Tina Chancey

Described as “expressive and virtuosic” by the New York Times, TINA CHANCEY is director of HESPERUS, known for its live early music soundtracks for classic silent films. She plays medieval and traditional fiddles and viola da gamba on roots music from Sephardic and Irish to Machaut and Joni Mitchell. Her particular specialty is the pardessus de viole; she presented pardessus debut concerts at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Kennedy Center; has released five pardessus recordings, most recently Fêtes Galantes; and directed an International Pardessus Conference at the Boston Early Music Festival in 2017.

Tina attended Oberlin College and received an MA in Performance from Queens College, an MA in Musicology from NYU, and a PhD in Musicology, Music Technology and Women’s Studies from the Union Institute. A member of Trio Sefardi and the contradance band Are We There Yet?, she is a former member of Ensemble Toss the Feathers, the Folger Consort, the Ensemble for Early Music, the New York Renaissance Band and Blackmore’s Night. Recent artist residencies have taken her to Melbourne, Australia, Berlin, Germany, the Oberlin College Conservatory, the Morgan County (WV) Arts Council, and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and she has presented workshops for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, World on a String, the Indy Convergence, the city of Long Beach, CA and the Smithsonian Resident Associates.

Tina teaches, performs, improvises, produces recordings, composes and arranges, writes popular and scholarly articles and directs both SoundCatcher workshops on playing by ear and improvisation, and What’s That Note: Tune-Up workshops for amateur choruses. Currently, she can be heard on the documentary “Driving While Black” and the television show “Witcher,” as well as in her recent soundtracks for the 1920’s films Häxan and Nosferatu. In June of 2022 she will perform early music and jazz for the In Series production of Toni Morrison’s “Desdemona,” as well as premiere “La Nona Kanta” (Grandmother Sings), her celebration of the Sephardic singer / composer Flory Jagoda.  She has been given a Special Education Achievement Award by Early Music America and four Wammies for best classical instrumentalist by the Washington Area Music Association.  www.tinachancey.com