NIGHT MUSIC

is a Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble dedicated to performing music of the Revolutionary Era (ca. 1760–1850) on historically appropriate instruments. Recent performances have taken the ensemble to Midtown Concerts in New York City, Kenyon College in Ohio, and, closer to home, the Music in the Pavilion and Mainline Early Music series. Night Music’s debut recording for Acis Records, Music for a Viennese Salon, has drawn considerable praise. Online Merker (Germany) considers that “the playing of Night Music’s musicians is distinguished by a tremendous richness of color and a crisp, pleasant, and easygoing approach,” while Classical Candor finds that the ensemble infuses a symphony arrangement “with such lyrical grace and refined gusto that one would think Haydn had intended it this way all along.”

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STEVEN ZOHN

Co-Director

Steven Zohn plays historical flutes with ensembles across the eastern United States, and is co-director of Night Music and the Philadelphia Bach Collective. Among his recordings on the Acis, Avie, Centaur, Chandos, and Newport Classic labels are several premieres of instrumental and vocal works by Telemann. He has taught for Juilliard Historical Performance and for Amherst Early Music, and his contributions to the study and performance of early music have been recognized by the American Musicological Society with its Noah Greenberg Award. As a musicologist, Steven’s writings focus on the Bach family, improvisatory music in the nineteenth century, the history of banquet music, and the life and works of Telemann, In 2022, he was the first American recipient of the prestigious Georg Philipp Telemann Prize from the city of Magdeburg. He is Associate Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Music Studies at Temple University. 

Heather miller Lardin

co-Director

Heather Miller Lardin is a historical double bassist and educator. Drawn to the expressive possibilities of the violone, she performs on a range of these instruments and serves as principal bassist of Boston's Handel + Haydn Society, co-founded Night Music and the Philadelphia Bach Collective, and directs the Temple University Early Music Ensemble. She teaches Baroque double bass at Juilliard Historical Performance and New England Conservatory, and is a recipient of the International Society of Bassists Special Recognition Award in Historical Performance and Scholarship. Heather makes her home in her native Philadelphia
suburbs, where she started playing double bass in 6th-grade orchestra.

Karen dekker

Dutch violinist Karen Dekker, a core member of Night Music, grew up surrounded by music. She performs with various ensembles on both baroque and modern violin throughout the United States, including Tempesta di Mare, Carmel Bach Festival, the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s, American Classical Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Among her recording credits is the film score to Alexandre Desplat’s Little Women. Karen is a member of Philadelphia’s Franklin Quartet and co-founder of the chamber music series “Listening in!” in West Chester, Pennsylvania. She holds degrees from Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, Manhattan School of Music, and The Juilliard School. She lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and three children.