Highly acclaimed violinist Martin Davids founded and directs the Callipygian Players, Chicago’s premier Baroque chamber music ensemble.
“A devoted Baroque artist and performer of considerable note” (Jack Neal, KUNR-FM), Mr. Davids is concertmaster of Brandywine Baroque (DE), Chicago Galant Consort, Bach Collegium of Ft. Wayne, Bella Voce Sinfonia, and is a founding member of Duo le Fils. He is principal second violin with the Haymarket Opera Company, and Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. In Chicago, he also plays with Ars Antigua and Music of the Baroque. In the summer, he performs at the Staunton Music Festival (VA) and Green Lake Festival of Music (WI). Other ensembles he has played with include Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Galilei, Chicago Opera Theater, Central City Opera, Aradia, Toronto Consort, and numerous others across Canada and the U.S. Mr. Davids earned the prestigious Performer Diploma in Baroque violin from Indiana University where he studied with Stanley Ritchie. He also received a Masters degree from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Davids published a volume of arrangements for two violins of J. S. Bach’s solo violin fugues in early 2016. Called Bachfor2, it is the first arrangement of its kind. (bachfor2.com) A second volume was published in 2018. In addition, he is a third generation disciple of the YiZung Yue school of internal martial arts. In 2020, he published French Duos for violin and viola duet. These are arrangements of French harpsichord solos by Rameau, Couperin and others. His Chaconne for solo viola (or violin) was also published in 2020.
His recordings on the Musica Omnia, Albany, Plectra, Cedille, and Sonabilis labels have been described as “simply gorgeous” (American Record Guide, Jan/Feb, 2011), “Concertmaster Martin Davids plays exquisite obbligato passages” (Choral Journal, May, 2007) His latest CD, Michael Christian Festing, Violin sonatas, “…revels in the sound of his instrument, with assured and very articulate bowing, masterful phrasing…” (classicstoday.com, 2015) came out in December, 2014. Also recently released, his world premier 12 Sonatas for violin and continuo by Henry Eccles -”both performance and recording are uniformly excellent” (Early Music America, Spring, 2014) is available. He has played on many world premieres of new works including David Borden’s K 216.01 for electric violin and synthesizer ensemble. A recognized expert in historical performance, Mr. Davids often gives masterclasses in performance practice and improvisation at many schools and universities including Northwestern, Cornell, and the University of Michigan. He performs on a Baroque violin by Ferdinando Alberti from 1750 with Baroque bows by Canadian master bow makers Michelle Speller and Stephen Marvin. A resident of Skokie, IL, he lives with his wife Julia, a talented singer and conductor, and their two children Judith and Solomon.
Craig Trompeter has been a musical presence in Chicago for twenty years as an acclaimed cellist and violist da gamba. He is the artistic director of Chicago’s acclaimed Haymarket Opera Company and has performed in concert and over the airwaves with Second City Musick, Great Lakes Baroque, Music of the Baroque, the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Oberlin Consort of Viols. He has appeared at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Glimmerglass Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Valletta International Baroque Festival in Malta. He has appeared as soloist at the Ravinia Festival, the annual conference of the American Bach Society, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and with Music of the Baroque. Trompeter has recorded works of Mozart, Biber, Boismortier, Marais, Handel, Greene, Henry Eccles, and a potpourri of Elizabethan composers on the Harmonia Mundi, Cedille, and Centaur labels. As a modern cellist, Trompeter was a founding member of the Fry Street String Quartet. He premiered several chamber operas by MacArthur Fellow John Eaton, performing as actor, singer and cellist. He has taught master classes at his alma mater, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Grinnell College, and the Chicago Musical College. In 2003 he founded the Feldenkrais® Center of Chicago where he teaches Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® Craig has given Feldenkrais workshops throughout the nation in universities, music conservatories, and dance studios.
Equally at home in front of a harpsichord, organ, piano, or fortepiano, David Schrader is “truly an extraordinary musician … (who) brings not only the unfailing right technical approach to each of these different instruments, but always an imaginative, fascinating musicality to all of them” (Norman Pelligrini, WFMT, Chicago). A resident of Chicago, Mr. Schrader leads an active musical life at home. He has performed with Baroque Band, Music of the Baroque, the Newberry Consort, and Bach Week in Evanston. Mr. Schrader has also appeared with Chicago Chamber Musicians, Contemporary Chamber Players, Chicago Baroque Ensemble, and The City Musick. He is a frequent guest on WFMT radio (Chicago) on recordings and in live broadcasts as part of WFMT’s “Live From Studio One” programming. He has made numerous critically acclaimed recordings on the Cedille, Centaur and CRI labels. Mr. Schrader is on the faculty of Roosevelt University, Chicago College of Performing Arts – Music Conservatory for performance and academic studies where he has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses since 1986. From 1993 through 1995 he also directed the Collegium Musicum at Northwestern University. He has also taught at the Music Institute of Chicago (formerly know as The Music Center of the North Shore.) For over 30 years, he served as the organist of the Church of the Ascension, whose liturgies command a national reputation for musical integrity. Mr. Schrader received a Doctor of Music degree in organ from Indiana University as well as the coveted Performer’s Certificate. He received a Bachelor of Music in piano and a Bachelor of Music in organ from the University of Colorado.
Dr. Julia Davids enjoys a thriving career as a versatile musician. As a soprano soloist, Julia is an avid performer and recitalist having appeared with the Haymarket Opera, Music of the Baroque, Bella Voce, Opera Atelier, the Vancouver Cantata Singers, the Toronto Chamber Choir, the Toronto Consort, the Guelph Chamber Choir, the Aradia Ensemble, Publick Musick, Ars Musica and others. Julia has served as voice adjudicator and conducted workshops on vocal pedagogy and conducting with many groups. The second edition of her widely used book, “Vocal Technique – A Guide for Conductors, Teachers, and Singers,” published by Waveland Press has just been released. Julia is the Stephen J. Hendrickson endowed chair of Choral Activities at North Park University where she directs the University Choir, the Chamber Singers, and teaches music education and conducting. She is the Music Director of the North Shore Choral Society, a 140 voice community choir and serves as Director of Music Ministries at Trinity United Methodist Church, Wilmette. Julia is a proud founding member of the Canadian Chamber Choir, Canada’s national choral ensemble providing a professional-level choral environment for Canadian singers, conductors and composers. Artistic Director of the CCC since 2004, she has led the ensemble on concert and workshop tours of Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan and directed their debut recording, “In Good Company.” She holds degrees in Education, Conducting and Voice Performance from the University of Western Ontario (London, ON), the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) and Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). A native of London, ON, she now resides outside of Chicago with her husband, baroque violinist Martin Davids and their two children, Judith and Solomon.
