About us

The Counterpoints is an early music collective under the artistic direction of the founders recorder player Thomas Triesschijn and harpsichordist Aljosja Mietus. The Counterpoints found each other in a vibrant yet precise style of playing, and a huge enthusiasm for the chamber music repertoire and the period instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries. Throughout the years the ensemble grew to a base group of musicians that is regularly expanded to adapt to the repertoire they are playing. Their name, derived from the compositional technique of counterpoint, implies several voices that all play an equal part in the texture of a piece. Every voice has its individual character, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. For The Counterpoints, playing together works in exactly the same way. They all get their chance to show their qualities and stand out, but give room to the others to do the same. As in counterpoint, the number of voices can vary.

In their approach on stage and in their recordings, storytelling is always a priority. On their 2019 debut CD La Querelleuse (awarded an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine), they used Telemann's quarrelsome love life as a metaphor for his ‘quarrels’ with musical styles. Their second CD Thomascantors in Dialogue imagines a dialogue between the four composers that in 1723 applied for the position of Thomascantor in Leipzig. Their latest album Italophilia tells the story of the lively cultural and musical exchange between Italy and the British Isles in the 17th and 18th centuries. With their expressive playing and well thought-out programmes, The Counterpoints have become an established group within the early music scene, and they have played at venues and festivals such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Utrecht Early Music Festival.