. Born in Edinburgh, he studied cello with Jane Cowan and later went on to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he studied with Steven Doane and Christel Thielmann. He studied ...

, tenor viol *

Markku Luolajan-Mikkola Markku Luolajan-Mikkola is a Finnish baroque cellist and viol player. Born in Helsinki, he studied cello with Arto Noras at the Sibelius Academy, where he received his diploma in 1983. Later, an interest in baroque music led him to summer courses ...

, bass viol *

Emilia Benjamin Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

, treble and tenor viols *

Mikko Perkola Mikko is a Finnish language, Finnish masculine given name and equivalent of the English name Michael (given name), Michael, having been borrowed into the Finnish language. The given name Mikko is shared by the following notable people: * Mikko Alat ...

. tenor and bass viols *

Wendy Gillespie Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

, treble and tenor viols - emeritus member

Discography

* ''Complete Fantasies for Viols'' by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

- 1996 * ''Still Music of the Spheres'' by

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...

and

Richard Mico Richard Mico (also Micoe, Micho, Meco, Myco; 1590–1661) was an English composer. He was born in Taunton, Somerset, the eldest of three sons of Walter Mico.John Bennett & Pamela Willetts: "Richard Mico", ''Chelys'', Vol. 7, 1977 The family, ...

- 1997 * ''

Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

'' by

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

- 1998 * ''Byrd Song'' by William Byrd with

Ian Partridge Ian Partridge (born 12 June 1938) is a retired English lyric tenor, whose repertoire ranged from Monteverdi, Bach and Handel, the Elizabethan lute songs, German, French and English songs, through to Schoenberg, Weill and Britten, and on to cont ...

and Geraldine McGreevy - 1999 * ''Consorts in Four and Five Parts'' by

William Lawes William Lawes (April 160224 September 1645) was an English composer and musician. Life and career Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602. He was the son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathedral, ...

- 2000 * ''Consort Music'' by

Matthew Locke Matthew Locke may refer to: * Matthew Locke (administrator) (fl. 1660–1683), English Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683 * Matthew Locke (composer) (c. 1621–1677), English Baroque composer and music theorist * Matthew Locke (soldier) (1974–2 ...

- 2001 * ''Consorts in Six Parts'' by William Lawes - 2002 * ''Consorts for Viols'' by

Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons ( bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical famil ...

- 2005 * ''Four

Temperament In psychology, temperament broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. Some researchers point to association of temperam ...

s'' - William Byrd, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Robert Parsons,

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (23 November 1585; also Tallys or Talles) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one o ...

- 2005 * ''Six-Part Consorts'' by John Jenkins - 2006 * ''Five-Part Consorts'' by John Jenkins - 2007 * ''William Byrd's "Complete Consort music"''; 2011 * ''Consorts to the Organ by William Lawes''; 2012 * ''

Christopher Tye Christopher Tye (c.1505 – before 1573) was an English Renaissance composer and organist. Probably born in Cambridgeshire, he trained at the University of Cambridge and became the master of the choir at Ely Cathedral. He is noted as the music ...

: Complete Consort Music'' *Dowland: Lachrimae or Seven Tears - 2016

Awards

* Henry Purcell's ''Complete Fantasies for Viols''; 1997

for baroque non-vocal performance. * Orlando Gibbons's ''Consorts for Viols''; 2004 Gramophone Award for early music.

References

External links

Welcome , Phantasm
{{Authority control Early music consorts * Musical groups established in 1994