About
early music - a fresh approach
Every day we feel lucky and excited to be delving into music we love. We are passionate about bringing these works to life, exploring and sharing them with as many people as might like to listen.
We aim to develop a wide new territory of performance venues around the UK and abroad, bringing the rich repertoire for violin, viola da gamba and keyboard to diverse audiences hitherto unfamiliar with classical music of any kind.
Individually, our stories have chapters that inspire our way of communicating and collaborating. Apart from being musicians with all our hearts we also are a plumber, electrician, writer, visual artist, immigrant, brewer, parent, and more. Our musical and extra-musical experiences combined have led us to a point where we desire to prioritise a chamber music practice grounded in respectful, unhurried rehearsal, which, as experienced performers, we know to be irreplaceable in the pursuit of musical excellence.
violin
Violinist Rebecca Harris performs on period and modern instruments. Her career is a love letter to the rich history of the violin, from work with leading early music ensembles in both the United States and Europe to collaborations on new repertoire.
gamba, violone, double bass
Like his two fellow musicians Jan has performed and recorded with many of the UK's leading early music ensembles. Being part of a trio offers him the luxury and freedom of a deep dive into his chosen repertoire together with his friends and collegues.
harpsichord
Oliver John is an early keyboards specialist and conductor. Equally at home at the harpsichord, chamber organ or conducting, he is making a name for himself as a versatile and dynamic interpreter of early music.
In 2024, we performed at an eclectic mix of venues, including Kino-Teatr in St Leonards-on-Sea; Rocket Van in Lambeth; St John's in Upper Norwood; Beer Lab in Brixton; Heath Street Baptist Church in Hampstead; and the Stroud Arts Festival. Playing for new audiences and seasoned concert-goers in such a diverse range of spaces—from churches to breweries, from barns to community hubs—is central to our mission and identity.
"An intimate, atmospheric evening with ZAREKtrio - a rare blend of relaxed ambience, unique sound, and masterful musicianship"
(an amalgamation of audience feedback at Stroud Arts Festival)
Concert Diary
2024
Bs & Bees Sunday, 17 November, 6pm
Heath Street Baptist Church, Hampstead, London
Music by Bach and Buxtehude with a decisive nod towards a world that inspires and sustains us. (free with donation)
26 October Bs & Bees Stroud Arts Festival
1 September Bs & Bees Kino Theatr, St Leonards-on-Sea
7 September Bs & Bees, Beer Lab, Brixton
25 July Bs & Bees, Rocket Van, Lambeth
26 July Bs & Bees St John's, Upper Norwood
19 January Giro d'Italia St John's, Upper Norwood
18 January Giro d'Italia Beer Lab, Brixton
Projects
Explore our most recent projects listed below. We are currently touring with Bs&Bees, and having great fun searching for and digging up treasures for a new programme, inspired by mudlarking.
Though designed as 60-80 min concerts, lengths, intervals etc can all be discussed and adjusted to the audience and venues. We are open to programme ideas and we do like to experiment.
Promoters, please download our EPK
Weird. Poignant. Wonderful.
MUDlark! is a cabinet of curiosities, thieveries, and musical mysteries from the English Baroque and beyond, with music by
Purcell, Playford, Hume, Handel,
Coprario, Gibbons, Byrd,
and other treasures from the Thames.
*mudlarks scour the banks of the tidal river for fragments of London's past, well-trained in the art of seeking.
Bs&Bees
Music by Bach and Buxtehude with a decisive nod towards a world that inspires and sustains us.
Buxtehude trio sonata in a minor, op 1 no 3
Buxtehude suite for harpsichord no 4 BuxWV 231
Bach sonata in D for viola da gamba and harpsichord
Buxtehude trio sonata op 2 no 1 in Bb major
Bach Violin sonata in e minor BWV 1023 for violin and continuo
Bach trio sonata in G for violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord (BWV 1027 arr. Zarek)
Proudly supported by the Continuo Foundation
Giro d'Italia
A tour through Renaissance and Early Baroque Italy with music by
Diego Ortiz (1510-1570) Naples,
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583 - 1643) Rome,
Dario Castello (1602 - 1631) Venice,
Biagio Marini (1594 - 1663) Venice,
Giovanni Batista Bovicelli (1550 - 1594) Milan,
Giovanni Bassano (1561 - 1617) Venice,
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713) Rome
Tour de Baroque
through France and Germany with music by
Marin Marais (1656-1728) Paris
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) Dijon
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Hamburg
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) Cöthen/London
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Leipzig
