Carol Lewis
  Viola Da Gamba

performances  |  recordings
special projects, lectures, teaching  |  education

Carol Lewis is a renowned soloist and ensemble performer whose viola da gamba playing has been called "wonderfully vivid~ brilliantly florid" (The Boston Herald). She has demonstrated her virtuosity and versatility many times, as a soloist in the U.S. and abroad. She is most frequently heard as an ensemble musician, having toured with leading chamber groups in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

"...gambist Carol Lewis offered us a brilliant demonstration of her instrument. Her technique and her musicality, her breathtaking dexterity transported us in Marin Marais' Grand Ballet, to a distant time, where music was not noise but elegance and discretion…" ~ Centre Presse, Poitiers, France

"By the end of her recital, Carol Lewis had instilled in this listener a heightened regard for the viola da gamba-that rich, protean instrument she plays so winningly…"~ The Boston Globe

"We were treated to a display of dazzling technical virtuosity and passionate playing of gut-gripping intensity that held the audience frozen in their seats." ~ Early Music Review, England (top)

PERFORMANCES

Performances with premier ensembles including:

International and North American tours at major festivals such as Utrecht, Holland; York, England; Aix-en-Provence, France; Spoleto USA; Berkeley (CA) Early Music Festival; Indianapolis Early Music Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival. Other venues including Versailles Opera, Radio France Auditorium (Paris), Seattle Early Music Guild, Library of Congress, Jordan Hall, Cleveland Museum of Art, Union College (Schenectady, NY), University of Mississippi, University of Alabama, Sanders Theater at Harvard University, Connecticut College, and Rhode Island School of Design. (top)

RECORDINGS

Canto a mi caballero (music of Antonio de Cabezón), William Byrd: Virginals and Consorts, Canto Mediterraneo, and Couperin: Concert dans le Goût Théâtral. Recordings with internationally acclaimed ensemble Capriccio Stravagante on Astrée and other labels.

Other recordings on EMI, Lyrichord, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Erato, Atma Classique and Koch International. (top)

SPECIAL PROJECTS, LECTURES, TEACHING

Co-founder of Society for Historically Informed Performance.

Producer and performer in concert series Défense de la viole, Music for Viols and Friends, and Early Music Afternoons at the Somerville Museum.

Served on faculties of New England Conservatory of Music, Amherst Early Music, and summer conclaves of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. (top)

EDUCATION

Soloist Diploma from Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland. Bachelor of Music with honors from New England Conservatory. (top)

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