Taco Walstra  21 Dec 2004 14:43:45
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I am Taco Walstra, embedded software developer / teacher by profession at the 
University of Amsterdam in the netherlands. As most lutenists I started many 
years ago with classical guitar, always with they idea to start with lute 
after playing pieces by bach and weiss on guitar. Several years ago (it's now 
2004) I started to play renaissance lute and bought a 10 course lute from 
Marcello Armand-Pilon in Cremona. Although my original idea was to play 
baroque lute after some years of experience, I saw that there is a total new 
experience possible by playing basso continuo. And I also discovered that the 
renaissance music which is so (well, to me it was) annoying on guitar should 
be given a new renaissance in my lute playing experience. 

So, the next instrument was not a baroque lute but first a theorbo. And if you 
start playing continuo you find out that you cannot miss an archlute. Both 
instruments were built by Stephen Barber and Sandy Harris. 

I played with a few chamber orchestras, amateur and professional, and at this 
moment the La Prunelle baroque orchestra is the main activity for continuo. 
Among the concerts of this year were two Dido and Aeneas operas with 
different musicians and choirs, jephte by Carrissimi and pieces by 
charpentier and Rameau with the Cappella Maria Barbara baroque orchestra and 
a few concerts with the Purcell Chamber Orchestra in Amsterdam and Leiden. 
Still there is very much to be learned, fortunately my teacher David van
Ooijen is a good help in this.

My other interests include: rock climbing, walking, reading and philosophy. I 
got a master degree in political philosophy at University Utrecht after my 
initial technical study. Oh and by the way, I maintain a nice website with 
lute music, which started in august 2000 and now contains a huge amount of 
music:

http://www.science.uva.nl/~walstra/ABCArchive

Taco Walstra