Over the years, Hausmusik has helped support local musicians, particularly those interested in trying out new programs and exploring the crossover between early and ethnic music. The concerts, which were held in the St. Alban's parish hall an intimate yet acoustically live room reminiscent of an English manor house presented a varied cast of performers drawn from the wide pool of early music talent in the Bay Area. Each concert featured a different theme, spanning the late Middle Ages through the 18th century.

In Nova Cantica featured soprano Elisabeth Engan, tenor Neal Rogers, Eileen Hadidian on flute and recorder, Shira Kammen on vielle, violin and harp as well as singing alto, Kit Roberson on vielle and viola da gamba, and David Tayler on lute and baroque guitar.

Each of these musicians was or has become well known and a highly respected member of the Early Music community in the Bay area and the United States.

Elisabeth Engan has performed and recorded with the American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Theater of Voices directed by Paul Hillier, and Magnificat. She has been a soloist with the San Francisco Bach Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival and the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and was an artist/fellow at the Bach Aria Festival at Stonybrook.

Elisabeth was one of only two women to have performed with the acclaimed male a-capella ensemble Chanticleer, and toured nationally with them in Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. She holds a degree in voice from Mills College, and has has studied early vocal techniques with Julianne Baird. She has recorded for the Reference and Musical Heritage Society labels.

Neal Rogers has been a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years, having appeared in concert with nearly every major ensemble. Past engagements have included solo roles in Arvo Part's Passion according to St. John, Bach's St. John's Passion and Handel's Judas Maccabeus, among others. Neal has performed and recorded with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Magnificat, Theatre of Voices, California Bach Society, San Francisco Bach Choir and Pacific Mozart Ensemble.

For ten years he was a member of Chanticleer, a twelve-voice male a-capella vocal ensemble, performing in concert throughout the United States and Europe. He has recorded on the Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Koch International, Lyrachord, Teldec and Chanticleer labels.

Eileen Hadidian received her DMA in Early Music from Stanford University. She has appeared in concert throughout the western United States, and was the founder and artistic director of Hausmusik, an early music concert series in Albony, CA showcasing local musicians in new and innovative progrums.

She is the recipient of the annual Citizen in the Arts Award, given by the City of Albany to honor a significant contribution to the arts. Eileen's encounter with cancer has led her to explore ways in which music can help critically and chronically ill people by promoting relaxation, diffusing pain, and reducing anxiety.

Her non-profit organization, Healing Muses, brings healing music to Bay Area hospitals, hospices and convalescent homes, and is the recipient of grants from the east Bay Community Foundation and The Institute of Noetic Sciences.

Shira Kammen received her degree in music from UC Berkeley and studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. A member for many years of Ensembles Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerato, Anne Azema, Kitka, and the King's Noyse, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble performing on river rafting trips.

Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and performs now with several new ensembles: Fortune's Wheel, a medieval ensemble; Ephemeros, a new music group; Panacea, an eclectic ethnic bond; and Trous Bras, a dance bond devoted to the music of Celtic Brittany. She has started hcr own recording label, Bright Angel Records.

Kit Robberson specializes in early bowed instruments, specifically vielle and violas da gamba. She studied at the University of Texas in Austin, where she became involved with performing, teaching, and promoting early music. She has performed in Texas with the Clearlight Waites, The Texas Baroque Ensemble and La Follia.

In California she has appeared in concert with Heliotrope, Nova Albion, the San Francisco Consort, Sotto Voce, La Primavera, and Maria Mayhem. She has also performed on the viola da gamba in modern music venues with Salut Matelot, Rudy Challard and the Nonchalants and Missy Robak. Kit studied viola da gamba with Jordi Savall and Rosamund Morley, and most recently studied and performed vielle with Margiet Tindemans in the "Zomerzang" touring project in Spain. She has recorded with Heliotrope on the Koch label.

David Tayler received his B.A. in music and interdisciplinary studies from Hunter College and his M.A. and Ph.D in musicoloey from UC Berkeley, where he studied performance practice with Joseph Kerman, Richard Crocker and Daniel Heartz. He is a member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and director of the Bay Area Collegium Musicum and Ensemble Pandore.

David has appeared with American Bach Soloists, Tafelmusik, the San Francisco Opera and Symphony, the Dallas Bach Society, the Oregon Bach Festival and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, among others, and has recorded over fifty discs for Harmonia Mundi, Koch International, ORF, Sony, Reference, Arabesque, BMG, RCA and Teldec.

As a specialist of the art song of the early seventeenth century, he has performed in lute song recitals throughout Europe and the United States.

Medieval and Traditional Carols, Chansons and Festive Dances