Duo Dorado
Biographie Duo Dorado
Hazel Brooks
studied at Clare College, Cambridge, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she specialised in early music. Here she won the Christopher Kite Memorial Prize and the Bankers Trust Pyramid Award, and she was a finalist in the international competitions in York and Antwerp.
Hazel has given solo recitals in most major venues throughout the UK as well as in Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain. In addition to chamber music, she is sought after as an orchestral leader, appears as a concerto soloist, and has released three solo CDs. Hazel also has an interest in unusual instruments, especially the viola d'amore. She is in demand as a medieval-fiddle specialist throughout Europe and America, in particular touring and recording with duo Trobairitz, the Boston Camerata, USA, and the Camerata Mediterranea, a collaboration between Western and Moroccan musicians.
All her life, Hazel has been intrigued by things historical, and she spends much time in library archives, enjoying the process of turning dusty old manuscripts into living performances. Formerly an honorary research fellow at the University of Southampton, she is now a researcher at the University of Leeds, investigating violin music from seventeenth-century England.
David Pollock
David studied at the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music. He was inspired to take up historical performance because of a longstanding love for the music of J. S. Bach, and soon came to specialise in the harpsichord, winning the Croft Early Music First Prize.
Since then he has been in demand as a recitalist and concerto soloist, appearing at prestigious venues and festivals across the UK and abroad. Notable recent projects have included the complete harpsichord concertos of J. S. Bach and the complete keyboard music of William Byrd. Solo recordings include The French Harpsichord and O Mistris Myne:150 years of English virginals music. David is fascinated by the creative possibilities of basso continuo, with its potential for infinitely varied improvisatory colours, working with Duo Dorado, The Parnassian Ensemble, flautist Stephen Preston and others.
David is also interested in contemporary music and champions the harpsichord in this field. Many composers have written specially for him, including Colin Hand, Robert Page and Gavin Stevens. As the collection grows, David hopes to compile a modern-day 'Virginals Book' which would tie together his interests in early and modern music. David teaches at the University of Chichester.
