About the musicians

Charles Asch performs cello recitals, chamber music recitals, and with orchestral ensembles in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota. He performs on a German baroque cello from the early 1700s, and a modern cello by Gary Davis in New England, 1996. He has performed several recitals focusing on the Baroque repertoire, featuring Sonatas by Boccherini, Vivaldi, Lanzetti and Geminiani, as well as solo cello works by J.S. Bach and Dall’ Abaco. His 19th-20th century repertoire includes sonatas by Poulenc, Debussy, Britten and Beethoven.

He received his Master of Music degree from Juilliard in 2011, where he studied with Richard Aaron and Fred Sherry. He recently completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Tanya Remenikova.
 

 

Charlie Rasmussen, cello and viola da gamba, is the Instrumental Director at Just Bach Concerts in Madison and performs frequently around the region. Recent ensemble appearances include the Madison Bach Musicians, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, and the New Milwaukee Consort. Charlie also serves on the board of directors of Early Music Now and performs frequently on their Milwaukee Early Music series. Charlie coaches the viol consort at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and has been on faculty at the Madison and Whitewater Early Music Festivals. He has released two albums on the Centaur Records label. Charlie is a cello faculty member and the Suzuki Coordinator at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee.

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A harpsichordist and composer, Asako Hirabayashi's first recording, on the Albany Label, was entirely composed and played by her, was selected as one of the top ten albums of the year 2018 and was awarded the Gold Medal Award by the Global Music Awards. It was also selected as one of the five best classical CDs of 2010 by Minneapolis Star Tribune. The recoding also received seven favorable reviews internationally. 

 

Ms. Hirabayashi and her music have been described as “A superb player, also a gifted creator of music” (The Diapason, 2010), “ Her contemporary harpsichord music is ingenious, fanciful, diverse and unpretentious… I admit I’ve never been a fan of the harpsichord, she has changed all that for me and awakened me to the idea that a composer can reinvent an instrument…” (Fanfare, 2010), “A strong case for her instrument's third-millennium credentials…the best harpsichordist. A delight!” (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2010),“With stylistic influences from her native country, American jazz, French Impressionism, and Latin and South American rhythms and sensibilities, Asako Hirabayashi brings us enticing music and outstanding performances on this impressive recording.” (International Alliance for Women in Music, 2011), “Twenty-four tracks of passionate, sparkling, lyrical, even poignant music to help secure the harpsichord’s presence in the new millennium.” (Fanfare, 2010), “…charming, unreservedly melodic, poignant and lighthearted”(American Record Guild, 2010). 

 

Ms.Hirabayashi has given lecture recitals at the Juilliard School, Miami University, the University of Kentucky, Northern Kentucky University and the International Bach Festival in Sumy, Ukraine.  She has given master classes at the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev, Ukraine, Sumy Conservatory, Sumy, Ukraine, Northern Kentucky University, the University of Minnesota, Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, Finland and the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan.

 

Ms Hirabayashi’s new innovative approach of interpreting English Virginalists’ ornament signs is reflected in her treatises “New Interpretation of English Virginalists’ Ornament Signs” and “The authority of the Bevin table in the interpretation of ornament signs in Elizabethan Virginal music”.They have been published in United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.