Early Music for the Modern Day
Based in NYC, Twelfth Night is an ensemble of historical performance specialists led by David Belkovski and Rachell Ellen Wong, formed with the firm belief that art is best explored as a meeting place of the past, present, and future. Twelfth Night projects and engagements range from small chamber music (2-5 musicians) to larger orchestral and operatic productions.
Inspired by Shakespeare’s play of the same name, the ensemble strives to invoke a spirit of boundless revelry, celebration, and community in their programming. Based in New York City and founded in 2021, the two directors are regarded as key youngrepresentatives of early music: Rachell is the only baroque artist to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant and David is the first recipient in the field of early music to receive the Levinson Arts Achievement Award. In 2024, David and Rachell made their debut co-directing New World Symphony in Miami. Appearances for the 2024-2025 season include recitals for Early Music Seattle and the Heifetz International Music Institute, Chamber Music Society of Logan (Utah), Other performances of Twelfth Night’s this season include a return engagement in Seattle along with performances at Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, and Pittsburgh’s Chatham Baroque, and debuts with The Milwaukee Symphony, Caramoor and Tucson. This summer, the ensemble will appear at the Cooperstown, Newport Classical and Austin Chamber Music festivals amongst others. Season 2025-2026 highlights will include Twelfth Night’s Philadelphia debut, their first performance at Cal Performances and a return to Carnegie Hall.
Historical Performance study provides musicians today with a window into the past, reminding us all of the boundless creative energy that led to deeply human musical works. Some of those works are familiar and beloved, some are less well-known and deserve renewed, loving attention. Even still, the influence of the present is to be welcomed. Artists today grew up with an appreciation of an inexhaustibly rich and diverse music world. Modern genres and forms inevitably affect our taste and performance habits, imbuing study of the past with the exciting, bold colors of the current. To create today, however, is to look forward, to understand how the artist is situated in society, and whether that position ought to change. Like creations of the past, art today can be healing, political, or provocative – often at the same time. Although an early music ensemble by trade, Twelfth Night's vision is toward the future, which these days seems to be equal parts uncertain and exciting. Our music breathes with the admiration we have for history and the unabashed love for the art world today.