Winners of the 2006 Early Music America Medieval/Renaissance Competition, Ensemble La Rota specializes in the performance of medieval music in a historically-informed and creative style. Since its inception in 2002, the group has met with praise for its rich sound, instrumental virtuosity, and mastery of medieval improvisation. The four members of this dynamic young group met while students of the Early Music program at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). Ensemble La Rota won both the Jury and People’s Choice Prizes at the first CBC Galaxie/Montreal Baroque Competition in 2005, and the same year performed at the York Early Music Festival in England as finalists in the 2005 Early Music Network International Young Artists Competition. In April 2006 La Rota was invited to perform at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa, Canada) in a nationally broadcast live "Debut" radio recital for the CBC, and their 2007 Montreal performance of Heu Fortuna (as guests in the La Nef concert series) was recently awarded a prestigious Prix Opus for concert of the year in the category: medieval, renaissance and Baroque.
Ensemble La Rota has performed in the most renowned festivals and concert series throughout North America, including the Boston and Bloomington early music festivals, Seattle Early Music Guild, San Francisco Early Music Society, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), Festival International de Musique Baroque de Lamèque, Festival Montréal Baroque, Indian River Music Festival, and at the National Arts Center of Canada. The ensemble made its European debut in 2009 at the celebrated Tage Alter Musik Regensburg (DE) and Alte Musik Feldkirchen (AT) festivals.
La Rota's debut CD, Heu Fortuna: Musique au temps de Philippe IV le bel was released in the fall of 2007 on the ATMA label, and has since received much critical acclaim. A second CD, Come da Lupo: Music of Boccaccio's Florence will be released shortly, also on the ATMA label.
