Franco-Dutch cello player Ronan Kernoa (born in Rouen) was exposed very early to early music through his father, a musicologist and lutenist. He specialized in early string instruments. After studying in Paris, he rounded off his musical training at the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels in the class of Alain Gervreau where he earned a Master ‘summa cum laude’ in music for the Baroque cello in 2009.
He is regularly invited as a continuo player to take part in performances of various Belgian and foreign ensembles such as La Petite Bande, the Bach Concentus, Les Muffatti, Les Agrémens, Il Gardellino, Il Fondamento, Anima Eterna, Le Parlement de Musique and Akademia with conductors such as Jos Van Immerseel, Marcel Ponseele, Peter Van Heyghen, Gabriel Garrido, Barthold Kuijken and Sigiswald Kuijken. With these ensembles he made several recordings for Sony Classica, Vivarte, K 617, Ricercar, Accent, Avanti Classic, Challenge Records and Ramé.

 

Annelies Decock studied modern violin at the Dutch Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, where she graduated in the class of John Leertouwer. She then developed an interest in early music. After obtaining her Master in Brussels she moved to Canada to continue her training in modern and Baroque violin at the University of British Columbia, where she earned her Master’s Degree in 2004.
From 2004 to 2007 she became a student of Sigiswald Kuijken and his assistant Luis Otavio Santos at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, where she earned a Master centered on early music in 2007.
Annelies Decock received the Ingeborg Köberle Prize as ‘the year’s most promising student.’ She collaborates with various ensembles such as La Petite Bande, Ricercar, Anima Eterna, Bach Concentus, Il Gardenillo, B’Rock and Les Agrémens.

 

Soprano Soetkin Elbers studied voice in Brussels, Vienna and Cologne. She sang parts in various baroque operas by Händel, Lully, Monteverdi, Rameau, Purcell, Fux, Gasparini and Pistocchi, and specialised in the practise of baroque Gesture. Performances in concerts and on the opera stage include festivals such as Barocktage Stift Melk, Carinthischer Sommer, Donaufestwochen, Impuls Festival Graz, Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden, Festival d'Ambronay, Händel Festspiele Karlsruhe, Taschenopernfestival Salzburg, Hokutopia International Music Festival (Tokyo) and Wiener Festwochen. Since 2012 Soetkin sings at the Theater Aachen (Germany), e.g. in “L'incoronazione di Poppea” (Monteverdi), “Orlando” (Händel) and “Orphée et Eurydice” (Gluck). Since 2014 Soetkin hosts her own monthly radio show at Hamburg radio station ByteFM, called “Brüssel Zentral”.

 

Sien Huybrechts took up the Baroque flute from the age of 9. She completed her specialized musical studies at the Lemmensinstituut (Leuven) and later at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels in the class of Barthold Kuijken and Frank Theuns, where she graduated ‘summa cum laude’ in June 2008.
Sien quickly became part of several ensembles such as La Petite Bande, B’Rock, Il Gardellino, Il Fondamento, Les Talens Lyrique,.... With these ensembles she recorded for such labels as Accent, Ricercar, Challenge Classics.  Sien teaches traverso at the SLAC Leuven, Stedelijk Conservatorium Mechelen en Academie De Vonk.

 

Dimos de Beun started to play the recorder at the age of nine with Tomma Wessel as his teacher, at the Conservatory of Bruges. In 2006, he passed his final exam for the Master’s Degree in the class of Bart Coen at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels Summa cum Laude. He also got his Bachelor’s Degree in Orchestra Conducting. In the same year, he was awarded the prestigious ‘Ingeborg Koeberle’-prize, which is given to to most outstanding student of the year.   Dimos also studied harpsichord and organ at the conservatories of Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges, with Herman Stinders, Ewald Demeyere and Ignace Michiels. As a player of these different instruments, he is very active in the freelance world and has recently performed in famous ensembles such as La Petite Bande, Ricercar Consort, Huelgas Ensemble, Collegium Vocale, Vlaams radiokoor, Phoenix Ensemble Munich… In the region of Bruges he plays regularly with Arco Baleno and in January 2010, he started to conduct Da Cantar, a choir that focuses on the polyphonic repertoire.  He is the organist at the protestant church and teaches recorder and chamber music at the Conservatory of Bruges.