Rondellus

Early Music Consort Rondellus was founded in 1993 at the instigation of Maria and Robert Staak with the aim of performing Medieval and Renaissance music. Depending on the programme the consort consists of either two to six singers and instrumenta-lists. The members of the consort are professionals, who have been active in well known Estonian early music groups for years. Rondellus has successfully toured in the Baltic states, in Scandinavia, Poland, Germany and Spain. The founders Maria and Robert Staak form the core of the group, they select the music, prepare programmes and engage other musicians if the necessity arises.

Maria Staak - vocal
After graduating from the stage department of the Estonian Music Academy, she decided in favour of music and singing. She graduated from the Tallinn music school with the speciality of classical and jazz singing. Later she devoted herself to early music. She has studied singing and early music with Domenique Vellard (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland).

Robert Staak - lute and percussion
After graduating from the Tallinn music school as a classical guitarist, he devoted himself to the lute and other early plucked instruments (theorb, baroque guitar). He has also studied with Leif Karlsson and Hopkinson Smith (SCB, Switzerland). As an acclaimed basso continuo player, he has participated in the performances of numerous baroque projects in Estonia and elsewhere. Inspired by Poul Høxbro's master class in 1998 he has seriously taken up percussions. He has also worked as a musical editor at the Estonian Radio and in the years 1991 to 1998 as a lute player in the group GHortus Musicusg.