Romina Lischka was born in 1982 in Vienna, Austria. Her interest in early music brought her to the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzeland, where she studied viola da gamba with Paolo Pandolfo. She received her soloist’s diploma with distinction in 2006. Romina then continued her studies with Philippe Pierlot at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, completing her Master’s degree with distinction in 2008.
Since 2008, she has developed her activities as a concert artist, playing with ensembles such as Collegium Vocale Gent (Philippe Herreweghe), Ricercar Consort (Philippe Pierlot), Gli Angeli Genève and others, performing in Europe, Japan and United States.
She has recorded for the labels Ricercar, Flora, Coro, Christophorus, Musica Ficta and Fuga libera.
During the 2012-13 season, she was chosen as a Rising Star by BOZAR and Concertgebouw Amsterdam in the early music category. Her first solo CD, Pièces de viole de Sieur de Machy, received a Diapason 5.
In 2011 Romina set up the Hathor Consort. Her ensemble’s first CD, a recording of John Dowland’s Lachrimae, was well received by the press (IRR outstanding, 10 Klara nominations, 4 Diapasons).
Sofie Vanden Eynde was born in 1978 in Belgium. She studied lute and theorbo with Philippe Malfeyt at Ghent Conservatory and with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
In 2006 her home town awarded her a prize in recognition of her artistic achievements. With the ensemble Le Jardin Secret she was awarded both first prize and the audience prize at the 2007 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.
She performs with the Hathor Consort, Encantar, Bel Ayre, l’Achéron, and as a duo with Romina Lischka and Thomas Hobbs. Together with the soprano Rebecca Ockenden, Sofie explores and performs the rich repertoire of the lute-song. Itheir first CD (Mistress Elizabeth Davenant, her Songes) was released in 2011. In 2012, she set up Imago Mundi, a non-profit organisation which aims to foster encounters between different branches of the arts and kinds of music: eastern and western, old and new. The first fruits of the project, DIVINE MADNESS, appeared on CD a year later. Sofie has recorded for RAMEE, CORO, Phaedra, CYPRES, Aeolus, Fuga Libera, Paraty, Ricercar and K617.
