Paul Beier

Paul Beier graduated in 1978 from the Royal College of Music with a degree in Lute Performance under Diana Poulton. In 1980 he was invited to Milan to create a lute course for the Early Music Institute at the Scuola Civica di Musica Claudio Abbado, where he taught for 40 years. He has performed in Europe, the Americas and Australia as lute soloist, accompanist, continuo player on the theorbo, and director. His group Galatea recorded 5 CDs and included distinguished performers such as Bruce Dickey, Monica Huggett, Fabio Bonizzoni, Gianluca Capuano, Emanuela Galli and Michael Chance. His 16 solo CDs are dedicated to music by Capirola, da Milano, Fiorentino, The Knights of the Lute, Molinaro, Terzi, Piccinini, Galilei, Dowland, Reusner, Weiss, Falckenhagen and J.S.Bach. He has performed with, among others, Ensemble Concerto, dir. Roberto Gini; Ensemble Aurora, dir. Enrico Gatti; La Risonanza, dir. Fabio Bonizzoni; La Venexiana, dir. Claudio Cavina; Ars Nova Cantandi, dir. Giovanni Acciai, and in opera productions at La Scala, Milan, The Santa Fe Opera, etc. Apart from playing the lute, Mr. Beier has been involved with historical lute research, leading to articles in The Lute and the Lutezine (Journal and Newsletter of the English Lute Society), The Journal and Newsletter of the Lute Society of America (he has been on the Editorial Board of the Journal since 1987), and the Bollettino of the Italian Lute Society. He has also written lute related software for stringing and fretting the lute, and for editing and transcribing lute tablature.