About the performers

Early music artist Adam Cockerham specializes in theorbo, lute and baroque guitar. Beginning his performance career as a classical guitarist, he then gravitated toward historical plucked strings, preferring the collaborative opportunities of chamber music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. As an accompanist and continuo player, Cockerham has performed with numerous ensembles in North America. He founded voice and plucked string duo Jarring Sounds with mezzo-soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah.

Beyond chamber music, Cockerham concentrates on 17th-century Italian vocal music. He is the Associate Music Director of the Academy of Sacred Drama, has served as assistant conductor for dell’Arte Opera Ensemble’s production of Cavalli’s La Calisto, and was involved in numerous modern world premiere performances with companies such as Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and Ars Minerva. His early training as a performer of modern music on guitar has led to a sub-specialty of new music for old instruments. Cockerham received his doctorate from the Juilliard School where he was awarded the Richard F. French Prize for best dissertation.

Soprano Madeline Apple Healey has been lauded for her “gorgeous singing” (Washington Post) and “fetching combination of vocal radiance and dramatic awareness” (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Specializing in early and contemporary repertoire, Madeline is passionate about polyphony and loves working on music that challenges the construct of beautiful sound.

Recent engagements include appearances at Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, LA Opera, premieres at Lincoln Center’s White Light, Spoleto USA, and PROTOTYPE Festivals, and collaborations with Alkemie, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Death of Classical, New Chamber Ballet, TENET, and Res Facta.

She is a member of the GRAMMY-Nominated Trinity Choir, co-founder of the virtuosic vocal chamber ensemble AMPERSAND, and performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician.

Beyond performing, Madeline is an outdoorswoman and environmental advocate. She resides in New York, where she can often be found rock climbing and exploring with her husband Teddy and their dog Bodhi.

Mezzo-soprano Elisa Sutherland gives detailed, stylistic performances of early and new music with “soul-infused expressiveness and unselfconscious joie de vivre” (New York Music Daily). Elisa is integral to NYC's chamber music scene as a core member of both Ekmeles, a sextet dedicated to exploring microtonal tuning and extended vocal techniques, and Alkemie, medieval specialists who celebrate the vibrant and timeless sounds of the past and present. She is a member of the Choir of Trinity Church and frequently appears with TENET Vocal Artists, singing everything from Dowland lute songs to cantatas by Jacqueline de la Guerre. Elisa's 2025-26 Season includes an astonishing range of high-level music-making with collaborators around the country in all genres including ACRONYM, Quince, The Crossing, Blue Heron, Lorelei, Roomful of Teeth, Ampersand, and Variant 6.

Through her work as a soloist and choral musician, Ellie has workshopped and premiered new compositions by composers Ted Hearne, Julia Wolfe, Erin Gee, Michael Gordon, Christopher Trapani, David Lang, Zosha Di Castri, Shawn Jaeger, John Luther Adams, Hannah Kendall, Caroline Shaw, Yaz Lancaster, Michael Gilbertson, Gavin Bryars, Joanne Metcalf, Kile Smith, Pablo Chin, L J White, and many more. In the world of early music, Ellie has explored repertoire ranging from the medieval to the baroque periods with ensembles Quicksilver Baroque, Parthenia Viol Consort, Piffaro, Filament, and Elm City Consort.

Ellie has been featured as a soloist with Apollo’s Fire, Baroque Music Montana, Contemporaneous, Arcana New Music Ensemble, American Bach Soloists, and Apollo Chorus of Chicago. She has sung for over 30 commercial recordings (including three GRAMMY-winning and twelve nominated albums). Born in Milwaukee, WI, she now lives in Brooklyn with her partner and cat, Anton.