Rene Clemencic

One of the very significant figures in the Continental European Early Music revival is 77-year old Maestro Rene Clemencic. A protean figure, Clemencic is a celebrated composer and keyboard artist who has made his mark in Early Music just as keenly as he has in his compositions. His Clemencic Consort early music instrumental ensemble is has made over 100 recordings of Renaissance and Baroque masterworks. These recordings have garnered the most prestigious awards in the recording world including the Edison Award, Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, Prix Cecilia among others. These and innumerable other accolades garnered Clemenic the Golden Medal of Honor of the City of Vienna in 1989. To this day Maestro Clemencic remains vital and extremely prolific in all his endeavors.

There is frequent collaborations between Rene Clemencic and Sylvia Purcar’s singers. On the Renaissance front, a recording of "Sacred Music from the Vienna Imperial Chapel of Maximilian I" was released in 2003. The boys on this disc were trained by Mme. Purcar and some are now members of the KnabenChor Virtuosi. Following the "sacred Music" cd, the following year Clemencic Consort recorded and extraordinary album of two Purcar singers, Lorin and Terry Wey for the Oehms Classics label titled Laudate Pueri.

A new round of concerts is planned for 2005 in the Vienna Imperial Chapel with the Virtuosi, that includes Jocob Obrecht's Missa Ave Regina Coelorum and in December, a special Christmas Concert.