Eric Milnes (born May 7, 1959) is an American

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, organist and conductor, especially in the field of Baroque music. He began a series of recordings of all

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest ca ...

s with singers performing

one voice per part In music, one voice per part (OVPP) is the practice of performing choral music with a single voice on each vocal line. In the specific context of Johann Sebastian Bach's works it is also known as the Rifkin hypothesis, set forth in Joshua Rifkin' ...

and the

Montreal Baroque Orchestra The Montreal Baroque Orchestra (french: Orchestre Baroque de Montréal) is an early music ensemble based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1989 by conductor Joël Thiffault. Discography * ''Francesco Geminiani - Concertos gros ...

Career

Born in

Huntington, New York The Town of Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the North Shore (Long Island), north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Lo ...

, Milnes studied in New York City at

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

and the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most e ...

. He made several recordings as instrumentalist and conductor of vocal music, conducting from the keyboard instrument in Baroque practice. He has appeared at international festivals in the United States, Canada and Europe. He recorded settings by

Salamone Rossi Salamone Rossi or Salomone Rossi ( he, סלומונה רוסי or שלמה מן האדומים) (Salamon, Schlomo; de' Rossi) (ca. 1570 – 1630) was an Italian Jewish violinist and composer. He was a transitional figure between the late Ita ...

, a Jewish composer at the court of the

Duke of Mantua During its history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of the House of Canos ...

, of texts in Hebrew from the Song of Songs in 2012, with New York Baroque, an ensemble of eight singers with continuo. A reviewer noted the performances evoked a certain "flavour of secrecy", fitting music that was "underground" at the time of creation, with little variation in dynamic and tempo. A reviewer noted his recordings of four

s with singers in

OVPP In music, one voice per part (OVPP) is the practice of performing choral music with a single voice on each vocal line. In the specific context of Johann Sebastian Bach's works it is also known as the Rifkin hypothesis, set forth in Joshua Rifki ...

fashion and the

, as part of a planned cycle of the works, induced "animated, stylistically assured playing" with "a sure feel for tempo and Bachian rhetoric". Another part of the series, called ''Cantatas for Mary'', and presenting ''Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'', BWV 147, ''Ich habe genug'', BWV 82, and ''Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'', BWV 1, was reviewed as enlightening, with soloists "whose stylish, energetic singing is a pure joy to hear" and an orchestra with warm, articulate strings and brilliantly resonant trumpet and horns."

References

External links

Eric Milnes
Bach Cantatas Website *

westchestermusicfestival.org
L'Harmonie des saisons
* L'Harmonie des saisons - Wikipedia (français) {{DEFAULTSORT:Milnes, Eric 1959 births Living people American harpsichordists American organists 20th-century American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) Columbia College (New York) alumni People from Huntington, New York 20th-century American people 21st-century American people 20th-century American male musicians