Phantasm is a

viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

currently based in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was founded in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Laurence Dreyfus Laurence Dreyfus, FBA (born 1952) is an American musicologist and player of the viola da gamba who was University Lecturer and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Early life Dreyfus was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and lived in Che ...

. It catapulted into international prominence when its debut CD won a

Gramophone Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. The British awards are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy ...

for the Best Baroque Instrumental Recording of 1997. Since then, they have released seventeen further recordings, won several awards, and in the words of their website, "have become recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today".

History

In 2005 Phantasm were named Consort-in-Residence at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where they regularly appeared at the

Holywell Music Room The Holywell Music Room is the city of Oxford's chamber music hall, situated on Holywell Street in the city centre, and is part of Wadham College. Built in 1748, it is said to be the oldest purpose-built music room in Europe, and hence Britain' ...

and other University venues. In 2010, Phantasm became Consort-in-Residence at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

where they perform in Magdalen College's Chapel and collaborate with Magdalen College Choir. Since the beginning of 2016 PHANTASM – with its members hailing from the US, Britain and Finland – has established its new home in Berlin, Germany. Critics have called their performances and recordings: 'intoxicating', 'revelatory', 'electrifying', 'interpretations pervaded by a truly burning spirit'. The history of Phantasm and its recordings was featured on the Early Music Show,

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

with

Lucie Skeaping Lucie Skeaping (née Finch) is a British singer, instrumentalist, broadcaster and writer. She was a founder of the early music group the City Waites and the pioneering klezmer band the Burning Bush. She presents BBC Radio 3's '' Early Music ...

, and they illustrated an audible 'history of English consort music' with BBC Radio 3 presenter

Catherine Bott Catherine Bott (born 11 September 1952) is a British singer and broadcaster. Following her studies at The King's High School For Girls and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Arthur Reckless, she began her career as a member of Swingle I ...

before their appearance at the

Lufthansa Festival Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

in London. Along with concerts at

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

, Oxford, and at the Holywell Music Room (Oxford) they appeared at the Barcelona Early Music Festival in May 2009 with a concert of

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

's Complete Fantasies and

In Nomine In Nomine is a title given to a large number of pieces of English polyphonic, predominantly instrumental music, first composed during the 16th century. History This "most conspicuous single form in the early development of English consort mus ...

s, and at the Hong Kong International Music Festival in 2013. Their CD, the complete five- and six-part works of the Jacobean composer John Ward for

Linn Records Linn Records is a Glasgow-based record label which specialises in classical music, jazz and Scottish music. It is part of Linn Products. History While Linn engineers were testing their flagship product, the Sondek LP12 turntable, they became fr ...

, was launched after their final concert at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in 2011. The disc follows the success of Phantasm's 2007 CD, John Jenkins's Five-Part Consorts, which was a finalist for the Gramophone Award in Early Music, and for the MIDEM Classical Award in Early Music.] Their 2012 William Lawes, Lawes disc was a Finalist for a Gramophone Award in the Baroque Instrumental category. They have also recorded on the

Channel Classics Records Channel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conserva ...

, GMN, Simax, and

Avie Records AVIE Records is a UK-based independent classical music recording company founded in 2002 by Simon Foster and Melanne Mueller who devised a unique business model based on artist ownership. Foster and Mueller continue to run the company together with ...

labels.

Members

, treble viol and director *

Jonathan Manson Jonathan Manson is a Scottish cellist and viol player. Born in Edinburgh, he studied cello with Jane Cowan and later went on to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he studied with Steven Doane and Christel Thielmann. He studied vi ...

, tenor viol *

Markku Luolajan-Mikkola Markku Luolajan-Mikkola is a Finnish baroque cellist and viol player. Born in Helsinki, he studied cello with Arto Noras at the Sibelius Academy, where he received his diploma in 1983. Later, an interest in baroque music led him to summer courses ...

, bass viol *

Emilia Benjamin Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

, treble and tenor viols * Heidi Gröger, tenor and bass viols, violone *

Mikko Perkola Mikko is a Finnish masculine given name and equivalent of the English name Michael, having been borrowed into the Finnic languages. The given name Mikko is shared by the following notable people: * Mikko Alatalo, Finnish musician and politician * ...

. tenor and bass viols - emeritus member *

Wendy Gillespie Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activitie ...

, treble and tenor viols - emeritus member

Discography

* ''Complete Fantasies for Viols'' by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

- 1996 * ''Still Music of the Spheres'' by

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

and

Richard Mico Richard Mico (also Micoe, Micho, Meco, Myco; 1590–1661) was an English composer. He was born in Taunton, Somerset, the eldest of three sons of Walter Mico.John Bennett & Pamela Willetts: "Richard Mico", ''Chelys'', Vol. 7, 1977 The family, ...

- 1997 * '' Art of Fugue'' by J. S. Bach - 1998 * ''Byrd Song'' by William Byrd with

Ian Partridge Ian Partridge (born 12 June 1938) is a retired English lyric tenor, whose repertoire ranged from Monteverdi, Bach and Handel, the Elizabethan lute songs, German, French and English songs, through to Schoenberg, Weill and Britten, and on to co ...

and Geraldine McGreevy - 1999 * ''Consorts in Four and Five Parts'' by

William Lawes William Lawes (April 1602 – 24 September 1645) was an English composer and musician. Life and career Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602. He was the son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathe ...

- 2000 * ''Consort Music'' by Matthew Locke - 2001 * ''Consorts in Six Parts'' by William Lawes - 2002 * ''Consorts for Viols'' by

Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons ( bapt. 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer and keyboard player who was one of the last masters of the English Virginalist School and English Madrigal School. The best known member of a musical famil ...

- 2005 * ''Four

Temperament In psychology, temperament broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. Some researchers point to association of tempera ...

s'' - William Byrd, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Robert Parsons,

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (; also Tallys or Talles; 23 November 1585) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...

- 2005 * ''Six-Part Consorts'' by John Jenkins - 2006 * ''Five-Part Consorts'' by John Jenkins - 2007 * ''William Byrd's "Complete Consort music" -'' 2011 * ''Consorts to the Organ by William Lawes -'' 2012 * ''

Christopher Tye Christopher Tye (before 1573) was an English Renaissance music, Renaissance composer and organist. Probably born in Cambridgeshire, he trained at the University of Cambridge and became the master of the choir at Ely Cathedral. He is noted as the ...

: Complete Consort Music'' *''Dowland: Lachrimae or Seven Tears'' - 2016 *''Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue'' - 2025

Awards

* Henry Purcell's ''Complete Fantasies for Viols''; 1997

for baroque non-vocal performance. * Orlando Gibbons's ''Consorts for Viols''; 2004 Gramophone Award for early music.

References

External links

Welcome , Phantasm
{{Authority control Early music consorts * Musical groups established in 1994