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Hazel Ketchum and Christopher Berg formed the The Rossignol Duo in 1997 to explore the vast and beautiful Renaissance and Baroque literature for lutes, voice, and guitars in varying combination. The State newspaper (Columbia, SC) wrote of a recent performance, “packed with pleasure… expertly played guitars and lutes, wondrously nimble passage work.” They have performed or capacity crowds throughout the Southeast, the Midwest, and New England, including the University of Michigan, the Hartt School of Music, and Northeastern University. They have recently returned from the Echo Early Music Festival in Asheville, NC where they performed in a production of Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and presented a concert of Elizabethan music.
They bring a wide range of musical experiences to The Rossignol Duo. Hazel Ketchum received her Masters of Music degree in guitar performance from the University of Southern California and maintains a lively performing and recording career. She performs bluegrass music, Irish music, and original music with The Hungry Monks and owns and operates Hungry Monk Music in Charleston, SC. She has recorded three compact discs with mediaeval group SONUS; Big as the World, a CD of children’s music; and CDs with Donnybrook Legacy and The Hungry Monks. She is a recipient of a Solo Artist Fellowship from the South Carolina Arts Commission.
Christopher Berg received his training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, in master classes with Andrés Segovia at the University of Southern California, and at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis in Switzerland. He has performed recitals in Carnegie Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York in addition to hundreds of recital and concerto appearances throughout the United States including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago and the Trinity Chamber Music Series in Berkeley, CA.
He has been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as a recipient of a Solo Recitalist Fellowship and by the South Carolina Arts Commission as a recipient of two Solo Artist Fellowships. He is a professor of music at the University of South Carolina where he directs the classical guitar program. His students have won top prizes in regional and national competitions. During 1999-2000 he was honored by the University of South Carolina as a recipient of a Michael J. Mungo Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and in 2003 he was awarded the Cantey Outstanding Faculty Award by the School of Music for performance, research and teaching. He is the author of Mastering Guitar Technique and Giuliani Revisited. The Pilgrim Forest, his recording of original compositions for guitar, was selected as one of the top ten national classical releases for 2000 by The State newspaper.
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