Anders Muskens, Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester & Rachael Beesley
Biography Anders Muskens, Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester & Rachael Beesley
Anders Muskens
is a Canadian early keyboard specialist, music scholar, and ensemble director, active as an international artist in North America and Europe. He began piano studies at the age of 4 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and completed an Associate Diploma (ARCT) in modern piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (CA) under the tutelage of Dr. Irina Konovalov. With support from the Alberta Arts Graduate Scholarship (CA), the Edmonton Community Foundation (CA) and the Adriana Jacoba Fonds (NL), he completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is currently completing a doctorate in musicology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Matthew Gardner, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schipperges, and Dr. Jed Wentz (Leiden University), where he researches rhetorical acting and early modern theatre practices in relation to musical performance. For this research, he has received Landesgraduiertenförderung (State Graduate Promotion) from the state of Baden-Württemberg (DE), the Sir James Lougheed Award of Distinction from the Province of Alberta (CA), as well as a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
From November 2023, he is represented by the Sonus artist agency run by Andrea Braun.
As the founder and director of the period orchestra Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, he has distinguished himself as a specialist in reviving the forgotten music of the Mannheim Court Orchestra (die Mannheimer Hofkapelle) which originally existed during 1742–78 in Mannheim and later moved to Munich after 1778. The ensemble received the „Hofkapelle Elbe-Elster“ für das Jahr 2019 prize at the „Gebrüder Graun Preis“ 2018 in Bad Liebenwerda, (DE), and has been supported in concertizing and recording by numerous grants from the Adriana Jacoba Fonds (NL), the Canada Council for the Arts (CA), the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (CA), Sena (NL), the Canada Council for the Arts (CA), the Norma Fonds (NL), the Fonds Podiumkunsten (NL), and various municipal funds in the Netherlands and Germany. In April 2022, the ensemble performed at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele in Schwetzingen (DE) in collaboration with soprano, Elisabeth Hetherington, performing symphonies, concerti, and opera arias from Mannheim c. 1750–80. The concert was later broadcast on the German radio station SWR2, and Dutch NPO4. The ensemble has produced numerous recordings, which are released under the labels Etcetera Records and Naxos via Leaf Music Distribution.
He received numerous awards and scholarships, including first place at the Early Music Young Ensemble Competition at the London Exhibition of Early Music 2018 (UK) followed by several broadcasts on the BBC Radio 3 Early Music Show. He is a previous recipient of an instrument on loan from the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds (NL); namely, a c. 1815 Dulcken replica fortepiano. He was chosen for the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg (DE) artist stipend in 2024, awarded an Artist in Residence at the National Music Centre in Calgary (CA), was selected as an artist for Alberta Spotlight in 2020 (CA) and did an ensemble residency at Schloss Weißenbrunn (DE). He has played solo programs at Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (NL), the Utrecht Early Music Festival (NL), the TonArt festival in Wolfenbüttel (DE), “I Concerti di Campagna” series in Monte Compatri (IT), the 2022 Canadian Society for Eighteenth Century Studies Conference at the University of Ottawa (CA), the Tartini Symposium at the University of Alberta in Edmonton (CA), the Bach Network Dialogue Meeting in Cambridge (UK), and will play concerts at the Salle bourgie in Montreal (CA), Bloomington Early Music Festival (USA), and Early Music Vancouver (CA). With various ensembles, he has performed at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele (DE), the MouseEar concert series (NL), the Kasteelconcerten series (NL), the London International Exhibition of Early Music (UK), the MAfestival Brugge (BE), the Laus Polyphoniae Festival Antwerp (BE), the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam (NL), Barbara Maria Willi’s early music concert series in Brno (CZ), the Woelfl-Haus Bonn (DE), the Geelvinck Fortepiano Museum (NL), and the Wahrenbrücker Graun-Festtage (DE).
He has released numerous albums of solo and ensemble music. Furthermore, he has performed concerts for the streaming platform EMTV (Early Music Television, produced by the Stichting Organisatie Oude Muziek NL), and also on the TV programme Podium Witteman (NL). Various performances have been featured on various radio stations, including SWR2 (DE), the BBC Radio 3 Early Music Show (UK), Radiotelevisione Italiana Radio 3 (IT), Concertzender (NL), CBC Radio 2 (CA), and NPO4 (NL).
Rachael Beesley
is an internationally renowned Australian / British violinist, director and concertmaster. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne - Bachelor of Arts in Music (1989), Graduate Diploma of Arts in Music (1991) studying with Spiros Rantos and from The Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, The Netherlands - Master of Music (1999) studying with Sigiswald Kuijken, Elizabeth Wallfisch and Vera Beths.
Rachael is a talented and versatile violinist and musician who has devoted her life to performing, teaching, and researching and has become one of the world leaders in the field of historically informed performance (HIP). She is well known throughout the world, a regular member of some of Europe's finest ensembles, including as guest concertmaster with Anima Eterna Brugge, Les Muffatti, La Petite Bande, Il Complesso Barocco, Bach Concentus, Restoration Company and the New Dutch Academy as well as performing regularly with Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Combattimento Consort.
Based in Australia since 2009, Rachael is a guest concertmaster of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera, Opera Australia and Victorian Opera for performances on period instruments, including a national tour for Musica Viva Australia, as well as concerts of the St John and St Matthew Passions presented by the Melbourne Recital Centre. She co-founded the ensemble Ironwood in 2006 and regularly leads the chamber music ensembles Ludovico's Band, Salut! Baroque and Accademia Arcadia.
Rachael is a wonderful director who has the expertise to present fascinating and colourful programs that will delight and educate audiences. She has therefore been invited to direct from the violin the Tasmanian and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (core member), Adelaide Chamber Players and NZBarok. Most recently, Rachael has been appointed Co-Artistic Director of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, specialising in Classical and Romantic repertoire on period instruments. She also has performed in Australia with Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
As a highly regarded and much sought after teacher and mentor, Rachael teaches at the Sydney and Melbourne Conservatoriums of Music, the School of Music Monash University, was the Kate Buchdahl Distinguished Artist in Residence, Adjunct Academic at the ANU School of Music, Canberra and guest director at the Australian National Academy of Music. She has inspired a new generation of Australian graduates who are forging successful careers in Europe, the US and in Australia. In the field of Historical Informed Performance Practice and the unique area of Practising in Flow, she has been invited to speak at conferences in Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands where she has taught at Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, The Netherlands since 2000.
Rachael is much in demand as a chamber musician and soloist, regularly collaborating with contemporary Australian composers as well as exploring repertoire from the 17th- to 20th-centuries on period instruments. Rachael performs in festivals throughout the world, notably winning prizes at both the Van Wassenaer Concours (1998) and the Festival van Vlaanderen Brugge Concours (1999). In 2000 she was awarded an Ian Potter Cultural Trust grant and since 2011 is listed in the Who’s Who of Australian Women. She has performed on broadcasts for the radio and television and on over 50 CDs for Harmonia Mundi, SONY, BIS, Accent, Pentatone, Et’Cetera, Centaur and ABC Classics.
Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester
While Mannheim today is a relatively typical industrial city in southwest Germany, as the former capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate, it was regarded in the eighteenth century as a new “Athens on the Rhine.” This was due in part to the efforts of its ruler, Karl Theodor (1724–1799), who, unlike his many contemporaries who invested their treasury in war-making and territorial expansion, Karl Theodor invested heavily in arts, culture, and sciences. Taking his cues from the Enlightenment philosophies of his time, Karl Theodor sought to create a harmonious society built on knowledge, reason, and artistic expression. He opened his library and theatres to his subjects, poured money into the construction of astronomical observatories, and attracted all sorts of painters, sculptors, classicists, garden planners, architects, writers, philosophers, scientists, and musicians from all around Europe to his court, where they all intermingled and created a new intellectual boon.
It was under this inspiring climate that the Mannheim court orchestra became the most prominent in Europe. Not only were its performances of the music of the finest composers of the day lauded, but also were its own school of composers, virtuoso players, and innovative style. This school had a profound influence on later composers like Mozart and Haydn, and Mozart notably sought employment in Mannheim, albeit unsuccessfully. Yet, despite its grand and enticing qualities, it remains largely forgotten today, alongside the cultural legacy of Karl Theodor’s court. We were inspired to revive this music not only for its great qualities, but also to refresh the Enlightened-climate from which it was born: a cosmopolitan group of creative intellectuals, all working together and inspiring each other with diverse perspectives, bringing new innovations to the arts and sciences that sought to create an Enlightened, harmonious, society.
Karl Theodor resided at his court in Mannheim between 1742–78. However, from 1778, after inheriting the Electorate of Bavaria, he would move his court and many of his musicians to Munich, until his death in 1799.
This served as the inspiration behind Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester (DNMO), which was established in late 2016 in The Hague by Canadian harpsichordist and fortepianist Anders Muskens with the aim of recapturing the spirit of music from the period of the original Mannheim Court Orchestra, including late Baroque, galant, Classical, and early Romantic – especially from composers of the Mannheim School. As an early music ensemble, DNMO plays on period instruments using historically informed techniques. It is made up of young professional early music specialists, and is a highly international group featuring talents from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Japan, Korea, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
In November 2018, the ensemble was awarded the „Hofkapelle Elbe-Elster“ für das Jahr 2019 prize at the „Gebrüder Graun Prize“ 2018 in Bad Liebenwerda, Germany. DNMO has played at the Utrecht Early Music Festival Fringe in 2018–19; and the Wahrenbrücker Graun-Festtage 2019. DNMO produced a revival of Gian Francesco de Majo’s opera serenata, La gara delle grazie at the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam in August 2020. DNMO was invited to play on Dutch national television’s Podium Witteman (NL) in April 2021 in a segment on the music of the Mannheim Court, and in the summer of 2021 produced a series of concerts supported by the Fonds Podiumkunsten Balkonscènes Fond (NL). In April 2022, DNMO performed at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele. With the support of Sean, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Adriana Jacoba Fonds, DNMO has produced numerous recordings released on teh labels Etcetera and Leaf Music Distribution (via Naxos)..
DNMO is committed to challenge established boundaries and conventions of the Classical Music world with the goal of rekindling the passion of eighteenth-century performances. With the collaboration of various musicologists, DNMO has a number of research initiatives to better understand and reconstruct eighteenth century orchestral performance practices. In addition to presenting music from well-known masters, DNMO seeks to present music of lesser-known composers which is equally worthy of performance.
