Paula Chateauneuf, Lute, Theorbo, Early Guitar

Soloist, accompanist, teacher and linchpin of numerous early music groups, Paula Chateauneuf has earned her reputation as one of the most respected and admired musicians in the early music world.  After studying with Patrick O’Brien in New York City she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study with Nigel North at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and quickly established herself as a versatile member of the London scene, during which time she was involved in pioneering work with Sinfonye, the New London Consort, and the Gabrieli Consort, whose principal lutenist she remains to this day.  She has performed with numerous other period-instrument ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, Avison Ensemble, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Concert, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, Taverner Consort and Players, Handel and Haydn Society, De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and Le Concert des Nations.

Paula’s repertoire spans medieval music, the Golden Age of the Renaissance and particularly lute solo and chamber music, and the baroque, with a special emphasis on the music of early 17th-century Italy.  Her knowledge and skill in the art of basso continuo has made her one of the most sought-after accompanists in the early music field, resulting in fruitful collaborations with many leading singers including Catherine Bott, James Bowman, Michael Chance, and Mark Tucker.  Her wealth of experience in early opera has led to involvement as repetiteur and continuo player with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and the Liceu Barcelona.

Paula has recorded extensively for Decca, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Linn, and Hyperion.  She is the lute tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music, is regularly invited to coach on courses run by the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, is a frequent guest lecturer for the Historical Performance department at the Royal Academy of Music, and has coached the Dutch National Opera Academy and the New York Continuo Collective.  She held an AHRC Creative Arts Fellowship at the University of Birmingham, UK from 2007 to 2012.  In 2009 Paula was curator of London Southbank Centre’s weekend festival of early improvisation, Take the Risk.  2009 also saw the establishment of her highly-acclaimed 17th-century-style improvising ensemble, The Division Lobby.  She has recently recorded a CD with this ensemble, another of 17th-century Italian monody with Mark Tucker, and a solo CD on the theorbo.