Artistic Director

Eric Mentzel, Artistic Director

Eric Mentzel is a specialist in historically-informed performance and has enjoyed an international career as a concert soloist. Concert tours have taken him throughout Europe and as far as Japan and Australia. He is also known for his close collaboration with the most highly regarded ensembles in the early music field, and he has appeared on over 40 recordings.

In 1998 he founded Vox Resonat—an ensemble devoted to the performance of medieval and Renaissance vocal music—which has recorded two CDs for the Marc Aurel Edition label. In addition to his work in oratorio and early music, Mentzel has long been involved in the contemporary music scene, and is frequently invited to teach workshops and master classes in Europe and North America.

Conductors

  • Andrew Parrott
  • Howard Arman
  • Paul van Nevel
  • Jean Tubery

Major European Festivals and Concert Venues

  • The Holland Festival
  • The Edinburgh Festival
  • The Amsterdam Concertgebouw
  • The Brussels Palais de Beaux Arts
  • The Alte Oper in Frankfurt
  • The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham

Ensembles

  • Sequentia
  • The Ferrara Ensemble
  • The Huelgas Ensemble
  • Vox Resonat

Premieres

  • UBU (Andrew Toovey)
  • Life With an Idiot (Alfred Schnittke)
  • Le Sablier du Phénix (Henri Pousseur)
  • Suarogate (Volker Staub)
  • Yokohama (Johannes Fritsch)
  • Stargazer (Seattle composer Garrett Fisher)

Awards and Honors

  • Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Grammy)
  • Diapason d’Or de l’Annee (French Recording Award)
  • Choc de Musique (French Recording Award)

Workshops and Guest Faculty

  • The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands,
  • The Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland
  • The Vancouver Early Music Programme in Vancouver, British Columbia
  • State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, Germany
  • Siena, Italy
  • Berlin, Germany
  • Melbourne, Australia

Selected Discography

  • Stargazer, 16 Visions, 2007
  • Joculatores Dei: Minstrels of God, Vox Resonat (directed by Eric Mentzel), Marc Aurel Edition, 2007
  • Lost Songs of a Rheinland Harper, Sequentia, BMG/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 2005
  • Carmina Burana, Ony Wytars/Unicorn Ensemble, Naxos, 2002
  • Northerne Wynde: Music of Walter Frye, Ferrara Ensemble, Marc Aurel Edition, 2002
  • Le Chant de Virgile, Huelgas Ensemble, Harmonia Mundi, 2001
  • Mercy ou Mort: chansons et motets d’mour de Guillaume de Machaut, Ferrara Ensemble, Arcana, 2001
  • Musica Sacra in Colonia, Musica Fiata, Glissando, 2000. Awarded the Choc de Musique
  • Choralis Septentrionalis, Retrover, Opus 111, 2000
  • Suarogate by Volker Staub (composer), Wergo Records, 1999