Zephyro Spiro - J. Lawrence (tenor), A. Stegmann (recorders) J. Jiménez (violin), H. Lane (historical harp)
Date
Monday 11th January, 2.30PM
Venue
Clunes Town Hall
Duration
60 minutes
In the luminous atmosphere of the summer, Zephyro Spira unfolds as an intimate Renaissance soundscape shaped by breath, poetry and improvisation. A richly coloured broken consort of voice, recorder, violin, and harp brings together distinct timbres in a refined dialogue where each line speaks with its own character.
At its core lies the poetic universe of love, longing and renewal, inspired by Francesco Petrarca. The recurring image of the spring breeze, echoed in the frottola by Bartolomeo Tromboncino that lends the programme its title, becomes a metaphor for music that moves in cycles of departure and return. Many of the selected madrigals and frottole set texts that speak of emotional ambiguity: the joy and pain of love, devotion intertwined with loss, and the fragile beauty of human desire. Works by composers such as Cipriano de Rore and Marco Cara reveal how Renaissance composers shaped poetry into music through expressive melodic lines that mirror the natural rhythm of speech. At its heart lies the art of diminution, described by Silvestro Ganassi in his 1535 treatise La Fontegara as a form of “silent speech”… music animated anew in the very moment of performance.
Perfectly suited to the evocative summer setting of the picturesque Clunes Town Hall, this programme invites listeners into a world where voices and instruments entwine, where polyphony becomes conversation, and where Renaissance music breathes with immediacy and elegance.
*This programme/project/publication is supported in part by a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), a state agency.
At its core lies the poetic universe of love, longing and renewal, inspired by Francesco Petrarca. The recurring image of the spring breeze, echoed in the frottola by Bartolomeo Tromboncino that lends the programme its title, becomes a metaphor for music that moves in cycles of departure and return. Many of the selected madrigals and frottole set texts that speak of emotional ambiguity: the joy and pain of love, devotion intertwined with loss, and the fragile beauty of human desire. Works by composers such as Cipriano de Rore and Marco Cara reveal how Renaissance composers shaped poetry into music through expressive melodic lines that mirror the natural rhythm of speech. At its heart lies the art of diminution, described by Silvestro Ganassi in his 1535 treatise La Fontegara as a form of “silent speech”… music animated anew in the very moment of performance.
Perfectly suited to the evocative summer setting of the picturesque Clunes Town Hall, this programme invites listeners into a world where voices and instruments entwine, where polyphony becomes conversation, and where Renaissance music breathes with immediacy and elegance.
*This programme/project/publication is supported in part by a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), a state agency.
Artists
Jacob Lawrenc – tenor
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British-Australian tenor Jacob Lawrence performs repertoire spanning the Medieval to the Classical era, with a particular focus on the music and performance practices of the 16th and 17th centuries. He studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music before moving to Basel in 2016 to study with Gerd Türk at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
A laureate of Le Jardin des Voix, the young artist programme of Les Arts Florissants, Jacob toured internationally as Emilio in Handel’s Partenope under William Christie and Paul Agnew, with performances at the Philharmonie de Paris, Lucerne Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and Palau de les Arts in Valencia. He has since appeared at venues including the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles, Teatro Real Madrid and Palau de la Música Catalana.
His operatic work includes the title role in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Telemaco in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, Aeneas in Graupner’s Dido at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, and roles in Haydn’s Armida and Legrenzi’s Giustino with Pinchgut Opera. In concert, he has appeared in Handel’s Hercules and Messiah, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Bach’s Magnificat and Johannespassion. He has given recitals at festivals including Urbino Musica Antica, Osterfestival Tirol and the Radovljica Early Music Festival.
Jacob works regularly with ensembles including Les Arts Florissants, Ensemble Correspondances, Vox Luminis, Profeti della Quinta, La Cetra Basel, Le Miroir de Musique and La Fonte Musica. His discography includes recordings with Vox Luminis, Profeti della Quinta, Los Elementos and Le Miroir de Musique.
Alongside his work as a singer, Jacob has a particular interest in historical improvisation and ornamentation. He won the Schloss Weissenbrunn Competition for Historical Improvisation and was a prizewinner at the Cesti International Baroque Opera Competition. In 2024, he created a new performing edition of Allegri’s Miserere for Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, drawing on historical sources for ornamentation.
www.jacoblawrencetenor.com
A laureate of Le Jardin des Voix, the young artist programme of Les Arts Florissants, Jacob toured internationally as Emilio in Handel’s Partenope under William Christie and Paul Agnew, with performances at the Philharmonie de Paris, Lucerne Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and Palau de les Arts in Valencia. He has since appeared at venues including the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles, Teatro Real Madrid and Palau de la Música Catalana.
His operatic work includes the title role in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Telemaco in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at the Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, Aeneas in Graupner’s Dido at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, and roles in Haydn’s Armida and Legrenzi’s Giustino with Pinchgut Opera. In concert, he has appeared in Handel’s Hercules and Messiah, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Bach’s Magnificat and Johannespassion. He has given recitals at festivals including Urbino Musica Antica, Osterfestival Tirol and the Radovljica Early Music Festival.
Jacob works regularly with ensembles including Les Arts Florissants, Ensemble Correspondances, Vox Luminis, Profeti della Quinta, La Cetra Basel, Le Miroir de Musique and La Fonte Musica. His discography includes recordings with Vox Luminis, Profeti della Quinta, Los Elementos and Le Miroir de Musique.
Alongside his work as a singer, Jacob has a particular interest in historical improvisation and ornamentation. He won the Schloss Weissenbrunn Competition for Historical Improvisation and was a prizewinner at the Cesti International Baroque Opera Competition. In 2024, he created a new performing edition of Allegri’s Miserere for Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, drawing on historical sources for ornamentation.
www.jacoblawrencetenor.com
Anna Stegmann – Recorders
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Anna Stegmann is an internationally active recorder player and passionate advocate for early and contemporary music. Equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician and educator, she is known for her curiosity, imaginative programming and enthusiasm for exploring the recorder's expressive possibilities across centuries of repertoire.
Anna is Professor of Recorder at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she works closely with a select group of young musicians, supporting them in developing their individual musical paths. She is also a regular guest teacher at Wells Cathedral School. Her commitment to music education has taken her across Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia, giving masterclasses and workshops at institutions including the Royal Northern College of Music, the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg and the Easter Early Music Course. She has served on juries for numerous international competitions, including the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, the Moeck/SRP Solo Recorder Competition, the Taiwanese Recorder Competition and Jugend Musiziert.
As a performer, Anna appears internationally with her own ensembles, The Royal Wind Music and Ensemble Odyssee, and as a guest soloist and chamber musician with groups including L'Arpeggiata, La Risonanza and Musica Sequenza. She has also performed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Jordi Savall and collaborated with Bastarda Trio.
Her extensive discography includes eight recordings with Ensemble Odyssee, among them two albums devoted to the rarely heard English recorder concertos of William Babell and Robert Woodcock, released on Pan Classics. Her most recent recording with the ensemble, Original & Counterfeit (Challenge Classics, 2025), explores imaginative arrangements of instrumental concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. Continuing her exploration of English Baroque repertoire, Anna and Ensemble Odyssee will record A Splendid Entertainment for Challenge Classics in July 2027, featuring recorder concertos by John Baston, including newly composed movements in historical style by Jörn Boysen for three incompletely preserved concertos.
Since 2019, Anna has enjoyed a close artistic partnership with violinist Jorge Jiménez. Together, they create unconventional programmes that bring music from the Middle Ages to the present day into dialogue, incorporating original arrangements, improvisation and electronics. Their recordings and innovative approach to programming have received several OPUS KLASSIK nominations.
Beyond the concert stage, Anna is actively involved in bringing musicians and audiences together. Since 2013, she has co-organised the biennial Open Recorder Days Amsterdam, which has developed into one of the world's leading international gatherings for recorder players of all ages and levels. In 2020, she also launched her own digital concert series, featuring professionally filmed solo recitals and chamber music performances, available through her website and YouTube.
www.anna-stegmann.com
Anna is Professor of Recorder at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she works closely with a select group of young musicians, supporting them in developing their individual musical paths. She is also a regular guest teacher at Wells Cathedral School. Her commitment to music education has taken her across Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia, giving masterclasses and workshops at institutions including the Royal Northern College of Music, the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg and the Easter Early Music Course. She has served on juries for numerous international competitions, including the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, the Moeck/SRP Solo Recorder Competition, the Taiwanese Recorder Competition and Jugend Musiziert.
As a performer, Anna appears internationally with her own ensembles, The Royal Wind Music and Ensemble Odyssee, and as a guest soloist and chamber musician with groups including L'Arpeggiata, La Risonanza and Musica Sequenza. She has also performed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Jordi Savall and collaborated with Bastarda Trio.
Her extensive discography includes eight recordings with Ensemble Odyssee, among them two albums devoted to the rarely heard English recorder concertos of William Babell and Robert Woodcock, released on Pan Classics. Her most recent recording with the ensemble, Original & Counterfeit (Challenge Classics, 2025), explores imaginative arrangements of instrumental concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach. Continuing her exploration of English Baroque repertoire, Anna and Ensemble Odyssee will record A Splendid Entertainment for Challenge Classics in July 2027, featuring recorder concertos by John Baston, including newly composed movements in historical style by Jörn Boysen for three incompletely preserved concertos.
Since 2019, Anna has enjoyed a close artistic partnership with violinist Jorge Jiménez. Together, they create unconventional programmes that bring music from the Middle Ages to the present day into dialogue, incorporating original arrangements, improvisation and electronics. Their recordings and innovative approach to programming have received several OPUS KLASSIK nominations.
Beyond the concert stage, Anna is actively involved in bringing musicians and audiences together. Since 2013, she has co-organised the biennial Open Recorder Days Amsterdam, which has developed into one of the world's leading international gatherings for recorder players of all ages and levels. In 2020, she also launched her own digital concert series, featuring professionally filmed solo recitals and chamber music performances, available through her website and YouTube.
www.anna-stegmann.com
Jorge Jiménez – Baroque violin
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Jorge Jiménez is one of Europe’s most versatile and sought-after violinists, also acclaimed as a composer and conductor. He is celebrated for his innovative approach to both historically informed performance and contemporary repertoire, performing music from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, and creating unique, immersive musical experiences.
He is the founder and artistic director of Tercia Realidad, winner of the FestClásica Award 2023, and performs as soloist and concertmaster with leading ensembles including La Risonanza, Forma Antiqva, L’Arpeggiata, The Hanover Band, Capella Cracoviensis, I Fagiolini, and Laudonia Ensemble. Jorge also collaborates as guest conductor with Kiez Oper, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, and Capella Cracoviensis, and serves as guest leader for orchestras such as Orquesta Sinfónica de la Comunidad Valenciana, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Euskadi Orchestra, Oviedo Filarmonia and Opera Vlaanderen.
A regular guest musical director and soloist at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, Jorge has led projects including The Secret Theater, premiering music by Alexander Balanescu, and Four Seasons with music by Max Richter. His award-winning solo baroque violin programs have toured extensively across Australia, Europe, South America, and Canada, performing in cities from Istanbul and Krakow to Montreal and Melbourne.
Jorge’s recordings include Lunaris (2021, GWK Records) and his groundbreaking transcription of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2022, Pan Classics), praised as “impressive with effortless technical finesse” (The Strad Magazine). He plays a 1680 Ruggieri violin from the Jumpstart Jr Foundation – Jonathan Sparey Collection, continually pushing the boundaries of violin performance and repertoire.
He is the founder and artistic director of Tercia Realidad, winner of the FestClásica Award 2023, and performs as soloist and concertmaster with leading ensembles including La Risonanza, Forma Antiqva, L’Arpeggiata, The Hanover Band, Capella Cracoviensis, I Fagiolini, and Laudonia Ensemble. Jorge also collaborates as guest conductor with Kiez Oper, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, and Capella Cracoviensis, and serves as guest leader for orchestras such as Orquesta Sinfónica de la Comunidad Valenciana, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Euskadi Orchestra, Oviedo Filarmonia and Opera Vlaanderen.
A regular guest musical director and soloist at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, Jorge has led projects including The Secret Theater, premiering music by Alexander Balanescu, and Four Seasons with music by Max Richter. His award-winning solo baroque violin programs have toured extensively across Australia, Europe, South America, and Canada, performing in cities from Istanbul and Krakow to Montreal and Melbourne.
Jorge’s recordings include Lunaris (2021, GWK Records) and his groundbreaking transcription of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2022, Pan Classics), praised as “impressive with effortless technical finesse” (The Strad Magazine). He plays a 1680 Ruggieri violin from the Jumpstart Jr Foundation – Jonathan Sparey Collection, continually pushing the boundaries of violin performance and repertoire.
Hannah Lane – Historical Harp
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Australian harpist Hannah Lane has forged a distinctive artistic practice championing the historical harp. She performs on harps from the Renaissance to Romantic eras, with repertoire spanning c. 1550–1830, focusing particularly on the Baroque triple harp and single-action pedal harp (early Classical to early Romantic repertoire). Hannah brings the richness of historical instruments, their repertoire and performance traditions to contemporary audiences, illuminating our shared experiences and emotions through music of the past. Acclaimed as ‘a true master of this instrument’ (Australian Stage, 2022), ‘playing three rows of strings not merely with precision but also expressive beauty’ (Limelight, 2023), Hannah’s performances have been praised for their emotional depth, subtlety and sparkling virtuosity.
Hannah studied modern harp with Alice Giles AM and historically informed performance with Geoffrey Lancaster AO, graduating with high distinction, before specialising in historical harp with Mara Galassi and Chiara Granata in Milan. Her artistic practice and professional development have been supported by Creative Australia, The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and Creative Victoria.
Hannah performs throughout Australia and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo player. She is Principal Harpist for the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera/Orchestra of the Antipodes; other ensemble collaborations include the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band, Genesis Baroque, Adelaide Baroque, Apeiron Baroque, Ludovico’s Band and Latitude 37. She has recorded for ABC Classics, Obsidian Records and Brilliant Classics, and her international festival performances include Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, Urbino Musica Antica, Adelaide Festival and Canberra International Music Festival.
Based in Naarm/Melbourne, Hannah is Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Ensemble 642 in collaboration with lutenist Nicholas Pollock. Dedicated to the art of basso continuo and music for early plucked strings, the ensemble made their international debut in 2024 at the Urbino Musica Antica Festival in Italy. They are the first Australian ensemble to be invited to perform at this festival since its inception, over 50 years ago. Hannah also curates and creatively directs projects that cultivate collaborations across musical traditions, art forms and disciplines, including the development of new works for historical instruments and projects amplifying the voices of female musicians past and present.
Passionate about sharing her knowledge and nurturing the next generation of musicians, Hannah is a dedicated music educator. As an authority on basso continuo and historically informed performance practice, she has mentored for the Helpmann Academy Elevate Mentorship Program and presented masterclasses at the Music Conservatoriums of Melbourne and Sydney. Hannah’s research on historical harp performance practice has been published in leading musicological journals such as Early Music and Eighteenth-Century Music.
www.hannahlaneharpist.com
Hannah studied modern harp with Alice Giles AM and historically informed performance with Geoffrey Lancaster AO, graduating with high distinction, before specialising in historical harp with Mara Galassi and Chiara Granata in Milan. Her artistic practice and professional development have been supported by Creative Australia, The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and Creative Victoria.
Hannah performs throughout Australia and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo player. She is Principal Harpist for the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Pinchgut Opera/Orchestra of the Antipodes; other ensemble collaborations include the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band, Genesis Baroque, Adelaide Baroque, Apeiron Baroque, Ludovico’s Band and Latitude 37. She has recorded for ABC Classics, Obsidian Records and Brilliant Classics, and her international festival performances include Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, Urbino Musica Antica, Adelaide Festival and Canberra International Music Festival.
Based in Naarm/Melbourne, Hannah is Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Ensemble 642 in collaboration with lutenist Nicholas Pollock. Dedicated to the art of basso continuo and music for early plucked strings, the ensemble made their international debut in 2024 at the Urbino Musica Antica Festival in Italy. They are the first Australian ensemble to be invited to perform at this festival since its inception, over 50 years ago. Hannah also curates and creatively directs projects that cultivate collaborations across musical traditions, art forms and disciplines, including the development of new works for historical instruments and projects amplifying the voices of female musicians past and present.
Passionate about sharing her knowledge and nurturing the next generation of musicians, Hannah is a dedicated music educator. As an authority on basso continuo and historically informed performance practice, she has mentored for the Helpmann Academy Elevate Mentorship Program and presented masterclasses at the Music Conservatoriums of Melbourne and Sydney. Hannah’s research on historical harp performance practice has been published in leading musicological journals such as Early Music and Eighteenth-Century Music.
www.hannahlaneharpist.com
