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Cléa Galhano

Director of Early Music Ensemble


Brazilian recorder player Cléa Galhano is an internationally renowned performer of early, contemporary, and Brazilian music. Galhano has performed in the United States, Canada, South America, and Europe as a chamber musician, collaborating with recorder player Marion Verbruggen, Jacques Ogg, Belladonna, Lanzelotte/Galhano Duo, Galhano/Montgomery Duo, Kingsbery Ensemble, and Blue Baroque Band. As a featured soloist, Galhano has worked with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, World Symphony, Milwaukee Baroque, and Lyra Baroque Orchestra.

Among other music festivals, Galhano has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Tage Alter Music Festival in Germany, and at Wigmore Hall in London, always receiving acclaimed reviews. Galhano was featured in 2006 in the Second International Recorder Congress in Leiden, Holland, and in 2007 at the International Recorder Conference in Montreal.

Galhano studied in Brazil at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, the Royal Conservatory (The Hague), and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, earning a Fulbright scholarship and support from the Dutch government. As an advocate of recorder music and educational initiatives, she served for six years on the national board of the American Recorder Society and was featured many years as teacher and soloist at Suzuki and AOSA conferences. Galhano regularly conducts workshops across the United States, Europe, and Brazil. Currently, she is the executive artistic director of the St. Paul Conservatory of Music.

Galhano’s recordings are available on Dorian, Ten Thousand Lakes, and Eldorado labels. She was artist-in-residence at the Schubert Club in St. Paul for ten years and is music director of the Recorder Orchestra of the Midwest.