Masterclass | Christopher Palameta, baroque oboe
Christopher Palameta, baroque oboe
Born in Montreal and currently residing in Paris, Dr Christopher Palameta is a specialist of historical oboes and performs with many of Europe’s finest period ensembles. These include Il Pomo d'Oro and Accademia Bizantina in Italy; The Gabrieli Consort, The Hanover Band and Arcangelo in the UK; Les Arts florissants, Pygmalion, Les Musiciens du Louvre, and Les Siècles in France; Anima Eterna, La Petite Bande and Vox Luminis in Belgium; Die Kölner Akademie and Concerto Köln in Germany; Capella Cracoviensis in Poland; and various other ensembles such as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Ensemble Arion (Canada), the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Suomalainen Barokkiorkesteri (the Finnish Baroque Orchestra) and MusicAeterna (Perm, Russia). With these orchestras, he has toured on five continents and recorded over sixty discs for the Erato, Sony BMG, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Pentatone, CPO, BIS, Alpha, Ramée, Naxos, ATMA, and Analekta labels.
An ardent defender of unexplored repertoire for the oboe, Palameta’s solo discography includes suites by Marin Marais (nominated in 2015 for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik or German Record Critics’ Award); world première recordings of works by Janitsch, Krause, Graun, Philidor, Grétry, and Abel with his chamber collective Notturna for the Sony and ATMA labels; and concertos by Molter with Die Kölner Akademie for ARS.
A recipient of several research grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Christopher took his graduate degree from ƬƵ University in historical oboes, where he studied with the late Bruce Haynes and the late Washington McClain. After his studies, he was appointed to the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Toronto, Canada), where was a core member for five years. He completed his PhD at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where his research on the oboe under Berlioz was supported by the Maple Leaf Trust (Canadian Centennial Fund).
He teaches historical oboes at the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki University of the Arts).