Ayres Extemporae
Biography Ayres Extemporae
Ayres Extemporae
is a historically informed group based in Belgium and The Netherlands. It is formed by the Moldovan-Spanish violinist Xenia Gogu, the Spanish cellist Víctor García García, playing on a five-string cello piccolo, and the Portuguese cellist Teresa Madeira. They are winners of the 2024 York International Young Artists Competition, which led them to record their debut album with Linn Records (Outhere) in 2025. In 2022, they were awarded the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at the Semana de Música Antigua de Estella-Lizarra and the 2nd Prize at the Biagio Marini International Early Music Competition. They have performed at prestigious festivals throughout Europe, such as MA Brugge Festival, York Early Music Festival, FIAS in Madrid, SWR- Schwetzinger Festspiele in Germany, Femàs in Sevilla, Festival À Corda in Portugal, FestiVita! Early Music Festival in Brussels amongst others.
An innovative feature of their proposal is the experimentation in the realisation of the basso continuo, inspired by recent research on the use of bowed string instruments in the basso continuo in Corelli's time. The combination of a four-string cello and a five-string piccolo cello brings new textures to the traditional instrumentation of cello and harpsichord. Through ex temporae improvisation of countermelodies, ornamentation, and chordal realization, they aim to enhance the diverse affects in music and search for a variety of textures and colours, also achieved by the changes in the roles of each instrument.
