Agave Baroque

Grammy-nominated period instrument ensemble Agave Baroque has been a vital force in the San Francisco Bay Area early music scene since their founding in 2010. Praised for their "brilliant and knowing" performances, the ensemble brings a free-spirited energy to classical music spanning the 17th through 20th centuries.

The core ensemble features co-director Aaron Westman and Anna Washburn on violin, William Skeen on cello and viola da gamba, Kevin Cooper on guitars and theorbo, and co-director Henry Lebedinsky on harpsichord, organ, and piano. Regular collaborators include violinists Katherine Kyme and Cynthia Black.

Agave earned a Grammy nomination in 2021 for American Originals: A New World, A New Canon in the Best Classical Compendium category. The ensemble first gained national attention when Early Music America selected them for a showcase at the APAP Convention during their inaugural season, followed by finalist appearances at both the NAXOS/EMA Recording Competition (2011) and the Baroque Performance Competition (2012).

Their discography on VGo Recordings includes Friends of Ferdinand (2013), an exploration of 17th-century chamber music, and Queen of Heaven (2015), featuring the sacred works of Isabella Leonarda. A longstanding collaboration with countertenor Reginald Mobley produced Peace in Our Time (2018), released to mark the 400th anniversary of the Thirty Years' War. Recent projects have celebrated music by Black, Brown, and underrepresented composers from the Americas, with a particular focus on the works of Florence Beatrice Price.