JOSEPHINE VAN LIER, Cello, Baroque Cello, Violoncello Piccolo, Carbon Fibre Cello and Viola da Gamba

A versatile musician, Josephine van Lier is equally at ease on a baroque cello or a 5 string violoncello piccolo as on their contemporary counterparts, using instruments and bows whose designs, construction and material span over 400 years in origin; from the gut strings of her baroque cello to her 1870 cello and the space-age material of her carbon-fibre cello. She therefore covers a wide variety of repertoire utilizing the endless possibilities that this range of instruments, string set-ups and bows allow her.

She released a 4 CD set featuring all six suites for unaccompanied cello played on 4 different cellos. This unique recording of all six of J.S. Bach's Cello Suites sets side by side the different sounds of historic and new instruments and compares their strengths and weaknesses. The CD has received numerous rave reviews in leading publications around the world:

“Her accounts of the Suites demonstrate much rhetorical freedom, and their telling blend of phrasal individuality makes a strong impression.”
The Strad Magazine
“The opening Prelude (Suite no.1) sounds as if van Lier and the cello are breathing together as one, with a stunning, natural ease that hints at the lost art of musical improvisation in the classical sphere. It sends chills up my spine. And that is only the first three minutes”
The Edmonton Journal
“The playing throughout is spacious and free, the preludes are imaginative, and the dances are idiomatic...”
La Scena Musicale
Cello enthusiasts will be in heaven with a release like this [...] one can’t catch van Lier on any blemishes in virtuosity”
Kwadratuur
“Van Lier gives a sense of playing with the memory of a dance rather than the dance itself, and makes this work: it’s as though the use of a variety of instruments lets her go away from Bach and return to explore dance as a tradition inherited”.
Early Music Today

A passionate performer, soloist and chamber musician, Josephine is always looking for challenging and exciting projects. She performs throughout North America, Asia and Europe.

The founder and president of Early Music Alberta, she has a strong affinity with early music and gives historically informed performances on period appropriate instruments across the world. In addition Josephine van Lier plays and teaches viola da Gamba.

Born, raised and educated in the Netherlands, she has lived in Edmonton, Canada since 1995.

She is recipient of the "Celebration of Women in the Arts Award of 2007" from the Edmonton Arts Council.

www.josephinevanlier.com

Press Photos