Our Story
Our name, ‘Postscript’, comes from the fact that — for the most part — the music we perform was written and published long before we had the chance to play and present it to you. We are aware of how far we are today from the context in which each piece was written, and from the composers who wrote them. We do, however, want to bring something to these works. During our performances, we aim to make the music live again — it needs to communicate, to inspire, and to bridge the time gap between the moment the composer’s pen touched paper and now, the final post script.
We approach each program and each project with dedication and passion — whether it is scouting for unknown repertoire, improvising, studying historical sources, or making music videos. We love the music we play, and we are excited to share it with you.
The core members:
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, Artem Belogurov, Aysha Wills & David Westcombe.
Biography
Postscript is a young period ensemble specialising in the historically inspired performance of music from Baroque to the Romantic era. With a core of four musicians (two traverso players, a cellist and a harpsichord and fortepiano player), the ensemble takes various forms and sometimes expands to a small orchestra. In addition to performing instrumental music, Postscript also collaborates with singers, and actors when reviving the forgotten genre of melodramas.
Postscript's mission is to promote and develop the field of early music through historical research, experimentation and performing daring programs that include rarely heard works alongside more familiar ones. Postscript also enjoys exploring unconventional venues, settings and media to share music with their listeners. The group strives to continuously evolve and learn, while delving into a wide array of classical music genres and unearthing forgotten practices and repertoires.
The core members of Postscript met during their studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Coming from different cultural backgrounds and having varied musical interests, they have explored a wide range of musical genres and styles: each of them brings something of their own to the group’s performances. They “seduce by their musical energy and simplicity” (Anne-Sandrine di Girolamo, Gang Flow), and always strive to create engaging and communicative performances where the audience feels at ease and close to the action.
First prize winner at the international Brothers Graun Competition (DE) in 2018, Postscript was awarded a tour of the Brandenburg region in Germany. Postscript was one of the five young ensembles selected for the 2020 REMA-EEMN showcase and has been invited to perform at the Festival de Royaumont (FR), MA Festival Brugge (BE), Early Music Vancouver, Muzewest, and Utrecht Early Music Festival (NL). The group performs regularly in the Netherlands, and has received the support of Fonds Podium Kunsten and Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst. Postscript’s recordings can be heard both on their YouTube Channel and on the Dutch label TRPTK, available on all streaming platforms. Their second CD, coming out later this year on TRPTK, features music written and published in Amsterdam during the Baroque era. Their 2022-2023 season is supported by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.
