SFEMS is overjoyed to announce that Annette Bauer (left) and Lindsey Strand-Polyak (right) have joined our illustrious roster of workshop directors, stepping into the positions previously held by Rotem Gilbert/Hanneke van Proosdij and Linda Pearse. Both Bauer and Strand-Polyak are well-established musicians who play, and teach, all over the world (and online). We eagerly look forward to working with Lindsey and Annette in their new roles, and we hope you will welcome them to the Recorder and Baroque workshops this summer!
For bios and statements from Annette and Lindsey, read on:
Annette Bauer is a recorder player and multi-instrumentalist with a wide range of musical interests and expertise. She spent eight years from 2012-2020 as a musician for Cirque du Soleil’s touring show TOTEM, with over 2300 performances in the US, Canada, Europe, Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Before that, she called the San Francisco Bay Area her home for over a decade. There, she studied classical Indian music on sarode at the Ali Akbar College of Music, and worked as a freelance musician all over the US with early music groups such as Farallon Recorder Quartet, Ensemble Cançonièr, Les Grâces Baroque Ensemble, Piffaro, Texas Early Music Project, and her own cross-over project The Lost Mode.
Born and raised in Germany, Annette holds a diploma in historical performance practice of medieval and Renaissance music from the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, and an MA in music from the University of California in Santa Cruz. She completed her Orff Schulwerk Certificate through the San Francisco International Orff Course and taught on the recorder faculty for the summer certification program from 2007-2017. She makes her home with her husband and daughter in Montreal, and is currently sharing her love of music by offering online teaching to students of all ages, including an ongoing class on 14th-16th century original notation through Amherst Early Music.
Annette says: “I am thrilled to accept the position as director for the SFEMS recorder summer workshop this coming year. I am so happy to be able to return to the SF Bay Area after many years away, and look forward to reconnecting to the workshop community of recorder players in this meaningful way. Taking on the responsibilities this new role brings with it will be an exciting challenge for me, and I hope to be able to do justice in both carrying forward the rich and wonderful legacy of its past, and in helping to dream up and guide its future. As we all have experienced over the past couple of years, nothing can be taken for granted in music, in the arts, and in life, so I am ready to fully commit my energy to nurture this amazing opportunity for music making, musical learning, and community. I hope to play with you this summer!”
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Lindsey Strand-Polyak lives a hyphenated life to go along with her hyphenated name: divided between viola and violin; living in Whidbey Island, WA and Santa Monica, CA. In California, she serves as Artistic Director of Los Angeles Baroque, and Adjunct Professor of Baroque Violin at Claremont Graduate University. In Washington, she performs as Principal Violist for Seattle Baroque Orchestra and tours regionally with the Salish Sea Early Music Festival. She has performed across the West in concert and festival appearances, including Musica Angelica, Baroque Music Montana, Bach Collegium San Diego, American Bach Soloists, Pacific MusicWorks, Baroque Festival Corona del Mar, Oregon Bach Festival, and fringe concerts of Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals. In the non-baroque world, she has recorded for numerous film and TV scores, and performed with artists across the musical spectrum from Anne Akiko Meyers to Stevie Wonder. She holds a PhD/MM in Musicology and Violin performance from UCLA.
In addition to her concert career, Dr. Strand-Polyak is a passionate educator and arts advocate, having worked with organizations including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Young Musicians Foundation, Education through Music-Los Angeles, Elemental Music, and the UCLA Mentor Outreach Program. In two decades in education and outreach, she has taught in nearly every corner of Southern California, witnessing the immense impact that arts education makes across the economic spectrum.
Lindsey says: “I am thrilled to be joining the SFEMS team as the new Baroque Workshop Director. As an alumna of SFEMS Workshops myself (Classical, 2016), I’ve learned firsthand how much of an impact a workshop week can make. I am looking forward to continuing to make the SFEMS Baroque Workshop a safe, supportive and welcoming experience for everyone to learn and appreciate early music, inspired by world-class artists. Come musick with us in 2023!”
