Artists

• Jeannette Sorrell

  Conductor

  Grammy Award–winning conductor Jeannette Sorrell is recognized internationally as one of today’s most compelling interpreters of Baroque and Classical repertoire. She is the subject of Playing with Fire: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting, the 2019 documentary by Oscar-winning director Allan Miller.

  Bridging the period-instrument and symphonic worlds from a young age, Sorrell studied conducting under Leonard Bernstein, Roger Norrington, and Robert Spano at the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals and studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won First Prize in the Spivey International Harpsichord Competition, where she competed against more than 70 harpsichordists from Europe, Israel, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

  Sorrell made her New York Philharmonic debut in 2021 and Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2022. She has repeatedly conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Paul Chamber, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Florida, and New World Symphony orchestras and has also led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion), National Symphony Orchestra (at the Kennedy Center), Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Opera St. Louis (with the St. Louis Symphony), Calgary Philharmonic (in Canada), Grand Rapids Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, among others. This spring she makes her debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Spain).

  As founder and conductor of Apollo’s Fire, she has led the renowned ensemble at London’s BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Irish National Concert Hall, Library of Congress, and many international venues. Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire have released 30 commercial CDs, including 11 bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart and a 2019 Grammy winner. Her CD recordings of Bach’s St. John Passion and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons have been chosen as best in the field by the London Sunday Times (2020 and 2021). Her Monteverdi Vespers recording was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as one of 30 “Must-Have Recordings for Our Lifetime” (September 2022). Other albums include Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos (Billboard Classical Top 10 in 2012), four discs of works by Mozart, and five creative multicultural programs. With more than 12 million views of her YouTube videos, Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming.

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• Rachid Halihal

  Violin, Oud, Vocals

  Rachid Halihal plays in venues throughout the New York metro area with a full spectrum of accomplished musicians. Layali el Andalus, his New York–based band, has appeared at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2008; Festival du Monde Arabe de Montréal in 2010; and, in 2011, in Washington, DC, where they performed at the Kennedy Center in the Washington Revels production Andalusian Treasures. In 2005 Halihal performed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the US’s inaugural King Tut exhibit, where he played oud and sang in traditional Egyptian style. He has been presented at United Nations cultural events representing Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco; and appeared at embassies, museums, and universities in concert — including the Brooklyn Museum, MoMA, Columbia University, and University of North Florida — and at music festivals throughout the country, including Chicago’s Genesis at the Crossroads festival. Halihal played his more spiritual music at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. In 2010 he participated in a residency in which he taught and conducted ASWAT, the premier San Francisco Bay Arab music ensemble that comprises both Arabs and Americans, all learning and enjoying this style of music. In 2012 he collaborated with the Graduate Center at City University of New York to found and lead a community instrumental and vocal ensemble, now called the New York Andalus Ensemble. In 2019 his New York City appearances included Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, for the screening of the film Morocco: A King, A Vision, An Ambition, and International Human Rights Art Festival. Rachid Halihal regularly teaches at festivals and retreats, working not only with music students but also with dancers to further their understanding of the Arabic music to which they dance.

  
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• Daphna Mor

  Recorder, Ney, Vocals

  Daphna Mor (co-director of Apollo’s Fire, recorder, ney, and vocals), is an Israeli Baroque musician and a specialist in music of the Jewish diaspora. She has appeared as soloist with Apollo’s Fire, New York Collegium, and New York Early Music Ensemble, and has played recorder in the New York Philharmonic. She has appeared in a duo with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato on the latter’s In War and Peace tour. As a performer and teacher of Jewish liturgical music, Mor serves as the music director of Beineinu, a New York initiative dedicated to the modern cultivation of Jewish culture. She is also sought-after as a visiting teacher, giving masterclasses on Jewish liturgical music and poetry worldwide. She can be heard on Sting’s album If on a Winter’s Night (Deutsche Grammophon) and O Jerusalem! with Apollo’s Fire (AVIE).

  
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• Emi Tanabe

  Violin

  Emi Tanabe (violin) enjoys a multifaceted career as a Baroque violinist and a solo crossover artist. In addition to serving as a principal violinist of Apollo’s Fire, she performs with the Chicago-based period groups Haymarket Opera and Third Coast Baroque. She has performed with Apollo’s Fire on tours across the United States and Europe, including such venues as Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and the BBC Proms in London. Her facility with world music styles and improvisation has led to solo engagements with tango, flamenco, Celtic, and jazz ensembles across the country. She has appeared with such groups as the renowned Surabhi Ensemble, the Grammy-nominated children’s music band Wendy and DB, and the theater / dinner production Teatro ZinZanni. Tanabe, a native of Japan, holds degrees in violin performance from the University of North Texas and Roosevelt University.

  
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• Tina Bergmann

  Zither

  Tina Bergmann (zither) is a fourth-generation musician who began playing music at age eight, learning the Appalachian mountain-dulcimer from her mother in the aural tradition. She went on to immerse herself in several world musical traditions, including Sephardic and Celtic. She has been a featured performer across the United States, in the United Kingdom, and Germany, performing as soloist; as a duo with her husband, bassist Bryan Thomas, with her old time string band Hu$hmoney; and with period ensembles Apollo’s Fire and the Canadian group La Nef. Bergmann can be heard on five Apollo’s Fire albums, including Sephardic Journey and O Jerusalem!

  
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• Brian Kay

  Oud

  Brian Kay (oud) is a multi-instrumentalist on historical, plucked instruments and percussion. He has performed as soloist in Shakespeare programs at the Folger Theater and the Kennedy Center. He is a core member and artistic leadership fellow with Apollo’s Fire, and has appeared with the ensemble internationally at venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, the National Concert Hall of Dublin, Belfast Castle, and Carnegie Hall. He can be heard on several albums, including Apollo’s Fire’s 2019 Grammy-winning album Songs of Orpheus. Recently he was a featured soloist on the soundtrack of The Witcher on Netflix.

  
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• Zafer Tawil

  Percussion

  Zafer Tawil (percussion) is an accomplished Palestinian musician and a virtuoso on oud, qanun, and violin, as well as Arab percussion. He performs across the United States and in the Middle East with such musicians as Sting as well as celebrated world music artists. He was a featured composer and performer in acclaimed director Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-nominated film Rachel Getting Married and is composing and performing for Demme’s next film project, Zeitoun. Tawil continuously explores the boundaries of Arab music, and often performs collaborative concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music as well as jazz fusion. He has been a guest teacher at workshops on Arab music at many institutions and universities across the United States. A native of Jerusalem, he resides in New York City.

  
  Learn more about Zafer Tawil