Realising dreams and crossing genre boundaries: These are two goals of the GLENN GOULD BACH FELLOWSHIP, which is awarded every two years by the city of Weimar to musicians who can use the scholarship to realise their ambitious and innovative musical media projects on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Baroque period. The GLENN GOULD BACH FELLOWSHIP is endowed with 70,000 euros per year for the scholarship holders and the associated project costs. The scholarship is made possible by the Philip Loubser Foundation. It is coordinated by the Thüringer Bachwochen.

The next scholarship holder has now been announced. The viol player Liam Byrne now has the opportunity to spend the next two years working on his project. He will be focussing on a musical niche, but one that offers an exceptionally beautiful repertoire: The English lyra-viol repertoire of the early 17th century. "This intimate and introspective lute-like music plays with the most subtle aspects of the viola da gamba's resonance, which are not so easy to capture using traditional recording techniques," explains Liam Byrne, who will be presenting his fellowship project in Weimar on 14 April as part of the Thüringer Bachwochen 2024.

His project takes an experimental approach to the recording and transmission of lyra-viol music, using this repertoire as a case study to raise broader questions about the aesthetics of sound in classical music recording. This project is strongly inspired by Glenn Gould's committed relationship to recording and embraces the artificially constructive aspect of the recording process as a means of bringing the listener into a deeper relationship with the music and the physicality of the instrument that produces it. "The scholarship offers a great opportunity to create something beyond what is possible in a professional setting. With the time and support to scrutinise all aspects of the recording process, we have the opportunity to make something truly new and hopefully capture some aspects of this esoteric repertoire that have never been heard before," says Liam Byrne.

Liam Byrne is one of the most versatile exponents of his field. He has played and recorded with many of Europe's leading early music ensembles from a young age, including the Huelgas Ensemble, Dunedin Consort, Academy of Ancient Music and Fretwork. In the last decade he has also worked frequently with composers, folk and electronic musicians who use his 17th century instrument to bring new sounds to their music. He is a member of the Icelandic artist collective and label Bedroom Community, with whom he released his debut solo album Concrete in 2019. In 2022 he completed a PhD on experimental performance formats of Baroque music at London's Victoria & Albert Museum in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.