Korneel Bernolet is active worldwide as conductor, harpsichordist and pedagogue. He has guest-conducted Les Talens Lyriques, Anima Eterna Brugge, Collegium Vocale Gent, Il Gardellino, Flanders Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Akademie Australia He directs his own collective Apotheosis in a repertoire span from early baroque till the high romantic era, and released several press-rewarded reference recordings of opera and chamber music by Rameau, Benda, Weckbacher and Bernier.
As regular assistant to Christophe Rousset, he is a welcomed conductor at the most prestigious opera houses (La Scala Milan, Vienna State Opera, Théatre du Châtelet Paris, Theater an der Wien, La Monnaie, Opéra National de Lorraine, soon also in New York and Washington DC) and also concertizes with him as a duo partner on harpsichord. Besides his intercontinental solo career in recitals and concertos, he acts as continuo player on harpsichord, pianoforte and organ at the core of Les Talens Lyriques, Collegium Vocale Gent, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Il Gardellino, Brussels Philharmonic, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, B'Rock, Scherzi Musicali, Flemish Radio Choir...
He is Professor of Harpsichord and Co-ordinator for Historically Informed Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, where he teaches on the famous original Dulcken 1747 harpsichord at Museum Vleeshuis. He is invited worldwide for masterclasses and has a rich discography as musician and recording engineer.

www.korneel.bernolet.com

© Dymphna Vandenabeele

Carole Cerasi has established herself at the very front rank of early keyboard players and recording artists in her field. Known for her expressive and virtuosic interpretations, fluidity of phrasing and refined touch, she has given recitals throughout Europe as well as in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Colombia, Israel, Canada and the States.

Her CDs have won many major awards (Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Gramophone Awards; C.P.E. Bach and Thomas Tomkins, Diapason d'Or de l’Année; J.S. Bach and the Möller Manuscript, Diapason d’Or de l'Année and runner-up Gramophone Awards; Scarlatti, runner-up Gramophone Awards). In 2018 Metronome Recordings released her 10 CD set of François Couperin’s complete harpsichord works, which received a Diapason d’Or.

A highly respected teacher, besides her work as Professor of Harpsichord and Fortepiano at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Yehudi Menuhin School, Carole is a much sought-after pedagogue by talented students of the younger generation. She is also in demand as a member of international jury panels. She has recently been named harpsichord professor at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.

Bertrand Cuiller is a French harpsichordist, performing as a soloist and with his ensemble Le Caravansérail. Born into a family of musicians, Bertrand Cuiller began studying the harpsichord at age 8 with his mother, then was a student of Pierre Hantaï and Christophe Rousset. He also played the baroque and modern horns. In 1998, he won the 3rd prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges. After spending several years as a member of orchestras such as Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert Spirituel and Le Poème Harmonique, Bertrand decided to concentrate exclusively on solo harpsichord, chamber music performance, and created the Ensemble Le Caravansérail.
He recorded solo albums under the labels Mirare, Alpha and harmonia mundi : elisabethan music (Pescodd, Time & Mr Tomkins his lessons of worth), JS Bach harpsichord Concertos, the complete works for the harpsichord of Jean-Philippe Rameau, as well as albums dedicated to Domenico Scarlatti and François Couperin.

© Jean-Baptiste Millot

The founder of the ensemble Les Talens Lyriques and internationally recognised harpsichordist Christophe Rousset is a musician and conductor inspired by a passion for opera and the rediscovery of the European musical heritage. His studies (harpsichord) with Huguette Dreyfus at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, then with Bob van Asperen at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (winning the coveted First Prize in the Seventh Bruges International Harpsichord Competition at the age of twenty-two), followed by the creation of his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991, have enabled Christophe Rousset to obtain a perfect grasp of the richness and diversity of the Baroque, Classical and pre-Romantic repertoires.

Christophe Rousset is now invited to appear with Les Talens Lyriques all over Europe (Opéra National de Paris, Opéra Comique, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Lausanne Opéra, Teatro Real Madrid, Vienna Staatsoper and Theater an der Wien, Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie and Bozar in Brussels, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre, and so on), as well as on tour in other parts of the world (Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, United States, etc.).

At the same time he continues to pursue an active career as a harpsichordist and chamber musician, playing and recording on some of the world’s finest period instruments. His recordings of the harpsichord works of Louis and François Couperin, Rameau, D’Anglebert, Royer, Duphly, Forqueray, Balbastre and Scarlatti, and those devoted to J. S. Bach (Partitas, Goldberg Variations, Harpsichord Concertos, English Suites, French Suites, Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann, Well-Tempered Clavier) are regarded as references.

Teaching is of paramount importance to Christophe Rousset, who organises and gives many master-classes and academies (Paris Conservatoire CNSM, Ambronay, Fondation Royaumont, Operastudio Vlaanderen-Ghent, OFJ Baroque, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie-Berlin, Accademia Chigiana-Siena, Amici della Musica in Florence, Britten-Pears Orchestra at Snape Maltings) and, together with members of Les Talens Lyriques, plays an active part in introducing young secondary school students in Paris and the Île-de-France to music.

Christophe Rousset also appears regularly as a guest conductor: Liceu Barcelona, San Carlo Naples, La Scala Milan, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, London’s Royal Opera House, Orquesta Nacional de España, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, etc.

He is active too in the field of research and writing, through critical editions, the publication of monographs devoted to Jean-Philippe Rameau and François Couperin (Actes Sud, 2007 and 2016, respectively). 2017 saw the publication of a series of interviews by Camille de Rijck in which Christophe Rousset shares his thoughts on music: L’impression que l’instrument chante, Éditions de la Cité de la Musique - Philharmonie de Paris (La rue musicale - Entretiens).

The recent releases by Aparté of Armand-Louis Couperin’s Harpsichord pieces and an unprecedented manuscript by Madame de Théobon (Lully and others) have to be mentionned.

© Nathanael Mergui - Marc Pellerin

In 2021 Catalina Vicens was appointed director of the Tagliavini Collection - Museo San Colombano, Bologna after devoting a solo and research career to the study of antique keyboard instruments. Her work with the Renaissance harpsichord and organ and medieval keyboards, in close collaboration with instrument builders and composers has contributed to give a new life to historical instruments.

Catalina is Guest Professor for harpsichord and research at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. She has been invited as Visiting Professor of Harpsichord at Oberlin Conservatory and to teach master-classes at the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, UC Berkeley, Conservatories and Universities of Vienna, St Andrews, Berlin, and Essen a.o.. She’s been invited as jury member at harpsichord competitions in Bruges, Mechelen, London, Poznan and Oberlin. As director of Servir Antico, she seeks to combine research, historical performance and social engagement.

© Elettra Bastoni