Viola da gamba player Laura Vaughan introduces her ensemble’s debut album of Italianate jewels.

Exclusive track: Latitude 37 – Caccini’s Amarilli Mia Bella

 

Where does the name Latitude 37 come from?

It describes the make-up of our group, being from Australia and New Zealand. If you go east of Melbourne on the 37th latitude, you reach New Zealand, which is where our harpsichordist is from. We didn’t want to go down the road of choosing a foreign or Italian name like many early music groups do; we wanted something that reflected our identity. Plus, we wanted a name with attitude!

How did you, Julia Fredersdorff (Baroque violin) and Donald Nicolson (harpsichord and organ) meet and come to form the trio?

All of us were students at The Hague Royal Conservatory at one time or another, so how we all know each other is through this common connection of The Hague, which is where many Baroque musicians study. We never actually got to play all together when we were in Holland, but as we returned to this part of the world one by one, we decided that we wanted to get together and form...