Frederick Renz
“It is doubtful that anyone could have matched the precision and passion obtained by Frederick Renz.”
- The New York Times
Frederick Renz is a unique figure in the early music movement. Equally adept in all forms of music and music drama from the 11th through the 18th centuries, he has reaped international acclaim for his work as a conductor, producer, director, and performer while leading Early Music New York to preeminence in the field.
As a Fulbright grantee, Dr. Renz studied harpsichord performance with Gustav Leonhardt at the Amsterdam Conservatory, Netherlands. He was keyboard soloist with the legendary New York Pro Musica Antiqua for six seasons and founded the Early Music Foundation when the former organization disbanded in 1974. Under his enterprising direction, Early Music New York has earned accolades worldwide for its vibrant performances of music and music drama from the Middle Ages through the early classical periods.
For his pioneering work in the genre of medieval music-drama, maestro Renz has received numerous accolades including commissions from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Play of Mary Magdalene, Resurrection Play of Tours and Raising of Lazarus/Conversion of St. Paul; Sponsus: Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins), Spoleto Festival USA (Herod and the Innocents) and the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (Play of St. Nicholas, Daniel and the Lions and Le Roman de Fauvel). Frederick Renz has also received two Producers Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts' Opera/Musical Theater Program and a grant from the Ingram Merrill Foundation.
A noted harpsichordist, Frederick Renz has given numerous solo recitals, appeared with orchestras and chamber groups in New York, and has recorded for Lyrichord, Foné, Decca, Vanguard, Musical Heritage Society, Musicmasters and Nonesuch. As an educator, Renz has served as Visiting Professor and Artistic Consultant for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Oklahoma, the Fundacion del Estado para la Orquesta Nacional Juvenil (Venezuela), the Athens Festival and the Tokyo Summer Festival. Mr. Renz is the recipient of an honorary doctorate conferred by the State University of New York in recognition of his research and the performance of historical music.
