Polyphonische Begegnungen – Polyphonic Encounters

Concert IV: William Lawes, Exceptional Eccentric
Consorts in Five and Six parts
Sunday, 8 March 2026, 05.00 p.m, St. Elisabeth – Tickets

The Phantasm Viol Consort launched its own concert series in March 2025 at St Elisabeth Church in Berlin-Mitte. A total of four concerts are devoted entirely to polyphony, each focusing on a composer who was particularly distinguished in this compositional technique. In the fourth and final concert of the series, Phantasm presents five- and six-part consorts by the relatively little-known composer William Lawes (1602–1645).

Following the concert, guests are invited to a reception at the bar!

Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol and director / Emilia Benjamin, treble viol / Jonathan Manson, tenor viol / Heidi Gröger, tenor viol / Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol
Guest: Martin Jantzen, bass viol

The concerts take place in the church St Elisabeth, Invalidenstraße 4a, 10115 Berlin.

Phantasm Viol Consort
The multi-award-winning Phantasm Viol Consort was founded by Laurence Dreyfus in 1994 and soon established itself as one of the world’s leading viol ensembles. It has distinguished itself through its excellent technique, rooted in the great traditions of chamber music, as well as through its dramaturgically sophisticated and musically captivating programs.

Past concerts
Concert I – The Well-Tempered Consort: Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Friday, 14 March 2025, 6.00 p.m.
Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, transcribed for viol consort
Concert II – Orlando Gibbons, Peerless Polyphonist
Sunday, 12 October 2025, 05.00 p.m, St. Elisabeth
Works by Orlando Gibbons
Concert III – Henry Purcell, Prophetic Pathfinder
Concert & book launch: Parsifal’s Seduction by Laurence Dreyfus
Sunday, 11 January 2026, 05.00 p.m, St. Elisabeth-Kirche – Tickets

Guests: Ulrich Wolff, bass viol / Lea Rahel Bader, bass viol (11 January 2026) / Jean-Claude Kuner, book presentation (11. January 2026) / Martin Jantzen, tenor viol (12 October 2025 & 8 March 2026)

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