The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, that focuses on

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classi ...

and

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in whic ...

. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have made notable recordings of early music. One of the more popular of these is the 1994 album ''Chill to the Chant''.

History

Paul Sacher Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessperson. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person i ...

founded the school in 1933. Influential faculty included

August Wenzinger August Wenzinger (1905–1996) was a prominent cellist, viol player, conductor, teacher, and music scholar from Basel, Switzerland. He was a pioneer of historically informed performance, both as a master of the viola da gamba and as a conductor of ...

(

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

and

viola da gamba 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 pitch ...

), Ina Lohr (violin), and Max Meili (vocal music). In 1954 the Schola merged with two other Basel music schools to form the

City of Basel Music Academy The City of Basel Music Academy (german: Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel) is an institution for music education, located in Basel, Switzerland. It comprises a music school, college of music, and a center for early music research and performance. Hi ...

Faculty

Among the school's other notable faculty members, past and present, are musicians from many countries. By nationality, they include: *

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

: keyboardist and conductor

Geoffrey Lancaster Geoffrey Lancaster (born 20 August 1954) is an Australian classical pianist and conductor. Born in Sydney, he was raised in Dubbo, New South Wales before moving to Canberra. He attended the Canberra School of Music where he studied piano with ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

: countertenor and conductor

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

: lutenist and ensemble leader

Anthony Rooley Anthony Rooley (born 10 June 1944 in Leeds) is a British lutenist. Career In 1969, Rooley founded and directed the early music ensemble The Consort of Musicke, which continues to be one of the chief vehicles for his inspiration, among many o ...

; soprano

Evelyn Tubb Evelyn Tubb is an English soprano, and long-time member of The Consort of Musicke and one of the world's greatest early music specialists, known for her innovative and original performances. Life She originally comes from the Isle of Wight and s ...

; viola da gambist

Alison Crum Alison Crum (born 23 November 1949, in the United Kingdom), is an English viol player. Biography She got her first viol while studying music at Reading University, and went on to study at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Wieland Kuijk ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

: cellist and conductor

Christophe Coin Christophe Coin (; born 26 January 1958) is a French cellist, viola da gamba player and conductor active in the field of historically informed performance. He is the cellist of the Quatuor Mosaïques and is the director of the Ensemble Baroque de ...

; flautist

Marc Hantaï Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

; conductor

Dominique Vellard Dominique Vellard (born 1953) is a French tenor and specialist in medieval music. In 1979 he founded the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, a leading ensemble in the performance of Ars Nova music. He is also a composer. Selected discography Harmonic: * Gr ...

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 betwee ...

: flautist/recorder player and conductor

Hans-Martin Linde Hans-Martin Linde (born 24 May 1930 in Werne, Germany) is a German noted virtuoso flute and recorder player of (mainly) baroque and early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but ...

; countertenor

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...

; tenor

Gerd Türk Gerd Türk is a German classical tenor. Biography Gerd Türk received his first musical training as a choir boy at the cathedral of Limburg. He studied in Frankfurt and then at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Richard Levitt and René Ja ...

; viola da gambist

Veronica Hampe Veronica, Veronika, etc., may refer to: People * Veronica (name) * Saint Veronica * Saint Veronica of Syria Arts and media Comics and literature * ''Veronica'', an 1870 novel by Frances Eleanor Trollope * ''Veronica'', a 2005 novel by Mary Gaits ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

: organist

Lorenzo Ghielmi Lorenzo Ghielmi (born in Milan on 1 September 1959) is an Italian organist and harpsichordist. He teaches old music at the ''Accademia Internazionale della Musica'' in Milan and at the "Schola Cantorum Basiliensis" in Basel. He was professor in Tr ...

, organist, harpsichordist and conductor

Andrea Marcon Andrea Marcon (born 6 February 1963 in Treviso, Italy) is an Italian conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and scholar. In 1997, he founded the Venice Baroque Orchestra.Kozinn, Alla"Young Italians Stand at Attention, Which Their Ensemble Attracts" ...

; harpsichordist Francesco Corti; viola da gambist

Paolo Pandolfo Paolo Pandolfo is an Italian virtuoso player, composer, and teacher of music for the viola da gamba, born on January 31, 1964. He began his studies as a double bass and guitar player, becoming a skilled performer of jazz and popular music.Ernesto ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

: cantor and conductor Jan Boeke; harpsichordist, organist and conductor

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Le ...

; violinist

Jaap Schröder Jaap Schröder or Jaap Schroeder (31 December 1925 – 1 January 2020) was a Dutch violinist, conductor, and pedagogue. He studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and at the Sorbonne in France. In the 1960s he was a member of the Dutch early music ...

; sackbuttist Charles Toet; cantor and gambist Henk Waardenburg; flautist, gambist and music therapist Wil Waardenburg. *

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

: lutenist and conductor Manuel Morais *

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

: viola da gambist and conductor Jordi Savall *

: violinist and conductor Chiara Banchini; violist da gambist and cellist Hannelore Mueller; baritone

Kurt Widmer Kurt Widmer (28 December 1940 – 31 May 2023) was a Swiss baritone and voice teacher, who appeared and recorded internationally. He focused on concert singing, especially of oratorios from the Romantic period. His recordings cover a repertoire ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

: bassoonist Donna Agrell, lutenists

Hopkinson Smith Hopkinson Smith (born December 7, 1946) is an American lutenist and pedagogue, longtime resident in Basel, Switzerland. Smith was born in New York City, the son of architectural writer and photographer G. E. Kidder Smith. He graduated from ...

and

Crawford Young Crawford Young is an American lutenist and musicologist residing in Basel, Switzerland. He is the director of the Ferrara Ensemble, Ensemble Project Ars Nova, Shield of Harmony, and is a long time accompanist of Andreas Scholl. Life and career ...

; cornettist Bruce Dickey; and trumpeter Edward H. Tarr.

Alumni

Notable alumni have included such musicians such as

, Jordi Savall, Barbara Thornton,

Christina Pluhar Christina Pluhar (Graz, 1965) is an Austrian theorbist, harpist, conductor, and director of L'Arpeggiata ensemble.Herz Europas "Christina Pluhar ist eine der innovativsten Musikerinnen der Alte-Musik-Szene, die in ihren Projekten die Grenzen d ...

, Elam Rotem, Jorge Guerrero Dantur and Benjamin Bagby.

Lutenists

Lutenists who have studied at the Schola include: * Robert Barto (b. USA; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois) * Luciano Contini (b. Italy; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois and Hopkinson Smith) *

Eduardo Egüez Eduardo Egüez (born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1959) is a lutenist, theorbist, and guitarist acclaimed for his interpretations of music by J.S.Bach. Egüez began by first studying guitar with Miguel Angel Girollet and Eduardo Fernández. H ...

(b. Argentina; studied with Hopkinson Smith) * Paul O'Dette (b. USA; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois and

Thomas Binkley Thomas Binkley (Cleveland, Ohio, December 26, 1931 – Bloomington, Indiana, April 28, 1995) was an American lutenist and early music scholar. Thomas Eden Binkley studied at the University of Illinois (BM. 1956, PhD. 1959) and the University of Mun ...

) * Anthony Bailes (b. Great Britain; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois) * Toyohiko Satoh (b. Japan; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois) * Manuel Morais (b. Portugal; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois) * Edin Karamazov (b. Bosnia-Herzogovina; studied with Hopkinson Smith) * Marc Lewon (b. Germany, studied with

) * Rolf Lislevand (b. Norway; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois and Hopkinson Smith) * Evangelina Mascardi (b. Argentina; studied with Hopkinson Smith) * Rafael Benatar (b. Venezuela; studied with Eugen Müller-Dombois and Hopkinson Smith)

References

External links