EUBO violas

Femke Huizinga, The Netherlands

After having completed her Master’s degree in Philosophy with distinction, her passion for the baroque violin is now being given free rein. Femke is studying baroque violin and viola with Antoinette Lohmann, in the last year of her Bachelor degree at the Utrechts Conservatorium. For many years she has been participating in summer courses and masterclasses for chamber music and historical performance practice. These unique lessons with experienced musicians (John Holloway, Anton Steck, Richard Gwilt, Thomas Albert) are an important source of inspiration for her. Femke frequently organises chamber music concerts performing with various ensembles (she is playing in the Fringe series of the Utrecht Early Music Festival 2011), and she regularly plays in professional baroque orchestras (The Netherlands Bach Society, Concerto Barocco, Concerto d’Amsterdam, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht). She is concertmaster and founder member of the Arcade Ensemble, an orchestra which aims to touch the lives of present-day listeners, experimenting with new ways to reach audiences and optimizing the social value of music.

Lola Fernández Mateos, Spain

Lola Fernández was born in Madrid. She started her studies in viola with Thuan Do Minh, finishing her Bachelor degree in Zaragoza with José Manuel Román, and the Casals and Quiroga Quartets. At the same time, she was member of orchestras including the Academy of the Royal Theatre in Madrid, Spanish National Youth Orchestra, and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, taking part in major festivals such as the Proms, Salzburg Festival, Ibermúsica Madrid and touring throughout Europe. As she finished her degree, she was interested in historical performance, so she started the Formation Supérieure in Classical and Romantic Orchestra with Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, where she has worked with Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset, Alessandro Moccia and Louis Langrée, and she began her degree in early viola with Emilio Moreno and Andrew Ackerman in Barcelona. She has given many concerts and made a recording with Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations, and has been chosen to participate in the Aix-en-Provence Festival with the European Academy of Music.

Ildiko Ludwig, Germany

Ildiko studied modern viola at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Erich Krüger and Ditte Leser. She also received musical advice from Morten Carlsen, Roland Glassl, Wilfried Strehle and Andreas Willwohl, with whom she studied at the Academy of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Prior to that, she gained orchestral experience with the Staatskapelle Weimar and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Since early childhood, Ildiko showed an affinity for chamber music. She has performed at the Schwetzinger Festspiele, Moritzburg Festival and Festival Opera Barga, and received a scholarship for the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz. As a freelancer she works with ensembles including the Human Rights Orchestra, Orchester m18 and Ensemble Resonanz, and increasingly is invited to be Principal Viola with orchestras such as Tiroler Sinfonieorchester Innsbruck, Mendelssohn Kammerorchester Leipzig and Orchester m18. Having been introduced to baroque music by Stephan Mai and Christian Goosses, Ildiko has decided to focus on it in a masters program, which she wants to start after the EUBO tours.