Constance Whiteside, Artistic Director and historical harpist, has been described as “a musician of uncommon depth” by The Washington Post. A highly knowledgeable specialist, scholar and performer on historic harps, she has performed for dignitaries including His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, at the Berkeley and Boston Early Music Festivals, as guest artist at embassies, the American Harp Society, and with such acclaimed groups as Chanticleer. She performs and discusses music from the 12th through 17th centuries on historical re-creations of medieval, renaissance, double and triple row baroque harps. Dr. Whiteside has given workshops on historical harp and early music performance throughout the United States. She performs regularly in the Washington DC area. Originally trained on classical pedal harp, she had a teaching studio and gave freelance pedal harp performances. Dr. Whiteside, a physician and graduate of Stanford University, and former tenured faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis, was a founding member of Musica Coelorum, a medieval ensemble based in northern California, and is the founder of D.C. based Armonia Nova. She is former Chair of the Historical Harp Survey, and former Editor of the Historical Harp Society Journal. She was the founder and director of the Washington Early Music Festival, based in D.C. Formerly Senior Outreach Officer for the Delegation of the European Union in Washington DC, she advises on cultural diplomacy and outreach initiatives for international relations.

English soprano Amanda Balestrieri brings an impressive list of credits from both sides of the Atlantic and has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in the Kennedy Center, at the 92nd St. Y in New York, and on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. She has sung under the baton of Neville Marriner, Christopher Hogwood, Leonard Slatkin, and Peter Phillips, and has been a frequent soloist with leading early music ensembles throughout the U.S., including New York Collegium, Concert Royal and New York Baroque Dance Company, Opera Lafayette, Washington Bach Consort, and American Bach Soloists. Balestrieri moved from Virginia to Colorado in 2009 and appeared with numerous Denver-area symphony orchestras and ensembles, including the Colorado, Fort Collins, and Cheyenne Symphonies, Pro Musica Colorado, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Seicento Baroque Ensemble, and Boulder Bach Festival. Formerly on the Voice Faculty at the University of Virginia and Regis University in Denver, Balestrieri served as Artistic Director of the Seicento Baroque Ensemble from 2018 until July 2023 and recently moved back to the Washington DC area, where she continues her musical activities. She remains Artistic Director of the chamber ensemble Cadmus, and has recorded with the Dorian, Koch, and Virginia Arts labels.

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. 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. Recent artist residencies have taken her to Germany, Switzerland, Ohio, New Zealand, California and Hong Kong, and she has presented workshops for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Resident Associates. 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. For more information, visit TinaChancey.com.

Craig Resta holds music and education degrees from the University of Maryland College Park, Indiana University, and Baylor University. His principal violin teachers include Kevin Lawrence, Stanley Ritchie, and Davis Brooks; research and performance practice mentors are Marie McCarthy, Thomas Binkley, and Harry Elzinga. Performing opportunities have included programs at The Round Top Festival, The Berkeley and Boston Early Music Festivals, and The Bloomington and Washington Early Music Festivals; with concert and recital appearances in Texas, Indiana, California, Georgia, Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Ohio, and abroad in Switzerland, Germany, China, England, and Ireland. Instrumental experience includes modern and baroque violin and viola, as well as the medieval vielle and rebec, and as founding member of Bernardus Medieval Music Ensemble. Also a string pedagogue, Dr. Resta is presently Professor of Music Education at Kent State University. His 30+ year career encompasses historical and modern performance, K12 instrumental music education, and university teaching (BME, MME, PhD). Focus areas include string pedagogy, pre-service music teacher education, research and scholarship practices, cultural and sociological aspects of creative activity, and music education foundational studies.

Jay White has enjoyed a variety of performing experiences ranging from the works of Bach to Britten appearing with major early music ensembles across the United States. Sought after as an interpreter of medieval, renaissance and baroque repertoire, he has appeared at national and international early music festivals. Dr. White sang eight seasons with the internationally acclaimed ensemble Chanticleer, with whom he traveled to over 40 states and nearly 20 foreign countries, appearing in major venues throughout the world and with whom he recorded 14 albums, including two Grammy Award-winning recordings. In addition to his work as a vocalist, Dr. White spent five years at the artistic helm of Quire Cleveland and is currently the director of the Temple Israel – Akron High Holy Days choir. Dr. White received his training at the Early Music Institute at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and the School of Music at the University of Maryland and has taught at the University of Maryland, the University of Delaware, DePauw University, and is currently a Professor of Voice at Kent State University.