Alexandra MacCracken, the founder and director of Ensemble Gaudior, has performed as a baroque violinist with the Washington Bach Consort, Opera Lafayette, and Modern Musick, as well as with other period-instrument ensembles in Richmond, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and New York. After earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Ms. MacCracken taught for several years at the University of Virginia, where she also played in the Piedmont Chamber Players, a faculty ensemble. Other highlights of her extensive experience as a chamber musician include membership in the Squareknot Quartet, whose repertoire ranged from the classics to innovative arrangements in popular, folk, and jazz styles, and more recently in the baroque groups La Stravaganza and Harmonia Nova. Ms. MacCracken currently freelances on modern as well as baroque violin and in addition occasionally finds time to play Renaissance consort music on the treble viol.
Harpsichordist Elena Tsai has performed throughout the United States and Europe. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Frank Huntington Beebe Grant, the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, and the Rislov Foundation Grant, which enabled her to study harpsichord in Paris for a year. She was also selected as a finalist in the Pro Musicis competition in New York and was a semi-finalist in the 5th Jurow International Harpsichord competition. Recently, she has performed with the Bach Sinfonia, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, the Hopkins Symphony, La Rocinante, and at the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival. She attended the University of Michigan where she earned degrees in political science, piano, and harpsichord, which she studied with Edward Parmentier. She also teaches piano at the Friends School of Baltimore.
William Simms, theorbo and baroque guitar, appears regularly with such groups as Opera Lafayette, Apollo’s Fire, Modern Musick, and Olde Friends Concert Artists, and is also a founding member of the ensemble La Rocinante. Active as a continuo player, he has performed numerous operas and oratorios, including performances with the Cleveland Opera, New York State Baroque, and Tempesta di Mare. Having earned degrees from Peabody Conservatory (M.Mus.) and College of Wooster (B.Mus.), Mr. Simms currently serves on the faculties of Mount Saint Mary’s College; Hood College, where he is founder and director of the Hood College Early Music Ensemble; and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He has recorded for the Dorian, Centaur, and Eclectra labels.
Doug Poplin, violoncello, performs regularly in venues throughout the metropolitan Washington area as a recitalist, chamber musician, and ensemble member. Never content with standing still, he has pushed his artistic flexibility to include both early music—performing and recording on baroque violoncello with The Bach Sinfonia as well as concertizing with The Washington Bach Consort—and experimental music on electric ’cello with the avant-garde ensemble BLK W/ BEAR and his newest collaboration with singer-songwriter Rich Morel. Mr. Poplin received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Minnesota and undertook graduate studies at the University of Maryland, where he was an Orchestral Fellow and worked with the Guarneri String Quartet.
Marta Howard, violist, performs throughout the Washington area in groups as diverse as the Washington Bach Consort and The Trans-Siberian Orchestra and in venues ranging from the National Cathedral to Signature Theatre. A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Dr. Howard attended the Interlochen Arts Academy and holds degrees in viola performance from the University of Wisconsin, the Manhattan School of Music, and the University of Iowa. She has participated in summer festivals around the US, Canada, and Italy, including the Aspen Music Festival and Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, and she has studied chamber music with the Cleveland, Tokyo, and Stradivari Quartets. She has taught at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Georgetown University.
Yayoi Barrack studied the viola da gamba with Anneke Pols in Utrecht and The Hague in the Netherlands, where she also took masterclasses with Wieland Kuijken and Christophe Coin. Her repertoire ranges from medieval to contemporary music, including a few pieces which were written for her. For several years she was the viola da gamba soloist in the yearly Domkerk performances of J.S. Bach’s Passions according to St. Matthew and St. John in Utrecht. She has performed with well-known groups such as the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet and with members of the Amsterdam Bach Soloists, and in addition to appearances in the Netherlands and the U.S., she has given concerts in Germany, Belgium, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
