Marianne Rônez was born in Berne, Switzerland. She began to study violin there with Ulrich Lehmann. She completed her studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna with Josef Sivo. There she also met Josef Mertin, who gave her many ideas for performing early music. Since then she has done a lot of work with the baroque violin and the viola d’amore. Together with Ernst Kubitschek she founded the ensemble Affetti Musicali that has given many concerts throughout Europe and USA. As a soloist, her favorite areas of early violin playing are the music of Biber and his south German contempories, J. S. Bach and W. A. Mozart. The viola d’amore repertory includes music from the 17^th century until today, and more than one modern composer has dedicated works to her.

Marianne Rônez has done much research work on the history of violin technique. Of course, the knowledge she has gained influenced her violin playing. So she plays the German violin music of the late 17^th century with the French bow grip, with the thumb under the hairs, which gives this music a very clear and special sound. She is regularly invited to give papers at congresses about violin playing of the 17^th and 18^th centuries; many publications by Marianne Rônez exist about it. She has also published papers and given lectures about the history of the viola d’ amore. She regularly holds master classes and workshops for violin and viola d’amore and performs with the chamber music group Affetti Musicali throughout Europe, the United States, and in Korea. She also performs as a soloist and with other groups, and has made many recordings for radio stations.

Some CDs:
“Musik aus Alt-österreich”, with Affetti Musicali (Cavalli-Records)
H. I. F. Biber., “Sonatae a Violino solo...Salzburg 1681” (first recording of all sonatas).
Sony Vivarte : Motets of the 17^th century; “Resonet in laudibus”
H. I. F. Biber, Mysterien-Sonaten, Winter & Winter, München
J. S. Bach, Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, Winter & Winter, München

Ernst Kubitschek was born in Vienna. He studied recorder with Dr. René Clemencic and organ with Prof. Alois Forer. In the following years, he studied interpretation of early music with Prof. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In 1976 he received his doctorate from the University of Vienna with a dissertation on the embellishment of the music of the late 16^th century. He teaches the master class for recorder in the conservatory of music in Innsbruck and is professor at the Mozarteum. He gives courses and lectures at the University of Innsbruck on the music notation of the Middle Ages, on Renaissance music and on realisation of basso continuo in the 17^th century. He also edited a lot of music from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. He gives many concerts with his chamber-music-group, Affetti Musicali, and regulary holds master classes in Austria and Germany. CDs with Affetti Musicali (see above) and as organist: “Orgeln in Tirol,” ORF.

Johannes Kubitschek was born in Innsbruck in 1979. He started to play violoncello at the age of six years. Later he studied at the University of Music “Mozarteum” in Salzburg with Heidi Litschauer and Clemens Hagen. He will finish his studies next year. He is active in some chamber music ensembles. Although he is studying the modern cello, he plays early music on a period instrument.

Andrew Schultze, bass-baritone, is an active performer, conductor, stage director and teacher. He is well known as an interpreter of the standard opera/oratorio repertoire and as a specialist in the performance of early music. His cast of characters includes villains, heroes and buffoons in operas by Mozart, Donizetti, Gounod, Humperdinck and Puccini, as well as baroque works by Pergolesi, Handel and Vivaldi. In 1994 he sang the role of Apollo in a concert performance of Jacopo Peri's La Pellegrina at La Scala, Milan, with the Vienna Baroque Ensemble. His performances have been broadcast on television and radio in Europe and in the United States. He has recorded for Nonesuch and Orion and for French and Italian labels. Among this season’s singing engagements are solo recitals for Ars Musica Chicago, Columbia College and American Music Festivals, Bach Cantatas BWV#s 79, 36, 78 and 173, a concert tour of Austria with the baroque ensemble Affetti Musicali in June, a return to the Moravian Music Festival in the Czech Republic in July.

He has staged productions of medieval mystery plays, baroque and early classical period operas and standard repertoire works including The Play of Daniel, La Purpura de la Rosa by Torrejon y Velasco (the first opera composed in the Americas), the tragic Il Pianto di Rodomonte by Abbatini, the comic Opera Casera by del Moral, Mozart’s The Impressario, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Old Maid and the Thief. He is presently the musical/stage director of The Operatics Vocal Ensemble for Gallery 37, a year–round professional opera workshop for students aged 14 to 21.

As a conductor, Mr Schultze has led the early music ensemble Ars Musica Chicago in performances of music from the 12^th through the 18^th centuries. This season he will present the ensemble in concerts of Italian Medieval Music, Italian Baroque Music, Music by Black composers from The Age of Slavery and Baroque works from Spain and Mexico. He will conduct an all Vivaldi program (including the famous Gloria) for Chicago Syntagma Musica in the Spring.

Mr. Schultze has presented master classes and participated in early music workshops for Ars Musica Chicago, Vienna Baroque Ensemble, West Virginia University, University of Pittsburgh, Roosevelt University, Elmhurst College, the University of Indiana at Terre Haute and the University of Chicago. He is the founder and artistic director of Ars Musica Chicago and is a member of the voice faculty of Columbia College. His article “Performing Amarilli Mia Bella” was published in the National Association of Teachers of Singing’ Journal of Singing in the January/February 2000 issue.