Tom Axworthy (recorders and shawms) -- is an active performer in many ethnic, speciality and classical chamber music groups. His early instruments have been heard in numerous film and TV soundtracks as well as on recordings for Musical Heritage Society, Nonesuch, Dargason, Titanic and Word Records. He has appeared as a shawm and recorder soloist with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Andre Previn. He has recorded music (playing shawm and recorders) for Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Appeared in and recorded music for WB’s TV show Gilmore Girls. Recently Mr. Axworthy played German Street Organ with the LA Philharmonic in Disney Hall. Mr. Axworthy is the musical director of the LOS ANGELES RECORDER ORCHESTRA and supplies many of the special musical editions for this group. His FANFARE TRIO (used by the Renaissance Pleasure Faire) recently appeared in and provided music for an episode of “HOUSE”.
Mary Ann Ballard (viols) -- plays with the Baltimore Consort, Galileo's Daughters, Brio, and the Oberlin Consort of Viols. Formerly, she directed and coached early music at the Peabody Conservatory, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania (where she founded the Collegium Musicum), and she currently serves on the faculty of the summer Oberlin Baroque Institute and various viol workshops. She researches and annotates most of the Consort's programs.
JULIE JEFFREY (viols) has been playing the viol since 1976. She has performed throughout the U.S., in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, and teaches privately and at workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Jeffrey is a member of Sex Chordae Consort of Viols, Wildcat Viols and the viol duo Hallifax & Jeffrey. She is the co-director of Barefoot Chamber Concerts, serves on the Viola da Gamba Society of America board of directors, and is a co-founder and active member of the Viola da Gamba Society, Pacifica Chapter.
Mindy Rosenfeld (flutes and recorders) -- is a founding member of the Baltimore Consort whose flute-playing graced their first decade, including their New York debut (...a "serene and beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon"--the NY Times), has since 1989 been a member of San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra ("the country's premier early music ensemble" --New York Times). A frequent guest artist with numerous other West Coast early music ensembles, Mindy is a mother of five (all boys) who divides her time between performing, teaching, her family, and an organic garden, the fruits of which she enjoys sharing at farmers' markets near her Mendocino, California home.
TOM ZAJAC (winds) -- is a multi-instrumentalist praised for his versatility and stylish playing in the performance of music from the medieval and Renaissance periods. He’s a member of the wind band Piffaro, which appeared in the festival last season, and appears frequently with the Folger Consort, King’s Noyse, Newberry Consort, Hesperus, and other leading US ensembles. He has performed 14th-century music in the East Wing of the White House during the Clinton years, played serpent in a piece by PDQ Bach on an episode of A Prairie Home Companion, and the sound of his bagpipe awoke the astronauts every morning on a 2001 space shuttle mission (on a recording, of course). He’s performed on the sound track of several PBS documentaries for Emmy award-winning producer and composer Brian Keane and has participated in over 40 recording projects ranging from medieval dances to 20th-century chamber music. Tom directs the Medieval/Renaissance week of the San Francisco Early Music Society workshops in Sonoma, CA, teaches at other workshops throughout the US, and at Wellesley College, near his home in Boston.