From Their Brochure

Musica Dolce, meaning 'sweet music' is a baroque ensemble of professional musicians who are also soloists in their own right. The group formed out of a shared interest in re-creating Baroque music using period instruments. Musica Dolce perform vocal and instrumental music from the 17th and 18th centuries for soprano voice, recorder and oboe, violoncello and harpsichord.

Their popular programmes are based around cantatas written for this combination by Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann and Scarlatti. Programmes also include English songs by Purcell and his contemporaries along with instrumental solos.

Musica Dolce has travelled extensively throughout Great Briatin, performing for festivals, music societies and universities. They have also broadcast live for Classic FM radio and toured in the United States. The originality and freshness of the highly accessible repertoire together with their informative presentation captivates audiences.

The Performers

• Donna Deam. Soprano

  The American soprano Donna Deam, whose voice has been described as "full of golden luminosity and achingly clear", pursues a busy and varied career of concert, recital and recording work encompassing a wide repertoire. She has performed all over the world with most of the distinguished British early music ensembles under such conductors as John Eliot Gardiner, Simon Rattle, Simon Preston, Roger Norrington, Nicholas McGegan, and Gustav Leonhardt and is a regular member of the internationally renowned Monteverdi Choir. In addition to many radio and television boradcasts, Donna has recorded over 60 commerical recordings and is a featured soloist on more than a dozen. The Musical Times wrote of her "the undisputed star of Dioclesian was Donna Deam, whose rendering of the song 'Since from my dear' is breathtaking . . . an artful voice'".

• Linda Brand. Recorder and Oboe

  After graduating from the Trinity College of Music, Linda continued her studies with Peter Holtslag. She has performed throughout Great Britain and abroad with various ensembles and orchestras. As a soloist she has given numerous concerto performances, many under the direction of Peter Holman, at venues such as Finchcocks and the Purcell Room. She has performed at the Proms and has appeared on BBC Television and Classic FM radio. In addition to her performing Linda is also currently researching recorder msic that is as yet unpublished.

• Joanna Levine. Violoncello

  Joanna is a versatile performer on 'cello, viola da gamba and violone, and plays a wide variety of music with the most established gorups in the field, including the English Concert, the New London Consort and the Academy of Ancient Music. She is a member of the viol consort Concordia, with whom she has made numerous recordings for Chandos, AVS and Metronome, and for the BBC. She is much in demand as a viol soloist in the Bach Passions and prompted the Times critic Hilary Finch to write "For the power of sheer non-verbal expression Joanna Levine's viola da gama solo . . . took some beating".

• Helena Brown. Harpsichord

  Helena left general education at the first available opportunity with a scholarship to pursue music at Dartington College of Arts in Devon. She subsequently studied piano at the Royal College of Music with Hubert Dawkes and then as a harpsichordist with Jill Severs. She also attended master classes with Kenneth Gilbert and Gustav Leonhardt. Her repertoire includes 20th century works along with the standard baroque repertoire. She plays with many of the leading chamber ensembles and orchestra including the English Chamber Orchestra and The Academy of St Martin's in the Fields. She also performs with smaller groups including The Telemann Players and is currently involved in working with the Handel Opera Company.

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