Bio

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“Tina Chancey shone in dashing violin solos
and winding viol rhapsodies.”
Washington Post

TINA CHANCEY is director of HESPERUS. She plays medieval fiddles, viola da gamba and renaissance, Old Time and Irish fiddle on roots music from Sephardic and Irish to medieval and jazz standards. Her particular specialty is the five-stringed pardessus de viole; she has presented solo recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall and Kennedy Center, and released five pardessus recordings. A member of Trio Sefardi, she is a former member of the Folger Consort, the Ensemble for Early Music and Blackmore’s Night. Recently artist residencies: World on a String, Oberlin Conservatory, Morgan State Arts Council, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, the Indy Convergence and the Smithsonian Resident Associates. She teaches, performs, records, improvises, produces recordings, writes articles and directs the SoundCatcher workshops teaching musicians how to play by ear.  Dr. Chancey has been given an Special Education Achievement Award by Early Music America and four Wammies for best classical instrumentalist by the Washington Area Music Association.  www.tinachancey.com

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“Tina Chancey returned home in quiet splendor”
Cleveland Plain Dealer

“She played quick movements deftly, and there was much to admire in her stylish ornamentation and in her careful shaping of the adagios and sarabandes.” New York Times

                                      “She is practically a legend in the early music world, with a long list of credits that includes performer, record producer, teacher, composer, and impresario.”
Fanfare Magazine

TINA CHANCEY is director of HESPERUS, known for its live early music soundtracks for such classic silent films as Robin Hood, The Golem, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The General, Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the Mark of Zorro. She plays medieval and traditional fiddles and viola da gamba on roots music from Sephardic and Irish to Machaut and Joni Mitchell.

Recent month-long duo-concert tours have taken her to France and Turkey, and in spring 2023 she was a featured artist at the DC Listening Lounge’s “SoundScene” festival at the Hirschhorn. During the 2023-24 season she will be music director/improvising solo performer for Expat Theatre’s “Scorched” and music director/performer for the IN Series’ “Misticas.” A member of the Chancey-Boekhoorn Duo, Trio Sefardi and the contradance band Are We There Yet? she is a former member of Ensemble Toss the Feathers, the Folger Consort, the Ensemble for Early Music, the New York Renaissance Band and Blackmore’s Night.

Tina teaches, performs, improvises, produces recordings, composes and arranges, writes popular and scholarly articles and directs both SoundCatcher workshops on playing by ear and improvisation, and What’s That Note: Tune-Up workshops for amateur choruses. Artist residencies have taken her to Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and she has presented workshops for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Resident Associates. In 2019, Tina was the subject of an autobiographical show with the Big Mouth Society’s Emily Lau in Portland, Oregon; “King of Monster Island.”

Her particular specialty is the pardessus de viole; she presented pardessus debut concerts at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center; has released five pardessus recordingsand directed an International Pardessus Conference at the Boston Early Music Festival in 2017. Tina attended Oberlin College and received an MA in Performance from Queens College, an MA in Musicology from NYU, and a PhD in Musicology, Music Technology and Women’s Studies from the Union Institute.

She has been given a Special Education Achievement Award by Early Music America and four Wammies for best classical instrumentalist by the Washington Area Music Association.  www.tinachancey.com