Mezzaluna

The Ensemble MEZZALUNA was founded in 2003 as a logical consequence of many years of musicological and organological co-operation between the Belgian recorder player Peter van Heyghen and the English recorder maker Adrian Brown. Their collaboration reached a climax in 2003, when both were asked to present papers at the "International Symposium on the Renaissance Flute and Recorder", organised by the Dutch musicological organisation STIMU. Both considered it a priority to present their ideas through a musical collaboration and thus the idea of MEZZALUNA was born.

The composition of the ensemble, depending on the programme, typically consists of three to six experienced instrumentalists from Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Austria. Their aim is to interpret polyphonic music composed between ca. 1480 and ca. 1630 using historically documented performance practice.

The point of departure for the performance practice of the ensemble is the large set of recorders made by Adrian Brown, which in their conception and construction are as close as possible to various historical examples preserved in different European museums.

MEZZALUNA made its acclaimed debut in Antwerp at the Laus Polyhoniae Festival in July 2003. Since then they have been twice guest at the Early Music Festival Utrecht and the Musica Antiqua Festival in Bruges. In 2006, they played at the Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna at the official presentation of a new catalogue of their Renaissance recorders and in January 2007 they toured the Netherlands in the framework of the Dutch Early Music Network. Between 2007 and 2009, they were one of the artists in residence at the Augustinus Muziekcentrum (AMUZ) concert hall in Antwerp. In 2008, the ensemble presented a programme with the renowned lutenist Paul O’Dette based around the Venetian music printer Petrucci (1466-1539). In 2010 they performed this programme again at Bozar, Brussels, and during a new tour through the Netherlands as part of the Dutch Early Music Network.

MEZZALUNA have recorded a CD with the label Ramée (released in January 2010).