Marsja Mudde

Marsja Mudde (*1976, NL) has been intrigued by Early Music since her youth. As a 13 year old she played the traverso and since she was 16 she sang in many churchchoirs and smaller ensembles. Since 1997 she is a member of diverse ensembles of the Per Sonorem Vocis Foundation, specialised in Early Music. In 2007 she lead a women’s group within this Foundation in a learing-project around Hildegard von Bingen. She lead several projects within this foundation since then.

Initially she had singing lessons from Ludy Vrijdag, in september 2008 she graduated in Early Vocal Music at Tilburg Conservatory, where she studied with Rebecca Stewart. She is also coached by Margot Kalse, leader of Ensemble Trigon, with whom she sang in the Holland Festival of Early Music in Utrecht (2005) and in diverse concerts in Holland and abroad. Recently Ensemble Trigon recorded music from the Agatha-manuscript for the Prinsenhof Museum in Delft. In december 2009 a new organum-laudae programme will have it's premiere.

She is the founder of ensemble Twixt Hope & Fear (lutesongs) and co-founder of Ensemble Ascending, that had two fringeconcerts in the Holland Festival of Early Music in Utrecht in 2006. In 2006-2008 Ensemble Ascending focused on Old Hall manuscript and also had a programme around Anxieta. For this last programme Paul Smit, trombone, has joined the trio. In 2010 a new programme around Du Fay and Binchois will be launched.

With the Schola Cantorum Brabantiae and ensemble Cantus Modalis, both originally connected to the Conservatory, she also did fringeconcerts in Utrecht (yearly from 2004 on) and many concerts abroad (e.g. Tbilisi, Michaelstein, Sankt-Gallen, Stade, Wittenberg, Seoul, Daegu). Meanwhile Cantus Modalis has become an independent Organisation for performing and teaching early music to professionals and semi-professionals. May 2009 she traveled through Thueringen with the Ensemble Cantus Modalis, performing a Choral-programme. Since January 2009 she is assistant/organiser for both the educational and the performing brach of Cantus Modalis.

Marsja also teaches singing Early Music individually and in groups. Soon she will start another Hildegard project and a project around the Cantigas de Sancta Maria.