The Kassiopeia Quintet

The vocal ensemble The Kassiopeia Quintet was founded in 1999 at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague by five young singers from Holland, Israel and Portugal, and the for the performance of the 16th and 17th century madrigal repertoire in the first instance. The group has not only performed works by composers such as Monteverdi, Byrd, Weelkes and Le Jeune, but also from lesser-known contemporaries such as John Ward, Pomponio Nenna and Peter Philips. They have also performed music specially composed for the ensemble, including Maarten Altena’s La dolce ferita to texts by Torquato Tasso.

The Kassiopeia Quintet has performed in all the major concert halls of the Netherlands, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Utrecht Vredenburg as well as in Germany and in Portugal.

The Kassiopeia Quintet is the first ensemble in over 40 years to record all six books of madrigals by Gesualdo (Globe Records). The CD reached 5 out of 5 stars from the Dutch Luister magazine. The Quintet has also taken part in Gesualdo’s Voices, a multimedia spectacle for young people based on the life of Gesualdo, by Justus van Oel.

Projects include a staged version of Adriano Banchieri’s madrigal comedy Barca di Venetia per Padova, in coproduction with the Dutch Nationale Reisopera and the French Ensemble Elyma under the guidance of Gabriel Garrido.

Orlanda Velez Isidro, soprano
Luísa Tavares, soprano
Noa Frenkel, alto
Jan-Willem Schaafsma, tenor
Tido Visser, bass