Ars Lyrica Houston

Elizabeth Blumenstock is a long-time concertmaster of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and American Bach Soloists, concertmaster of the International Handel Festival Orchestra in Goettingen, Germany, and Artistic Director of the Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival in Orange County, California. She teaches regularly for the Juilliard Historical Performance program, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the International Baroque Institute at Longy. She plays a 1660 Andrea Guarneri violin built in Cremona, Italy, on generous permanent loan to her from the Philharmonia Baroque Period Instrument Trust.

Harpsichordist Matthew Dirst is widely admired for his stylish playing and conducting—he was described in the Washington Post as an “efficient, extremely precise conductor who has an ear for detail and up-to-date ideas about performing Bach.” In addition to his work with Ars Lyrica, he recently appeared with the Washington Bach Consort, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, and San Francisco Early Music Society. He holds a PhD in musicology from Stanford University and the prix de virtuosité in both organ and harpsichord from the Conservatoire National de Reuil-Malmaison, France, where he spent two years as a Fulbright scholar.

Mary Springfels, viola da gamba, is a veteran of the American Early Music Movement. She began her career at the age of 21 with the New York Pro Musica and has been playing, recording, and teaching ever since. She was director of the Newberry Consort in Chicago for 25 years. Recently, she has appeared as a soloist with the Houston, Victoria, Sonoma and Arizona Bach festivals, as well as playing at the Berkeley and Amherst Early Music Festivals and teaching for the San Francisco Early Music Society, the Viola da Gamba Society of America, and Viols West. She performs regularly with the Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, The Folger Consort, and Ars Lyrica Houston.

Matthew Dirst

“Multiple keyboard skills coupled with intellectual rigor and creativity characterize the work of Matthew Dirst… his hands whirred through the flashing runs and bizarre flourishes of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s Concerto.” – The American Organist

“From the opening measures of Le Verneüil (18th Ordre), I sensed that here was a performer with an innate feeling for Couperin. Dirst is able to find the exact expressive center of each piece—the Affekt—and deliver it in a neat package…. I found myself shaking my head in agreement with nearly every one of Dirst’s interpretative choices, from the tender Soeur Monique of the 18th Ordre, to the concluding grand passacaille L’Amphibie of the 24th Ordre.” – Fanfare

“[Dirst’s] playing was of irresistible rhythmic impulse, the rhythm not of the metronome but of a fine dancer ever minutely adjusting to gravity’s tug. He commanded the music’s intellectual rigors but also luxuriated in its pure delight. And there was some pretty dazzling virtuosity.” – The Dallas Morning News

Elizabeth Blumenstock

“Violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock was the featured soloist, and her performance was dazzling. She was able to elicit a hauntingly beautiful tone… the audience was transfixed, leaning forward silently to hear every note of these pianissimo passages.” – Peninsula Reviews

“Violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock’s hair-trigger virtuosity was authoritative, gleefully demented, and mean as a hornet.” – The Washington Post

Mary Springfels

“The playing, notably by Chicago’s Mary Springfels on the gamba… is tasteful and technically flawless.” – Chicago Tribune

“If there is now an avid public for early music in the Chicago area, we have [Mary Springfels] to thank… Springfels and friends are proving that scholarly dedication plus musical expertise equals sublime performances.”– Chicago Tribune