Romina Lischka & Marnix De Cat
Biography Romina Lischka & Marnix De Cat
Romina Lischka
studied viola da gamba with Paolo Pandolfo at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basel, Switzerland) and was awarded her soloist diploma “with distinction” in 2006. She continued her studies with Philippe Pierlot at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels where she received her Master's diploma "with distinction” in 2008.
Since graduation, Romina has worked as a gambist with ensembles such as Collegium Vocale (Philippe Herreweghe), her concert activities have brought her to prestigious concert halls and festivals throughout Europe, Russia, Asia, North and South America.
In 2012, Romina performed the premier of George Benjamin's opera Written on Skin at the festival in Aix-en-Provence and has travelled with this production to the Opéra Comique in Paris and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. She has also toured with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra throughout Europa (Teatro Real Madrid, Barbican London, etc.) and with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in China (Beijing Music Festival, etc.).
In the 2012-13 concert season, Romina was chosen as the early music "ECHO Rising Star" by the BOZAR (Brussels) and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), which resulted in solo performances at various European concert venues.
Romina can be heard on numerous CDs on the labels Coro, Flora, Ricercar, Christophorus, Musica Ficta, Fuga Libera en Paraty. Her debut CD Pièces de viole de Sietur de Machy received the top 5 star rating by Diapason. The CD En Suite - Marin Marais & Sainte Colombe was awarded the Klara prize for “best classical CD of 2015.”
Alongside her activities as a gambist, Romina also studied North Indian classical singing (dhrupad) at the World Music department at the Rotterdam Conservatory (Bachelor, 2010) and in India (Delhi and Pune) with Ustad Fariduddin Dagar en Uday Bhawalkar.
Combining all her musical interests, Romina formed the Hathor Consort in 2012 to perform not only Renaissance and Baroque consort music, but also modern works and world music.
For the seaseon 2019-20 Romina was Portrayed Artist of Bozar. She has received the KLARA Award - Soloist of the Year 2018 and the Ulitmas award for music from the flemish government in 2020.
Marnix De Cat
The Belgian counter-tenor, conductor, organist and percussion player, Marnix De Cat, studied at Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege Brussel (1979-1985). He graduated from the Lemmens Institute in Leuven (Hogeschool voor Wetenschap & Kunst, 1985-1992), earning a First Prize in organ (under Reitze Smits), harmony and counterpoint. He also studied singing, percussion and fugue, and received a First Prize in choral conducting. (under Erik Van Nevel)
Marnix De Cat sings and plays music from 14th to 21st centuries, specializing in Ars Nova, Renaissance, Baroque, Early Romantism and Contemporary.
He grounded his own vocal Pluto-ensemble to work out his ideas on different music-scenes.
Marnix is a permanent member of the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam (alto, since 2002). From 1996 till 2013 he has been one of the four permanent core members of the Capilla Flamenca, participating in its worldwide tours.
In addition, he regularly collaborates with the Collegium Vocale Gent, Currende ensemble, Weser Renaissance, Huelgas Ensemble,..
He also has been raising his visibility as a soloist as well performing with conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Philippe Herreweghe, Jos van Immerseel, Manfred Cordes...
Several modern dance performances co-opted him as a singer for their tours, among others: Iets op Bach (A.Platel), Foi (S.L.Cherkaoui), and Bâche (K. Augustijnen).
You can hear Marnix De Cat on about 90 CD-recordings.
Marnix was replacing organist at St-Michielscathedral Brussels (1988-1993), and was organist for several years at the Church of St-Geertrui in Leuven. He taught at Hogeschool WENK, Campus Lemmensinstituut, Leuven, Belgium (1992-1996) and in the Aquariusproject for kids (Antwerp), and had his own keyboardschool (1992-1998).
Marnix De Cat was the singer-coach of the BL!NDMAN saxophone quartet.
Together with jazz saxophonist Hugo Boogaerts, he formed the duo OrgaX, a unique combination of organ and saxophones, with an accent on improvisation and a mix of styles. To cap it all, he is also active as a composer and regularly collaborates on music projects for young people, and as a vocal ensemble coach.
