the marais project

Founded by Jennifer Eriksson in 2000, the purpose of The Marais Project is to perform the works of Marin Marais and his contemporaries, and other music for the viola da gamba, in a modern-day Australian context.

We love involving a broad range of artists and ideas in Marais Project programs to keep us fresh and our audiences stimulated! Our concerts over the past decade have included collaborations with other artists and art forms, including French poetry, baroque dance, jazz musician Kevin Hunt, World Music legends, Mara! and contemporary ceramic artist Barbara Campbell-Allen. We also like to perform in a range of venues from the city to the suburbs with a view to taking this wonderful music close to where audiences live.

One of the highlights of the series has been the commissioning of new works especially written for the project by Australian composers Stephen Yates, Matthew Perry and Kevin Hunt. In 2009 The Marais Project premièred “Aquarelle” a new work for violin, two viola da gambas and theorbo by Rosalind Page, commissioned by Ars Musica Australis.

Along with regular Marais Project members Tommie Andersson, Belinda Montgomery, Chris Berensen and Catherine Tabrett, guest artists in 2010 include violinist Fiona Ziegler, gambists Daniel Yeadon and Shaun Ng and soprano Megan Cronin.

2010 concert series

Concert 1 will take place during Easter week and feature what has become our tradition of giving two performances of François Couperin’s wonderful settings of ancient Easter texts for one and two sopranos and viola da gamba.

Concert 2 sees the return of gambist Daniel Yeadon for the launch of our new CD, “Love Reconciled”.

Concert 3 will “cross the channel” from France to England to perform some of the wonderful British repertoire for viols, lute and voice.

Full concert details and booking information can be found on our events page

project history

The idea for The Marais Project originated in 2000, the year of the Sydney Olympics. With all the emphasis on athletic achievement, Jennifer Eriksson decided to set herself a significant artistic challenge: to perform the complete works of Marin Marais.

This aspiration gave voice to The Marais Project, an ongoing series of concerts that would promote the viola da gamba and its music, and extend her own technique and artistic stamina. The Marais Project has appeared live twice on The Music Show with Andrew Ford and regularly as featured artists on ABCFM. In 2006 they were commissioned by ABCFM to produce a studio concert for broadcast in celebration of Marin Marais’ 350th birthday and several other recording commissions have followed.

In 2007 The Project completed their first CD, “Viol Dreaming” and in late 2009 our second CD, “Viol Dreaming” was released to growing critical acclaim.