Biography
Duo Corvi specializes in secular and sacred music of early European origins. Pairing voice with portative organ (organetto) and clavisimbalum, they transfix audiences with a glimpse into the musical world of medieval and renaissance repertoire. Each program is carefully researched and explored through text and improvisation. Their current performance project centres on 'anonyma'—uncovering the work of little known female-identifying musicians of 12th- to 14th-century Europe, funded through the Canada Council for the Arts.
Winners of the 2010 Musica Antigua Obra Social la ‘Caixa in Spain, Duo Corvi was founded by Julie Ryning (voice) and Katelyn Clark (early keyboards) at McGill University (Montréal, QC) in 2008. The group received its New York debut at Corpus Christi Church as finalists in the 2009 Early Music America Performance Competition and has been nominated twice for Classical Ensemble of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards (2018, 2017). The ensemble has toured in Austria, The Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Spain, and has appeared at major international festivals including Musica Antigua Barcelona, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht Fabulous Fringe, Festival de Musica Antigua de Caceres, and the Festival Medieval d’Elx. Locally, the ensemble has worked with numerous presenters and performers including ArtSpring (Saltspring Island BC), Early Music Society of the Islands (Victoria BC) and The Ancient Music Society of Victoria.
Duo Corvi has been heard on CBC’s North by Northwest and gratefully acknowledges past support of FACTOR, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Early Music Society of the Islands, and MusicBC.
"Ryning and Clark were mesmerizing, interpreting German and Catalan Medieval works alongside the Trecento..."
- Diari del Priorate
Julie Ryning holds a master’s degree in early music performance from McGill University, where she studied in the voice studios of Thérèse Boudreault-Sevadjian and Suzie LeBlanc. Ms. Ryning has had the pleasure of singing in masterclasses with many of the world’s most renowned early music singers, and has performed many new works for soprano, including Lines from George Gordon, and Go Lovely Rose by Canadian composer David Gordon Duke. Also an Orff and Early Childhood music specialist, Ms. Ryning is on faculty at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.
Katelyn Clark specializes in the performance of historical and experimental repertoire on early keyboards. She has been an artist in residence at the Banff Centre (Alberta), NES (Skagaströnd, Iceland), and SPAR (St. Petersburg, Russia). Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, Katelyn studied with Bob van Asperen at the Amsterdam Conservatory in The Netherlands, Christophe Rousset at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena, Italy), and with Tom Beghin/Hank Knox at McGill University. Her artistic practice has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.