BIOGRAPHIES
f.l.t.r. Lucia Mense, Cora Schmeiser & Susanne Ansorg
(photo's © Bassem Hawar)
Soprano Cora Schmeiser creates concerts and performances. The play of words, textual content, vocal sound and melodies from the Middle Ages and the present form the basis of her work.
Cora studied vocal and instrumental pedagogy in Frankfurt am Main and classical singing at the The Hague Royal Conservatory with a preference for early music such as music from the Middle Ages but, as a member of the Dutch VocaalLab (today Silbersee), also specialized in modern music. She has performed several times at festivals such as Wien Modern, November Music, Operadays Rotterdam, Wunderhören and Festival against the Flow. She has been seen and heard in theater productions such as Doedada with the Hotel Modern theater group, Kurt Schwitters - der crazy anti-bourgeois, Songbooks by John Cage and the solo operas Vier, News Real, a media opera and the Ordo virtutum by Hildegard von Bingen with Ars Choralis Coeln.
In the programs Here and There, such as Vox Sanguinis – the voice of blood and dit en dat (Lunyala Trio), Cora has found a way of merging her fascination for medieval and modern music in collaboration with various composers.
The recorder and transverse flute player Lucia Mense received her musical training at the music academies in Cologne, Amsterdam and Milan with Prof. Günther Höller, Marijke Miessen, Walter van Hauwe and Pedro Memelsdorff.
Since then, she has devoted herself to various projects in the repertoire of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque as well as contemporary music. Her interpretations thrive on the enthusiasm for sound ideals, virtuoso demands and practical performance characteristics of the various styles. Lucia Mense gives concerts worldwide as a soloist and as a member of various ensembles. In addition to numerous radio productions, she is on CD recordings with Ars Musici, Mode Records/New York, Touch Records/London, Raumklang and wandelweiser.
Susanne Ansorg studied German, musicology and music education at the University of Leipzig as well as medieval string instruments at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Randall Cook.
In 1998 she completed her studies with a diploma concert. She has performed throughout Europe, North and South America, Japan and Australia with various medieval music ensembles including Sequentia, Sarband, The Harp Consort, Boston Camerata, Belladonna, La Ziriola, Ars Choralis Coeln and Ala Aurea. She also devotes herself to research work in the field of medieval instrumentation and performance practice. Susanne Ansorg holds various teaching positions and gives workshops on medieval music. She is the artistic director and coordinator of the montalbâne music festival.
