Paul Van Nevel -- choirmaster, musicologist, and cultural historian -- is the founder and leader of the Huelgas Ensemble, a vocal group dedicated to the performance of works from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. A keen advocate of the idea that music is first and foremost a product of its particular place and time, Van Nevel establishes critical links between music and the world in which it was made. These performances -- including the numerous recordings available on the Sony Classical VIVARTE label and the many concerts presented by the Huelgas Ensemble throughout each year -- have recast our perceptions of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, bringing light and humanity to these ancient worlds. Their most recent recording continues this project: La Pellegrina (SK 63362) reproduces an evening's musical entertainment as it might have been heard during the sixteenth-century wedding of the Grand Duke Ferdinando di Medici. Their next collaboration, The Secret Labyrinth (SK 60760), will feature the music of Agricola.
An authority on early notational practice and interpretation, Van Nevel devotes much of his time, when not leading the Huelgas Ensemble, to exploring libraries and archives in search of unknown works, especially the forgotten treasures of Flemish polyphony. These investigations have introduced to the world the likes of Johannes Ciconia and Nicolas Gombert, not only in scholarly monographs, but also in his recordings with the Huelgas Ensemble. Van Nevel is guest lecturer at the Sweelinck School of Music in Amsterdam, where he teaches a course on notation and interpretation. He is a guest conductor for the Collegium Vocale in Ghent, the Dutch Kamerkoor and the Dutch Bach Association.
Van Nevel has won a number of prestigious awards for his recordings with the Huelgas Ensemble. Most recently, their recording of the music of Renaissance composer Mattheus Pipelare, Pipelare: Missa "L'homme armé" (SK 68258), won the 1998 Cannes Classical Award for Best Choral Music, in addition to the Diapason d'or in 1996. Previous albums, including their critically acclaimed Utopia Triumphans (SK 66261), have accumulated similar accolades. Van Nevel has also been awarded the "Prix In Honorem" from the Académie Charles Cros in Paris.
Bärenreiter, the celebrated German music publishing house, has issued a number of Van Nevel's Renaissance music transcriptions.
