About the Ensemble
Ensemble Bella Musica was founded in 1984 by violinist/violist Joshua E. Shekhtir as an association of musicians who share a profound interest in the study and period-style production of rare examples of the compositions of Georg Philipp Telemann and music of the 17th and 18th century French Baroque.
In 1989 the ensemble made a permanent decision to perform on original period instruments or their exact modern replicas reviving period playing techniques; including unequally tempered keyboard, string and woodwind instruments.
An innovative approach in selecting its repertoire has been typical of the ensemble since the very beginning of its activity. Mr. Shekhtir's many years of intensive research was based on the study of period sources of historical music facsimiles and manuscripts preserved in European, Canadian and American libraries and archives.
Ensemble Bella Musica strives to highlight the compositions of the many overlooked composers of the past. Many contemporary listeners find this music to be an even greater source of spiritual and aesthetic experience than music of some of the more famous baroque composers.
The ensemble's members devote equal attention to period interpretation practice. Ensemble Bella Musica is the only professional period instrument group on the central coast of California. The ensemble is in residence at California Lutheran University where it performs concerts each academic year and it offers a very successful concert series during the summer months in CLU’s beautiful stained glass Samuelson Chapel attracting a very large and enthusiastic audience from central and southern California.
All the musicians are involved in professional early music activities and concerts around the United States, Canada and Europe.