Dowland Mini-Festival Part 2:
Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the death of John Dowland in February 1626

The many moods of Dowland, merry to melancholic, played by our local world-renowned lute maestro.

 “…should I come to meet Saint Peter at the pearly gates, I hope he will say, ‘Welcome, good and faithful servant! By the way, be sure to hear Paul O’Dette—he’s leading the angel band.’”        Early Music America, Spring 2011

Paul O’Dette, lutenist, theorbist, conductor, and scholar, has been described as “the clearest case of genius ever to touch his instrument.” (Toronto Globe and Mail) One of the most influential figures in early music and historical performance, O’Dette infuses his performances with a perfect combination of historical awareness, idiomatic accuracy, and ambitious self-expression. His appearances at major international festivals worldwide have often been singled out as the highlights of those events. O’Dette is widely known for his performances and recordings of solo lute and chamber music, and as conductor of Baroque operas in North America and Europe. He has made more than 155 recordings, with 2 Grammys, 8 Grammy nominations, and numerous other awards. In addition to his activities as a performer, O’Dette is Artistic Co-Director of the Boston Early Music Festival and an avid researcher. He is an international expert on 17^th-century Italian and English solo song, Italian, German and French Baroque opera, basso continuo practices and instrumental music. A recipient of the Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching, O’Dette is Professor of Lute and Director of Early Music at the Eastman School of Music.

Lute rose and photo by Wilma van Berkel