• Tassilo Erhardt renaissance & baroque violin
• Sally Holman dulcian & baroque bassoon
• Steven Devine harpsichord & organ

Winners of the 2001 Early Music Network International Young Artists' Competition

Apollo & Pan is a dynamic young group which explores the numerous hitherto neglected works for violin and bassoon from the 17th and 18th centuries, using both renaissance and baroque instruments. By expanding the group, there are also opportunities to explore a wider repertoire, ranging from Vivaldi concertos to Bach cantatas.

In Greek mythology, Pan famously challenged Apollo to a musical contest: in the renaissance, Pan, often pictured holding a wind instrument, represented the wild and untamed, whereas Apollo, normally shown with a stringed instrument, stood for the sublime and refined. These contrasting qualities are united in the ensemble of violin and bassoon - with the development of mixed ensembles in the 17th century, this popular combination symbolised the contrast of the opposing forces of Apollo and Pan.

Tassilo Erhardt and Sally Holman met and formed Apollo & Pan while studying at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In England they were joined by the keyboard player Steven Devine, who was the winner of the inaugural Broadwood Harpsichord Competition in 1993.

Since winning the 2001 Early Music Network International Young Artists' Competition, Apollo & Pan has performed at the South Bank Early Music Festival, York Early Music Festival, the Sligo Baroque Festival in Ireland, Spitalfields Festival, Warwick & Leamington Festival, Stour Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, City Music Society in London, Cambridge Early Music Summer Schools Concert Series, Douai Abbey, Händel Festspiele in Halle, the Vleeshuis Concert Series in Antwerp, and at festivals and concert series in Suffolk, Leeds, Chester, Kingston, Totnes, Chelmsford, Keele, Manchester and Stamford. In April 2003 the group undertook a very successful tour of The Netherlands for the Dutch Early Music Network. Radio 3 have broadcast their concerts and they have featured on 'Music Restored', 'In Tune' and ‘The Early Music Show’. Individually, the members of Apollo & Pan play regularly with leading early music groups and period orchestras such as The New London Consort, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Hanover Band, I Fagiolini, Il Vero Modo’, Opera Restor'd, and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging.
In February 2009 Apollo & Pan has released a recording of 17th-century instrumental music from Italy on Chandos Records.

What the critics say