About
early music - a fresh approach
Every day we feel lucky and excited to be delving into music we love. We are passionate about bringing these works to life, exploring and sharing them with as many people as might like to listen.
We aim to develop a wide new territory of performance venues around the UK and abroad, bringing the rich repertoire for violin, viola da gamba and keyboard to diverse audiences hitherto unfamiliar with classical music of any kind.
Individually, our stories have chapters that inspire our way of communicating and collaborating. Apart from being musicians with all our hearts we also are a plumber, electrician, writer, visual artist, immigrant, brewer, parent, and more. Our musical and extra-musical experiences combined have led us to a point where we desire to prioritise a chamber music practice grounded in respectful, unhurried rehearsal, which, as experienced performers, we know to be irreplaceable in the pursuit of musical excellence.
Rebecca Harris
violin
Violinist Rebecca Harris performs on period and modern instruments. Her career is a love letter to the rich history of the violin, from work with leading early music ensembles in both the United States and Europe to collaborations on new repertoire.
Jan Zahourek
gamba, violone, double bass
Like his two fellow musicians, Jan has performed and recorded with many of the UK's leading early music ensembles. Being part of a trio offers him the luxury and freedom of a deep dive into his chosen repertoire together with his friends and colleagues.
Oliver John Ruthven
harpsichord
Oliver John is an early keyboards specialist and conductor. Equally at home at the harpsichord, chamber organ or conducting, he is making a name for himself as a versatile and dynamic interpreter of early music.
*you can find the Trio bio and our individual CVs here
In 2024, we performed at an eclectic mix of venues, including Kino-Teatr in St Leonards-on-Sea; Rocket Van in Lambeth; St John's in Upper Norwood; Beer Lab in Brixton; Heath Street Baptist Church in Hampstead; and the Stroud Arts Festival. Playing for new audiences and seasoned concert-goers in such a diverse range of spaces—from churches to breweries, from barns to community hubs—is central to our mission and identity.
2025 brings further performances of ‘Bs & Bees’ at the Thüringen Bachwochen, a partnership with If Opera in a staged presentation of works by Carissimi and Monteverdi, and a coaching residency at Benslow Music amongst other engagements."An intimate, atmospheric evening with ZAREKtrio - a rare blend of relaxed ambience, unique sound, and masterful musicianship"
(an amalgamation of audience feedback at Stroud Arts Festival)
Concert Diary
2025
Whales, Warriors, and Love Lost, Sunday 17 August
Church Farm, Wingfield - IF Opera
A Baroque Double Feature of Passion and Drama with music by Giacomo Carissimi and Claudio Monteverdi
Early Baroque composer Carissimi's Historia Jonae tells the dramatic story of Jonah and the whale, followed by a semi-staging of Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, written for the Venetian carnival of 1624 and adapted from an episode in Tasso’s epic, where the Christian knight Tancredi unknowingly battles his beloved Clorinda, a Saracen warrior, leading to a tragic revelation of love and loss.For this concert, we are joining forces with the repertory ensemble of IF Opera. Set in the medieval church of St Mary’s, Wingfield, these intimate performances, brought to life on early instruments, offer a rare and memorable experience.
Baroque Trios, Monday 18 - Thursday 21 August
Benslow Music Course, Hertfordshire
The Baroque Trio Sonata yields a wealth of music from Europe and beyond. This course invites you to explore the joys of chamber music, led by the ZAREKtrio
Join us in a course focused on the baroque trio sonata. Whether you are an experienced Baroque instrumentalist already part of an ensemble or someone new to Baroque chamber music, this course is for you. We welcome violinists, flautists, recorder players, oboists, cellists, viola da gambists, and harpsichordists.
MUDlark! Saturday 25 October
Amersham Concert Club
Weird. Poignant. Wonderful.
MUDlark! is a cabinet of curiosities, thieveries, and musical mysteries from the English Baroque and beyond, with music by Purcell, Playford, Hume, Handel,
Gibbons, and other treasures from the Thames.
Bs & Bees Wednesday 23 April 7.00pm
Stadtkirche St Peter und Paul, Weimar - Thüringer Bachwochen
Hier blüht Ihnen was – der floral verzierte Stil des deutschen Hochbarock von Dietrich Buxtehude und Johann Sebastian Bach.
Für die drei Musiker haben die beiden großen „B“ des Barock und Bienen viel gemeinsam: Die Harmonie im Bienenstock, die Geometrie des Wabenwerks, der dynamische Bienentanz – all das finden sie in der Kammermusik von Bach und Buxtehude wieder. Und auch deren wechselseitige Befruchtung sorgt dafür, dass etwas zum Blühen kommt – der expressive, floral verzierte Stil des deutschen Hochbarock. Ein Konzert zum Mitsummen.Bs & Bees Tuesday 22 April 7.30pm
Bachhaus, Eisenach - Thüringer Bachwochen
Hier blüht Ihnen was – der floral verzierte Stil des deutschen Hochbarock von Dietrich Buxtehude und Johann Sebastian Bach.
Für die drei Musiker haben die beiden großen „B“ des Barock und Bienen viel gemeinsam: Die Harmonie im Bienenstock, die Geometrie des Wabenwerks, der dynamische Bienentanz – all das finden sie in der Kammermusik von Bach und Buxtehude wieder. Und auch deren wechselseitige Befruchtung sorgt dafür, dass etwas zum Blühen kommt – der expressive, floral verzierte Stil des deutschen Hochbarock. Ein Konzert zum Mitsummen.
Mudlark Saturday, 8 February 7-8pm
St Nicolas Church, Guildford, GU2 4AW
Weird. Poignant. Wonderful.
MUDlark! is a cabinet of curiosities, thieveries, and musical mysteries from the English Baroque and beyond, with music by Purcell, Playford, Hume, Handel, Gibbons, Byrd, and other treasures from the Thames.Mudlark Friday, 7 February 6pm
Brasenose College, Oxford
Weird. Poignant. Wonderful.
MUDlark! is a cabinet of curiosities, thieveries, and musical mysteries from the English Baroque and beyond, with music by Purcell, Playford, Hume, Handel, Gibbons, Byrd, and other treasures from the Thames.2024
27 October Bs & Bees Heath Street Baptist Church, Hampstead
26 October Bs & Bees Stroud Arts Festival
1 September Bs & Bees Kino Theatr, St Leonards-on-Sea
7 September Bs & Bees, Beer Lab, Brixton
25 July Bs & Bees, Rocket Van, Lambeth
26 July Bs & Bees St John's, Upper Norwood
19 January Giro d'Italia St John's, Upper Norwood
18 January Giro d'Italia Beer Lab, Brixton
Projects
Explore our most recent projects listed below. We are currently touring with Bs&Bees, and having great fun searching for and digging up treasures for a new programme, inspired by mudlarking.
Though designed as 60-80 min concerts, lengths, intervals etc can all be discussed and adjusted to the audience and venues. We are open to programme ideas and we do like to experiment.
Promoters, please download our EPK
Weird. Poignant. Wonderful.
MUDlark! is a cabinet of curiosities, thieveries, and musical mysteries from the English Baroque and beyond, with music by
Purcell, Playford, Hume, Handel, Gibbons,
and other treasures from the Thames.
*mudlarks scour the banks of the tidal river for fragments of London's past, well-trained in the art of seeking.
Bs&Bees
Music by Bach and Buxtehude with a decisive nod towards a world that inspires and sustains us.
Buxtehude trio sonata in a minor, op 1 no 3
Buxtehude suite for harpsichord no 4 BuxWV 231
Bach sonata in D for viola da gamba and harpsichord
Buxtehude trio sonata op 2 no 1 in Bb major
Bach Violin sonata in e minor BWV 1023 for violin and continuo
Bach trio sonata in G for violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord (BWV 1027 arr. Zarek)
Proudly supported by the Continuo Foundation
Giro d'Italia
A tour through Renaissance and Early Baroque Italy with music by
Diego Ortiz (1510-1570) Naples,
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583 - 1643) Rome,
Dario Castello (1602 - 1631) Venice,
Biagio Marini (1594 - 1663) Venice,
Giovanni Batista Bovicelli (1550 - 1594) Milan,
Giovanni Bassano (1561 - 1617) Venice,
Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1713) Rome
Tour de Baroque
through France and Germany with music by
Marin Marais (1656-1728) Paris
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) Dijon
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Hamburg
Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) Cöthen/London
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Leipzig
