About Us
GRAMMY® nominated ensemble AGAVE is “an energized, free-spirited group” (EMAg), based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and specializing in string chamber music of the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. Agave has received numerous awards and accolades and gained local and national attention for its “brilliant," "profound" (EMAg), "precise and stylish" (American Record Guide) playing, "a certain let-down-your-hair quality" (AllMusic), as well as its growing discography. Now in its fourteenth season, Agave continues its fruitful affiliations with star countertenor Reginald Mobley, phenomenal soprano Michele Kennedy, and the Acis record label, and continues to be a unique and innovative voice in the chamber music community nationally.
During its initial season, Agave was selected by Early Music America to perform in a showcase concert at the APAP Convention in New York. In 2009, The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles commissioned Cold Genius: The music of Henry Purcell, which Agave premiered at the MJT in 2010, and subsequently recorded. In 2011, EMA selected Agave as one of five finalists in the NAXOS/EMA Recording Competition. In 2012, the San Francisco Early Music Society chose Agave to present a main stage concert on the 2012 Berkeley Early Music Festival, about which Early Music America Magazine said, "Rapturous music and impressive playing...[Agave Baroque] kept the audience entranced." Later in 2012, EMA selected Agave to compete in New York as one of six finalists at their Baroque Performance Competition. Agave received a generous grant from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music to record Friends of Ferdinand, which VGo Recordings released in 2013. For the 2014-15 season, Agave became an ensemble in residence at the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music/Presidio Trust's new concert series Presidio Sessions, collaborated with Los Angeles new music concert series Jacaranda: music at the edge, and embarked on a Southeastern US tour with Reginald Mobley.
In 2015, Agave released Queen of Heaven: music of Isabella Leonarda, their first of three albums with Mr. Mobley, a countertenor "destined to make his mark in the early music world" (-Chicago Tribune). In 2018, Mr. Mobley and Agave collaborated on a second album, Peace in Our Time whose release marked the 400th anniversary of the start of the Thirty Years' War, when conflict and The Plague ravaged much of Europe. The album features sublime, heartfelt music, which brought people above the conflict and provided much needed comfort and expression of sorrow. A review of their 2018 run of performances of the same program for the San Francisco Early Music Society said, "the interaction between Agave and Reginald Mobley... created the real magic" (SF Classical Voice). In May of 2018, Agave and Reggie performed the first ever baroque program and the first to feature a singer on UCLA's Chamber Music at the Clark Library series in Los Angeles.
Their third album with Mobley, American Originals, was released in September 2021 on the Acis label, and celebrates four centuries of music of mostly Black and brown composers from the United States, Mexico, Cuba, and South America, including new transcriptions of songs by the remarkable Florence Beatrice Price. The album received a GRAMMY® nomination in the Best Classical Compendium category, got rave reviews in Gramophone Magazine (UK), EMAg, American Record Guide, MusicWeb International, The Whole Note, Textura, was a BBC Music Magazine Brief Notes pick in December, 2021, and WCLV's (Cleveland Classical Radio's) 2022 Album of the Year.
Following up American Originals, AGAVE's latest recording effort is AGAVE: In Her Hands, featuring the soprano Michele Kennedy in an album entirely of music by female composers. Presented in vignettes organized by character but not time, the album spans from Claudia Rusca in the early 17th century, Maria Teresa von Paradis in the 18th century, to Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Clara Schumann, and Dora Pejacsevic in the 19th century, and Florence Price, her student Margaret Bonds, and Camille Nickerson in the 20th century. They recorded the album in December of 2022 for an early fall 2023 release on the Acis label.
Agave has performed to sold-out crowds throughout the Bay Area, including Barefoot Chamber Concerts, BAMPFA's "Full" series, SF Music Day, Chattanooga Chamber Music, Noe Valley Chamber Music, Sonoma Bach, MSRI, and multiple times at Redwood Arts Council, as well as at La Jolla Athenaeum Karatz Chamber Series, Fresno City College, Fresno Pacific University, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Jacaranda, The Arizona Early Music Society, Seattle Early Music Guild, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Appalachian State University, and the Berkeley Early Music Festival. On-air appearances include KPFK Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles, KALW San Francisco, WDAV (North Carolina), New Mexico Public Radio, as well as several features on Sunday Baroque and Harmonia radio programs. The upcoming seasons will feature debuts at Mexico's Cervantino Festival, 836M, and the Boston Early Music Festival.
AGAVE's core lineup features countertenor soloist Reginald Mobley on several programs and three albums, along with co-director and violinist Aaron Westman, violinist Anna Washburn; William Skeen, cello and viola da gamba; Kevin Cooper, guitars and theorbo; and Henry Lebedinsky, co-director, harpsichord, organ, and piano. They are joined regularly by Katherine Kyme and Cynthia Black on violin and viola. Since 2021, AGAVE has been exclusively represented by Schwalbe and Partners artist management group.
Reginald Mobley | countertenor
"Noted for his ‘shimmering voice’ (BachTrack), GRAMMY-nominated American countertenor Reginald Mobley is globally renowned for his interpretation of the baroque, classical and modern repertoire and leads a very prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic. An advocate for diversity in music and its programming, Reginald became the first ever programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society following several years of leading H&H in his community engaging Every Voice concerts. He also holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with the Baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire, and is a regular guest with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Seraphic Fire, and AGAVE. With AGAVE, Reginald recorded ‘American Originals’, a collection of Spirituals, which earned a GRAMMY Awards nomination in 2022. His American 2022/2023 Season included his debut with New York Philharmonic in Messiah, a piece he also sang with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, soloist in Carmina Burana with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and returns to Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, and Seraphic Fire. Previous engagements have included concerts and recordings with Opera Lafayette, Blue Heron, Orchestra of St Luke’s, LA Master Chorale, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Early Music Seattle. In Europe, Reginald has been invited to perform with Orchester Wiener Akademie, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, Bach Society in Stuttgart, and Holland Baroque Orchestra among others. His name is often associated with John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, with which Reginald has been touring and recording for the past ten years including a European tour in spring 2023. In Summer 2022, Reginald made his debut with Dutch Bach Society in concerts in Bremen and Utrecht, appeared for the first time with I Barocchisti at Opéra de Lausanne under the baton of Diego Fasolis as Disinganno in Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, a role he will reprise at the Barbican Centre with Academy of Ancient Music led by Laurence Cummings. In the autumn of 2021, he performed the role of Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea in a European tour with The Budapest Festival Orchestra with stops at Grand Théâtre de Genève, MUPA (Budapest) and Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza). His recordings have been received with great critical acclaim. His first solo album with ALPHA Classic will be released in June 2023. It will showcase a collection of Spirituals accompanied by the world-renowned French pianist Baptiste Trotignon. Reginald features on several albums with the Monteverdi Choir, including a recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Magnificat, where Reginald ‘encapsulates whimsical pathos’ (Classical Music Magazine).
Michele Kennedy | soprano
Praised by The Washington Post as “a fine young soprano with a lovely voice" possessing "a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear" (SF Chronicle), soprano Michele Kennedy is a versatile specialist in early and new music. Her recent concert venues include Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, the Getty Museum, Lincoln Center, and Washington National Cathedral.
Michele has been a featured soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with The San Francisco Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Wall Street Choir, Poulenc’s Gloria with The Bach Society of Saint Louis, Undine Smith Moore's MLK Oratorio at U.C. Berkeley, in the ‘Summer Fireworks’ of Handel and Purcell with Portland Baroque Orchestra, and in her Carnegie Hall debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra. Up next, she'll sing Messiah (St. Louis Bach Society), the Bach Magnificat (SF Symphony), and will debut with San Francisco Bach Choir as a soloist in the Mass in B Minor. Her singing is highlighted on two upcoming new albums: Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with The Thirteen and Dark Horse Consort, and AGAVE: In Her Hands with AGAVE, a compilation of works by trailblazing female composers over the ages.
A lifelong advocate of new works, Michele has sung premieres with Experiments in Opera, Harlem Stage Opera, Mimesis Ensemble, Five Boroughs Music Festival, and The New York Philharmonic. This season, she is part of a world premiere tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story - an outspoken celebration of women’s civil rights - with Lorelei Ensemble in concert with Nashville Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, and The San Francisco Symphony. She is also a member of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble: a group of early and contemporary music specialists that champions the voices of women and artists of color on the stage, and in the field at large.
Michele completed her musical studies at Yale College, Yale School of Music, and NYU. A lifelong lover of Redwoods and Bay vistas, she lives in Oakland with her husband, visual artist Benjamin Thorpe, and their daughter, Audra May. Please find more at www.michele-kennedy.com.
Aaron Westman | violin and viola, co-director
Aaron Westman was a “metal-head” growing up in California. He now plays the electric guitar of the 17th-century. Described as "expressive and virtuosic" (—SF Classical Voice) and a “brilliant virtuoso violinist” (—Early Music America) and violist, Aaron has made a career for himself as “one of the most popular period instrumentalists on the west coast” (—Press Democrat). Since 2005, he has performed as a chamber, principal player, or soloist with most of the major period instrument ensembles in California, and toured extensively throughout the world. As a principal player, Aaron works with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Bach Collegium San Diego, El Mundo, Harmonia Stellarum Houston, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Musica Angelica, Musica Pacifica, Tesserae, and the New Hampshire Music Festival, as well as at Carmel Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and with Hip Hop Orchestra Ensemble Mik Nawooj, Opera Neo, Orchester Wiener Akademie, and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.
Aaron co-directs the chamber ensemble AGAVE, which performs and records regularly with star countertenor Reginald Mobley. He is also Associate Director of the Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, which is in residence at Schroeder Hall of the Green Music Center, and violist in the Sylvestris Quartet.
Aaron holds degrees from Indiana University and Wesleyan University. His principal teachers were Stanley Ritchie, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Geraldine Walther, and Alan de Veritch. Aaron is currently on faculty at Sonoma State University, he directs the Santa Rosa Symphony’s Young People’s Chamber Orchestra, teaches in Italy each summer at the Music Adventure program, and guest taught for three years at CalArts.
Henry Lebedinsky | harpsichord, organ, and piano, co-director
Hailed by The Miami Herald for his “superb continuo… brilliantly improvised and ornamented,” Henry Lebedinsky performs on historical keyboards across the United States and the United Kingdom. He is a member of AGAVE, Pacific MusicWorks, Sonoma Bach, and the Live Oak Baroque Orchestra. He has also performed with Seattle Opera, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Charlotte Symphony, Seraphic Fire, and Boston Revels, among others. He has taught master classes and workshops on historical repertoire and performance practice at the University of Edinburgh and at colleges and universities across the USA. An avid composer of sacred music for choir and organ, his works are published by Paraclete Press, Carus-Verlag Stuttgart, and CanticaNOVA. He is the founder and director of the Pacific MusicWorks Underground Concerts (formerly Early Music Underground), which brings old music to new audiences in brewpubs, wineries, and fun unconventional venues across the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Mr. Lebedinsky holds summa cum laude degrees from Bowdoin College and the Longy School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music in historical organ performance as a student of Peter Sykes. A church musician for the past 23 years, he currently serves as Organist and Choirmaster at Seattle’s historic Christ Episcopal Church.
William Skeen | viola da gamba and violoncello
Grammy-nominated cellist William Skeen performs as Principal Cellist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and American Bach Soloists. He has served as Principal Cellist with Musica Angelica (Los Angeles), Portland Baroque Orchestra, Pacific MusicWorks, and Bach Collegium San Diego. William has also appeared as continuo cellist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Opera, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. In addition, William has soloed on the viola da gamba with the Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Carmel Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Musica Angelica, Orquestra Nacional de Mexico, and the American Bach Soloists. He is co-founder of the New Esterházy Quartet, whose repertoire includes over 150 string quartets performed exclusively on gut strings. With NEQ, William co-founded the San Francisco Early Music Society's Classical Workshop in 2012. He has served on the faculty on the University of Southern California since 2000. Skeen also has taught baroque cello and viola da gamba at the American Bach Soloists Academy, SFEMS Baroque Workshop, SF Conservatory of Music, and University of California Berkeley.
William currently tours and records with Musica Pacifica, El Mundo, and AGAVE. He is represented on over 80 audio recordings and 30 video recordings, many produced by Voices of Music. Mr. Skeen is co-founder of the Cantata Collective, and one-to-a-part ensemble devoted to presenting all of J.S. Bach's cantatas to the Bay Area Community free of charge.
Kevin Cooper | classical & baroque guitar, theorbo
Kevin Cooper is a guitarist from central California and founding member of the Grammy-nominated early music group, AGAVE. He has performed with numerous groups including Musica Angelica, Ensemble Mirable, Musica Pacifica, Tesserae, Fresno Philharmonic, and Live Oak Baroque Orchestra. Gramophone has praised him saying, “Kevin Cooper excels,” while Early Music America and the San Francisco Classical Voice have said his playing is “stylish” and “a blast!” Kevin’s recent publications include original guitar compositions like Precious Stones and Sting of the Blood Orange (Doberman-Yppan). His recordings include several projects with AGAVE as well as Night of Four Moons, a CD of modern music with mezzo-soprano Catherine Cooper. The Fresno Arts Council honored him with the 2022 President’s Award for exceptional contribution to the community and in 2006 he was named the Outstanding Doctoral Graduate in Music from the University of Southern California where he studied with William Kanengiser and James Tyler. Currently, he leads the guitar program at Fresno City College.
Anna Washburn | violin and violaAnna Washburn, violin, grew up fiddling in the beautiful state of Maine and now calls the Bay Area home. She performs and records on period violin and viola with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, MUSA, and Marin Baroque.
In addition to her devotion to period performance, Anna also appears on stage with a variety of ensembles, from recording and performing with pop-orchestra Magik*Magik Orchestra with artists like Sting, Chicago, John Vanderslice, Third Eye Blind, The Dodos, Hauschka and Dustin O’Halloran… to hip hop/opera group Ensemble Mik Nawooj… to the Commonwealth Club’s series “Music Matters,” in a multi-part lecture series on Mozart…to performances with Symphony Silicon Valley, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Monterey Symphony, and Stockton Symphony.
Anna Washburn grew up fiddling in the beautiful state of Maine and now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home. She performs and records on period violin and viola with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego, Musica Angelica, Agave Baroque, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, and Marin Baroque, and is a founding member of the Sylvestris String Quartet.
In addition to her devotion to period performance, Anna also appears on stage with a variety of ensembles, from recording and performing with pop-orchestra Magik*Magik Orchestra with artists like Sting, Chicago, John Vanderslice, Third Eye Blind, The Dodos, Hauschka and Dustin O’Halloran… to hip hop/opera group Ensemble Mik Nawooj… to the Commonwealth Club’s series “Music Matters,” in a multi-part lecture series on Mozart…to regular performances with Symphony Silicon Valley, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Monterey Symphony, and Stockton Symphony.
Anna has studied with Bettina Mussumeli, Elizabeth Blumenstock, and Peter Zazofky, and has degrees in violin from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Boston University, where she also studied art history.
Katherine Kyme | violin and viola
Kati is a founding member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the American Bach Soloists, and she loves playing chamber music most of all. She is currently a member of the New Esterhazy Quartet, the Cantata Collective, the String Circle, and Voices of Music. She has also played in Nic McGegan's Arcadian Academy, the Sierra String Quartet and the Streicher Trio. She is a devoted teacher, leading the Berkeley Baroque Strings as well as the String Orchestras of the California Youth Symphony. In addition to playing on AGAVE's GRAMMY® nominated American Originals album and the forthcoming AGAVE: In Her Hands, she can be heard on dozens of recordings and scores of videos posted by Voices of Music.