l. to r.: 1. Sara Kuijken, Yasunori Imamura, Rainer Zipperling, 2. Pascal Bertin, Monique Zanetti, François Fernandez, Naoki Kitaya

unites famous artists to an international well noticed ensemble that mainly concentrates on French and Italian 17^th to 18^th century music . Fons Musicae or "The Foutain of Music" interprets this repertoire with originality, vivacity and invention.

   Fons Musicae performs throughout Europe and the Far East, for example at the International Händel-Festspiel Göttingen, Baroque Festivals in Marseille, Brezice, Luxembourg or Hokutopia Baroque Festival Tokyo. Many of their CDs were given an award.

  In 1997 the lutenist Yasunori Imamura founded the ensemble with the following musicians: Yasunori Imamura – theorbo, Monique Zanetti - soprano, Pascal Bertin - counter tenor, François Fernandez, Sara Kuijken – Violinen, Rainer Zipperling – viola da Gamba, violoncello und Naoki Kitaya - harpsichord.

   Yasunori Imamura - leader of Fons Musicae - was born in Osaka, Japan. He studied lute with E. Dombois and H. Smith at the Schola C antorum in Basel, where he received his soloist’s diploma in 1981. Subsequently, he worked on interpretation and bass continuo with Ton Koopman and Johann Sonnleitner.

   As a continuo player Yasunori Imamura has worked together  with many very well-known Period Music artists. Result of this co-operations are more than 100 recordings, his latest CD together with Cecilia Bartoli was published in 2005. As a soloist and continuo player he gives concerts in Europe and the Far East.

   The lutenist is member of the ensembles La Stagione Frankfurt (Michael Schneider), Les Musiciens du Louvre (Marc Minkowski), Le Parlement de Musique, Strasbourg (Martin Gerster)and Camerata Köln.

   Besides this activities Imamura  since 1984 is professor at the Conservatoire National de Strasbourg, and since 1989 at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main. As well he gives several international master courses.

Remark: Soon Yasunori Imamura as a soloist can be found on this internet pages.

   Monique Zanetti studied first at the Conservatoire National de Région in Metz, France, and at the local University where she received a diploma in musicology. She then turned to singing, and worked with Elisabeth Grümmer, and later with Jacqueline Bonnardot, Noelle Barker, and Rachel Yakar. She soon specialized in the Baroque repertoire, and has meanwhile sung in numerous performances (among others Incoronazione di Poppea and Orfeo from Monteverdi, Atys from Lully, Médée from Charpentier, Dido and Aeneas from Purcell) conducted by William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Rousset, and Martin Gester. Monique Zanetti participated in many international festivals.

   Recently, she has begun to explore on the repertoire of the 19^th and 20^th century, and could have been heard already in the some roles.

   Her recordings include Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Rossi, Montéclair, Lully, Charpentier, Campra, Couperin, Schutz, Hasse, Haydn, Bach, Keiser, Boehm, Lambert, Bononcini, and others, notably in collaboration with Les Arts Florissants, La Chapelle Royale, the Stuttgart Kammerchor, Le Parlement de Musique, and Les Talens Lyriques.

   Pascal Bertin began singing at the age of eleven in the Paris Children’s Choir under Roger de Magnée giving concerts all over the world under conductors like Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta, Sir Georg Solti. After winning first prize for the interpretation of Baroque vocal music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, Paris, he started his career singing the polyphonic repertoire of the Renaissance with A Sei Voce and the Clément Jannequin and Gilles Binchois Ensembles. Pascal Bertin soon began to receive invitations to sing with leading conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, John Eliot Gardiner, Christophe Rousset, Michel Corboz, Sigiswald Kuijken, Paul Dombrecht, Thomas Hengelbrock, Konrad Junghänel, Marc Minkowski, Jean Tubery, Eduardo Lopez Banzo, Martin Gester and Masaaki Suzuki.

   His discography meanwhile comprises 70 recordings in various styles. Harmonia Mundi France invited him to participate in  a very special recording project together with Dominique Visse and Andreas Scholl: “The Three Countertenors”.

   François Fernandez studied Baroque violin with Sigiswald Kuijken, receiving a soloist’s diploma from the Royal Conservatory in the Hague in 1980. He has subsequently performed in the best period orchestras, including La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuijken), The Orchestra of the 18^th Century (Frans Brüggen), La Chapelle Royale (Philippe Herreweghe), Melante 81 (Bob van Asperen), often also as concertmaster or as soloist. During the past twelve years, François Fernandez increasingly has devoted himself to chamber music. He has performed at prestigious festivals with Philippe Pierlot, Carlos Mena, Rainer Zipperling, Bernard Foccroulle, the three Kuijken brothers, the three Hantaï brothers, Ryo Terakado, Yves Rechtainer, Marcel Ponseele, Enrico Gatti. 

   François Fernandez has taught in Toulouse, France, Liège, Brussels and Trossingen, and since 1999 is a professor at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris. He also gives master classes and summer courses in Spain and Belgium. From his over 80 recordings especially mentioned should be the sonatas by J. M. Leclair published at Astrée Audivis.

   Rainer Zipperling started studies in music and musicology. His special predilection for Baroque music prompted him to study in the Netherlands, home of the so-called “authentic performance practice.” Already during his studies he gained experience as a continuo player and, in this way, became acquainted with the expertise of many important instrumentalist, including Sigiswald Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt, Anner Bijlsma, Wieland Kuijken, and, especially, Frans Brüggen, with whom he still today maintains an active collaboration.

Today, he himself numbers among the most well-known gambists and cellists. He has collaborated with renowned ensembles like The English Baroque Soloists, the Orchestra of the 18th century, Ensemble Ricercar, the Freiburger Barockorchester. His activities are documented by nearly 300 CD recordings, both as accompanist and soloist. 

   In addition to this artistic activity, he enjoys an excellent reputation as a pedagogue teaching viola da gamba and Baroque violoncello at the Cologne, Frankfurt and The Hague Colleges of Music, and he regularly giving master classes.

   “Monique Zanetti and Pascal Bertin represent totally the baroque idiom, listening to both of them, nothing is left to desire in terms of singing.”

from: Fono Forum (award “Star of the Month“ 03/2002), programme: Steffani

   “A beautiful, lively instrumental sound carries the perfectly blended voices of Monique Zanetti and Pascal Bertin.”

from: Répertoire, programme: Steffani

   “One senses in Monique Zanetti and Pascal Bertin the healthy characteristic of a mutual listening to each other.... The continuo is simply exquisite.”

from: Classica, programme: Steffani

   “… Ensemble and singers harmonized excellently... The listeners were pulled into a kind of whirlpool of the effervescent spring [of Baroque music] with all its emotional worlds.”

from: Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, programm: Gasparini and others

4L’amour, le seul amour

4Tanti strali al sen mi scocchi

4MUSIc Inside the PALAZZO

4HÄNDEL AND DAS WELFENHouse HANNOVER

« Airs de Cour » Michel Lambert (1611 – 1696)

Etcetera KTC 1195 (Award "Classica“ / 7,8-1998 Classica)

Monique Zanetti, Pascal Bertin, Stéphanie Pfister, Amandine Beyer, Guido Balestracci, Yasunori Imamura

« Luci Barbare » Giovanni Bononcini (1670 – 1747)

Etcetera KTC 1202 (Co-production with WDR 3)

Monique Zanetti, Pascal Bertin, Stéphqnie Pfister, Isabelle Lucas, Guido Balestracci, Brian Feehan, Yasunori Imamura

“Cantatas, Duets and Sonatas” Agostino Steffani (1654 – 1728)

Pan Classics 510 131

(Award „Star of the Month“ /03-2002 Fono Forum, Co-production with WDR3)

Monique Zanetti, Pascal Bertin, François Fernandez, Ghislaine Wauters, Stéphanie Erös, Rainer Zipperling, Naoki Kitaya, Yasunori Imamura

» Love poetry by a cleric who left behind works of stunning beauty and refined sweetness. The recording, under the direction of Yasunori Imamura … leaves nothing to be desired in terms of interpretation.

   (Fono Forum)

“Cantate e Sonate” Antonio Caldara (1670 – 1736)

Pan Classics 10 139 (Co-production with Swiss Radio DRS)

Monique Zanetti, Pascal Bertin, François Fernandez, Sara Kuijken, Rainer Zipperling, Naoki Kitaya, Yasunori Imamura

“Cantatas, Trio Sonatas” Francesco Gasparini (1661 – 1727)

Pan Classics (Co-production with WDR3, ready to be distributed)

Monique Zanetti, Pascal Bertin, François Fernandez, Stéphanie Pfister, Roberto Gini, Laurent Stewart, Yasunori Imamura