The Story
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The Baroque ensemble Dialogo Antico was formed by countertenor Toshiharu Nakajima and baroque violinist Chiharu Shimano. After performing together, the two musicians found great joy in performing works which feature both the voice and violin.
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During the Baroque period, numerous cantatas were born, in both the religious and secular sectors. This led to many styles of cantatas, and one big attraction of these works was the collaboration between the voice and instruments. Works for violin and voice also became abundant, in both religious and secular works, as the back and forth of the voice and violins helped to tell the audience a dramatic story, and the combination was particularly appealing.
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The long lines of the strings encourage the vocalist, and the words of the vocalist, in turn, inspires the strings to speak. The ensemble finds this dialogue between voice and strings particularly enticing, and hence also included it in their name.
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All having studied early music, yet each coming from various backgrounds has made them a successful combination who enjoy making music together. They were finalists in the Göttingen Händel Competition in May 2019, and had been chosen to perform for the Bachfest in Dordrecht in June 2020. The ensemble also focuses on trio sonatas, especially those written by composers of vocal works, where the two violins are in dialogue.
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Toshiharu Nakajima
Countertenor
Young Japanese Countertenor Toshiharu Nakajima is hailed by Austrian, Dutch and Japanese audiences for his “pure, strong and clear voice” and is quickly building a reputation as one of the most exciting up-and-coming singers.
Toshi studied as a countertenor with Prof. T. Mitsui at Kyoto City University for Arts, and with Prof. Y. Nonoshita at Tokyo National University for Arts. He then studied singing and German Lieder under Prof. G. Lechner, Prof. Charles Spencer and Prof. D. Lutz at the University of Music and Performing Arts
Vienna. In 2017 he received an MA in Vocal Studies with Distinction for his excellent performance in his final recital, being one of the few students in the history of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna to receive full marks. He graduated from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in Baroque Singing under Prof. X. Meijer.
In Japan he earned both a Rohm Music Foundation Scholarship and the Agency for Cultural Affairs Overseas Residence Program for Emerging Artists Scholarship. He won the Special Prize in Pörschach (Austria) Brahms International music competition 2015, some Prizes in Tokyo Japan National Music Competition 2016 and the Second Prize and Special Prize in Vienna Petyrek Lang-Stiftung Competition for Contemporary Music 2016.
​Chiharu Shimano
Baroque Violin
Chiharu Shimano is from Matsumoto Japan. She completed her bachelor studies in violin with Prof. Brian Lewis at the University of Texas at Austin, and completed her master studies with Leland Chen at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
She started exploring early music in 2015, and holds a masters in early music from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam where she studied baroque violin with Sayuri Yamagata and Shunske Sato.
Kano Imada
Baroque Violin
Kano Imada was born in Miyagi Japan. He completed his studies with Prof. Yoshiko Hattori and Takumi Kubota at the Music University Aichi majoring in violin. He continued his studies with Prof. Gottfried von der Goltz in the main subject Baroque violin at the Freiburg Musikhochschule. Later, he graduated from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam under the tutelage of Shunske Sato and Sayuri Yamagata.
He has played with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, La Sfera Armoniosa, Ä€RT HOUSE 17 (Austria), Freiburger Barockorchester (Germany), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Germany), and other renowned Baroque orchestras and ensembles.
With La Petite Bande he plays both the violin and Violoncello da Spalla.
Elianne Ardts
Baroque Cello
Elianne Ardts started playing the cello when she was seven years old, with Wikkie Vis. After finishing her bachelor studies of modern cello with Ran Varon in Utrecht (2015), she started her early music specialisation at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Viola de Hoog, where she received her masters degree in June 2018. Elianne had lessons and masterclasses in solo and ensemble playing from, amongst others, Bruno Cocset, Job ter Haar, Wilbert Hazelzet and Heiko ter Schegget. Her early music ensemble KirstiConsort won the audience prize in the “Fontys/de Toonzaal chamber music competition” in 2016. In 2019 she was a part of the “giovani” of the orchestra “Academia Montis Regalis” based in Mondovì, Italy. She continues to broaden her knowledge of the classical and romantic repertoire, studying at the Abbaye aux Dames, Saintes, France. She is a regular member of the “Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht”, and performs throughout the country, solo as well as in ensembles and orchestras.
Daniel Rubio Ferrandis
Harpsichord / Organ
Keyboard musician Daniel Rubio Ferrandis is from Valencia, Spain. He studied at the Conservatory of Salamanca (Spain), with harpsichordist Pilar Montoya, and obtained Bachelor degrees in Harpsichord, Piano and Musicology, and a Master in Piano. He has attended several Early Music academies in Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands, working with teachers like Pierre Hantaï, Jacques Ogg, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Olivier Baumont, and Lorenzo Ghielmi, among others. In 2018, he recorded a CD (music of Pasqual Fuentes), forming part of the ensemble Música Trobada from Valencia. In 2019 he received the Prize to the Best Interpretation of Contemporary Music in the International Harpsichord Competition of Bologna, and in 2020 the First Prize in the Early Music Competition of Gijón, Spain. Between 2018 and 2020 he has completed a Master in Harpsichord, Continuo and Fortepiano at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, with teachers Menno van Delft, Kris Verhelst, and Olga Pashchenko.