Research/Areas of Interest:

Early Music Ensemble

Biography

After studying at the Longy School of Music and The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Jane Hershey has spent her professional life in New England, first touring and recording in the US and Europe with the Boston Camerata, and later as a guest performer in many ensembles and festivals such as Emmanuel Music, Boston Baroque, the Aston Magna Festival, Monadnock Music, and Amherst Early Music Festival. She has performed with the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, toured and recorded with Hesperus, and performed on both viola da gamba and violone with Arcadia Players for many seasons. As a member of the Carthage Consort, she performed for the Cambridge Society for Early Music, Harvard's A.R.T., and in many other venues. She has recorded, with Frances Fitch, works of Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, and recently, with the viol consort Long & Away, cantatas of Samuel Capricornus. With Arcadia Viols, she has performed at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 'Music before 1800' in NYC and at Tufts, Clark University, and Smith Colleges. Jane has been an active two-term member of the Board of Directors of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, and currently serves as chair of the Teacher Development Committee. For the Society's local chapter, she has organized many workshops and performance events such as the 2014 'Lawes-a-thon' at Longy. She teaches viola da gamba and chamber music to people of all ages at the Powers Music School in Belmont, MA, serves on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and has directed the Tufts University Early Music Ensemble since 1995. Recent Projects Recent recording on Centaur with Frances Conover Fitch: Protégée of the Sun King: Music of Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. Director of the 'Wieland Kuijken Residency' workshop in 2011, week of study and concert preparation by 12 young viol players from around the US, musical direction by Mr. Kuijken, Jane Hershey and Laura Jeppesen, collaboration supported by the Viola da Gamba Society of America, Viola da Gamba Society of New England, and the Longy School of Music.