LOTUS - recorder & harpsichord duo

Born in 1983 in Rio de Janeiro, Inês d'Avena moved to Holland in 2001 to study at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague (after having been invited by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Civica Scuola di Milano as well). In May 2005 concluded the Bachelor Degree in Music under the orientation of Reine-Marie Verhagen; in the same year finished the teaching diploma with the jury's compliments on her work with young musicians. Compelled by a keen and genuine interest in Neapolitan baroque music (which stems from her Southern Italian roots) and by the wish to continue to perfect her recorder skills, continued studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, under the orientation of Sébastien Marq and with musicological research on "Naples and the recorder in the early 18th century" supervised by Peter van Heyghen. In May 2007 finished the Master Degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium. From September 2010 Inês will be a docARTES promovendus, working towards a Doctorate from the Leiden University / Orpheus Institute Gent.

During her conservatory years, attended master classes with Winfried Michel, Kees Boeke and Gerd Lünebürger. In the last 9 years Inês performed with the Nationale Reisopera and took part at the 12ème Académie Baroque Européenne d'Ambronay under the direction of William Christie, with concerts throughout France and Spain; has also performed as soloist at the opening concert of the Koffieconcert series at the Anton Philipszaal (in cooperation with the Koninklijk Conservatorium), at the Château de Chimay during the 5th International Baroque Singing Competition and participated in the fringe program of the Holland Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht in 2004 and 2006, the later with three concerts - which included LOTUS, her recorder & harpsichord duo with Claudio Ribeiro. In 2008 performed as soloist with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Ton Koopman at the Itinéraire Baroque Festival. In October 2010, Inês was the winner of the II International Competition Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli.

In 2006 co-founded the COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Den Haag, a baroque orchestra directed by maestro al cembalo Claudio Ribeiro, of which ORF already has recorded two CDs (and a DVD) for its Edition Alte Musik label. A number of the orchestra's performances, both in Holland and Austria, have been broadcasted live. Since May 2009 has also been devoting time to SCHIFANOIA*, a recorder duet with Isabel Favilla. The duo had an extensive tour in Brazil with a program of baroque music and chorinho. In August, SCHIFANOIA* was one of the 8 ensembles selected for the International Young Artists Presentation, which was part of the 2009 Laus Polyphoniae festival in Antwerp.

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Claudio Ribeiro was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1976. His musical training began at the age of 7 with piano. In 1994 he went to the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) where he earned his Bachelor degree in conducting and studied harpsichord with Edmundo Hora. He earned a second Bachelor Degree in 2004 and a Master Degree in 2006 at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, as student of harpsichordist Jacques Ogg.

He has attended harpsichord masterclasses with Cristophe Rousset, Olivier Baumont, Nicolau de Figueiredo, and Rudi van Straten. In 1999, he was awarded at the IX Rotary Competition of Instrumental Music for Youngsters in Campinas.

His skills as a musical director derive as much from his virtuosity as a harpsichordist as from his broad musical training. He participated in many music festivals in Brazil, as well as the XIX Cursos Internacionais de Música da Casa de Mateus in Portugal, studying a wide range of musical subjects: composition, conducting, piano, baroque violin, organ and harpsichord.

Noteworthy groups with whom Mr. Ribeiro has performed: Harmonie Universelle (dir. Florian Deuter), Vox Brasiliensis (dir. Ricardo Kanji), Het Anna Kathrijnse Orkest (dir. Ralf Blasi), and the orchestra of the Académie Baroque Européenne in 2002 (dir. Rinaldo Alessandrini) and 2005 (dir. William Christie). This led to further collaboration with Mr. Christie as harpsichord accompanist for Les Arts Florissants.

In addition to his activities with Collegium Musicum Den Haag, Mr. Ribeiro directs the baroque orchestra Companhia de Música in Brazil, is a member of the ensembles LOTUS, Giardino Musicale and Música Temprana, and has worked for several years as regular accompanist at the Early Music International Festival of Juiz de Fora. He is also guest teacher and accompanist at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.