Phaedrus & Mara Winter
Biography Phaedrus & Mara Winter
The ensemble Phaedrus
aims to rekindle the forgotten sound of the Renaissance traverso consort for modern audiences, performing Western polyphony of the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Formed during their studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the members of Phaedrus come from around the world—USA, Russia, Spain, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland—giving each performer the opportunity to lend their unique and distinguished perspective to the interpretation of the music performed on stage. During their studies at the SCB, the ensemble was guided collectively and individually by teachers such as Anne Smith, Johanna Bartz, Dominique Vellard, Peter Croton, Crawford Young, Marc Lewon and Baptiste Romain.
Originally a four-piece consort, Phaedrus is now enriched by the membership of Miriam Trevisan (voice) and Bor Zuljan (lute) to delve even further into the relationship of the Renaissance traverso to the human voice, as well as to contemporary instruments from the time period. Phaedrus performs on flutes made by the renowned maker, Giovanni Tardino, after the original consort of flutes which survive in the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona.
The ensemble was brought together by a shared fascination with the powerful yet refined beauty of Renaissance music, as well as the humanist philosophy and rhetorical practices which gave music its distinctive character in the 16th and 17th centuries. With this in mind, the name 'Phaedrus' was chosen from Plato's classic text in which Socrates claimed that the art of rhetoric flowed from madness, divine inspiration, and above all else, love.
Mara Winter
has pursued a unique specialization in the performance of early transverse flutes of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Her involvement in experimental, improvisational and electronic music genres has given her a captivating perspective on the interpretation of early western art music. On the other hand, her training as a historical flautist has provided a technical basis for her own compositions, which meditate on the myriad sound possibilities of period instruments set within the framework of contemporary space.
She directs her ensemble Phaedrus, co-directs the ensemble Moirai and is a member of Rumorum, all based in Basel, Switzerland. She has performed and recorded with internationally recognized early music ensembles including Ensemble Leones, Le Miroir de Musique, Ensemble Peregrina, J.S. Bach-Stiftung, La Scintilla (Zurich Opera), Il Gusto Barocco, Les Passions de L’Ame, Capriccio Barockorchester, Pacific Musicworks and others. She is also a guest instructor of Medieval transverse flute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland.
Mara Winter began her studies in Seattle, WA, USA at Cornish College of the Arts with Baroque flutist Janet See. In 2018 she completed a Master’s degree, with distinction, in Medieval and Renaissance traverso at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. In 2020 she graduated from the Schola Cantorum with a Specialized Master's degree focusing exclusively on Renaissance traverso. Her main teachers at the Schola were Johanna Bartz, Norbert Rodenkirchen, Crawford Young, Marc Lewon, Baptiste Romain and Kate Dineen.
In March 2020, Mara co-founded the record label Discreet Editions together with composer and performer Clara de Asís. It fuses the realm of ancient music to that of contemporary, experimental composition through collaborations, commissions, structured improvisation and other, yet-to-be-named performance practices.
