Contactus is a musical collective aiming to showcase a devotion for earlier music in a flexible duo or trio setting, formed by Juho Myllylä (recorders) and Miron Andres (vielle). The duo regularly expands into a trio and more through collaboration with singers and other instrumentalists to explore the immense range of colours the fascinating world of this earlier repertoire has to offer.
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Juho Myllylä and Miron Andres began their collaboration whilst studying at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. They are both founding members of Ugly Pug, an ensemble devoted to the performance of new music on early instruments.
Due to the mutual passion for earlier repertoire – medieval and renaissance music, the two started finding each other on the medieval instruments more and more frequently. During their studies both have immersed themselves in the fascinating world of this music: they studied at masterclasses with Pedro Memelsdorff, Pierre Hamon, Kees Boeke and Corina Marti, for instance, and formerly Andres graduated from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland.
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In August 2016 Myllylä and Andres won the EAR-ly 2016 Nordic and Baltic early music competition, the final round of which was held at the BRQ Vantaa Festival (Finland). This brought along an invitation to give concerts at NORDEM’s member festivals during the season 2017/2018.
Besides Contactus also appeared at renowned European early music festivals such as the Fabulous Fringe series of the Utrecht Early Music Festival (The Netherlands) and MAFestival Brugge (Belgium).
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In August 2019 Contactus were one of the two winners of the International Van Wassenaer Competition, held at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, and were awarded the jury prize, a concert tour in the season of the Utrecht Early Music Festival and the AVROTROS radio prize.
© JOE MEIJER PHOTOGRAPHY