Christopher Palameta
Born in Montreal and currently residing in Paris, oboist Christopher Palameta performs with many of the world's finest period ensembles. These include Il Pomo d'Oro, The Gabrieli Consort, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Vox Luminis, La Petite Bande, Pygmalion, Les Siècles, Capella Cracoviensis, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Arion (Montreal), and MusicAeterna (Perm, Russia). With these orchestras, he has toured on five continents and recorded over fifty discs for the Sony BMG, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, CPO, BIS, Alpha, Naxos, ATMA, and Analekta labels. ​

An ardent defender of unexplored repertoire for the oboe, Palameta founded the chamber collective Notturna in 2006 as a platform to excavate forgotten literature for his instrument. His solo discography includes solo suites by Marin Marais (nominated for a Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik or German Record Critics’ Award), sonatas by Janitsch, Krause and Graun for the ATMA and Sony labels, and solo oboe concertos by Molter with Die Kölner Akademie for the ARS label. ​

Christopher took his graduate degree from McGill University in historical oboes, where he studied with the late Bruce Haynes and the late Washington McClain. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Royal Academy of Music in London where his research on the oboe under Berlioz is supported by the Maple Leaf Trust (Canadian Centennial Fund). A recipient of several research grants from the Conseil des arts et des letters du Québec, he has been invited to speak at conferences on historical performance practice in Oxford, Vienna and Lyon. He teaches historical oboes at the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki University of Arts). ​

Notturna
is a chamber collective that explores early music written especially for wind instruments. Founded in 2006 and based both in Paris (FR) and Montréal (QC), its members are all distinguished performers who specialize in historical performance of the 18th and 19th centuries. ​

Directed by oboist Christopher Palameta, Notturna’s “spirited and sensitive playing” (Early Music America, Spring 2010) draws on the transparency and expressiveness of early wind instruments to paint fresh pictures of an unexplored historical repertoire. ​

Notturna has toured extensively in North and South America and Europe, assembling vivid and dynamic programmes its musicians interpret with zeal and uncompromising depth. Recent performances include recitals at festivals in Belgium, France, Finland, Argentina and Peru.

The ensemble’s discography includes five world-première recordings for the ATMA and Sony / Deutsche Harmonia Mundi labels, all of which have garnered unanimous praise from the international press.