EUBO keyboards & continuo

Francesco Tomasi, Italy

Theorbo

Francesco started playing the guitar aged eight. Five years later he decided to study lute with Andrea Damiani at the Conservatory Santa Cecilia in Rome. He graduated in 2009 with the highest mark. He is currently doing a master’s degree with Rolf Lislevand at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen, Germany. Francesco has played in many festivals in Italy and in Europe such as the Early Music Festival in Toledo, Flatus Festival of Sion, Festival of Herne, Festival Internazionale di Musica Antica in Urbino, Festival di Polifonia e Musica Antica in Palestrina. He has recorded a CD of madrigals by Monteverdi for the Discoteca di Stato, and a CD with works by Biagio Marini, Alla Luna, with the ensemble La Selva for the municipality of Parma. He participated in radio recordings for Radio Vaticana and WDR3 and a television recording for RAI International.

Tom Foster, UK

Harpsichord/organ

Tom was a chorister at Manchester Cathedral and studied piano and harpsichord at Chetham's School of Music with Bernard Roberts and Sharon Gould respectively. He continued studying music at St Catherine's College, Oxford where he held a Leask scholarship and graduated in 2009 with first-class honours. His studies at Oxford also coincided with a specialisation in harpsichord playing under the guidance of world-renowned harpsichordist, director and conductor, Trevor Pinnock, with whom he now studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Tom has given numerous concerts as soloist and chamber musician. He gave his London debut at the Handel House in 2007, and has played as concerto soloist in performances of Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, Harpsichord Concerto in d minor and Sixth Harpsichord Concerto in F, the latter with the European Brandenburg Ensemble. He took part in the first English Concert Directing Masterclass, directed by Harry Bicket and Laurence Cummings and he has played in concerts and masterclasses with Lisa Beznosiuk, Laurence Dreyfus, Margaret Faultless, Kenneth Gilbert and Rachel Podger.

Rossella Policardo, Italy

Harpsichord/organ

Born in Palermo, Italy, in 1990, Rossella studied piano at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini under the guidance of Marzia Manno, obtaining her diploma in 2010 with full marks and honours. As a pianist she has played for many music festivals and seasons of important musical associations and participated in several music competitions, always achieving awards. For the last three years she has been studying harpsichord with Basilio Timpanaro at the Palermo Conservatory. As a harpsichordist she has performed as a soloist and in ensemble, in Italy and abroad (Poland). She was awarded the third prize in the soloist section (first prize unassigned) at the Thirteenth International Harpsichord Competition Gianni Gambi in Pesaro (2011), where she also won second prize in the basso continuo section and two special prizes for the best performance of music by XVII and XVIII century Italian composers. Recently she was invited by Claudio Astronio to appear as a soloist with the Harmonices Mundi orchestra at the 60th Deutsches Mozartfest in Augsburg (May 2011), where she played harpsichord concertos by W Friedemann Bach and WA Mozart.