About Us

    AGAVE is a dynamic, young, Bay Area ensemble specializing in string chamber music of the seventeenth century. Over the past several years, Agave Baroque has received numerous awards and accolades, and gained local and national attention for their vibrant performances and growing discography. Now in their fifth season, Agave Baroque has emerged as a unique and innovative voice in the early music community, both locally and nationally.

    Founded in 2008, Agave Baroque received its first taste of national exposure less than a year after its inception, when the ensemble was selected by Early Music America to perform in a showcase concert at the APAP Convention in New York City. In 2009, The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles commissioned Agave Baroque to design and adapt a program of music by Henry Purcell and his contemporaries especially for performance in the Museum's intimate Tula Tea Room. The group premiered "Cold Genius" at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in 2010, and subsequently recorded this program in the glorious acoustic of Sonoma County's Green Music Center. In 2011, Early Music America selected Agave Baroque as one of five finalists in the NAXOS/EMA Recording Competition. In 2012, the group was selected by the San Francisco Early Music Society to present a Mainstage event at the 2012 Berkeley Early Music Festival. In the Fall of 2012, Agave Baroque competed as one of six finalists in the Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, held in New York. Most recently, they received a $3,000 grant from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music to record a CD featuring the music of Bohemian violinist Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, entitled The Otherworldly Fiddler.

    Agave Baroque has performed to sold-out crowds throughout the Bay Area, including Barefoot Chamber Concerts, Chattanooga Chamber Music, Old First Concerts, Sonoma Bach, and Trinity Chamber Concerts, as well as at Fresno Pacific University, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, The Arizona Early Music Society, Johnsons of Madrid (NM), and the Berkeley Early Music Festival. On-air appearances include KPFK Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles, New Mexico Public Radio, as was twice featured on NPR's Harmonia early music radio program. Agave Baroque has also presented several programs to groups of K-12 educators as part of the San Francisco Symphony's "Keeping Score" program.

    Agave Baroque is Aaron Westman (baroque violin), Shirley Hunt (viola da gamba), Kevin Cooper (baroque guitar), and JungHae Kim (harpsichord/organ). Agave Baroque has featured several guest artists including Mary Springfels (viola da gamba), Josh Lee (viola da gamba), David Wilson (baroque violin), and Daniel Zuluaga (theorbo).

    • Aaron Westman | Violin

      Aaron Westman has performed as a violinist, violist, and soloist with the American Bach Soloists, Seicento String Band, the Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, and El Mundo, and as a principal player with Berkeley West Edge Opera, Bach Collegium San Diego, Magnificat, Ensemble Mirable, Music at St. Alban's, Seraphic Fire, and the San Francisco Bach Choir. He performs regularly with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Orchester Wiener Akademie, New Hampshire Music Festival, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Aaron has toured extensively in the United States, Mexico, South America, and Europe. He has recorded on the Dorian/Sono Luminus, Magnatune, NCA and Philharmonia Baroque Productions labels, and was recently featured on NPR's Performance Today as a soloist with the Seicento String Band. Aaron is Associate Director of the Live Oak Baroque Orchestra and co-director of Agave Baroque along with his wife, Shirley Hunt.

    • Shirley Hunt | Baroque cello & viola da gamba

      Shirley Hunt makes herself known in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond as a rising star in the field of historical performance. Ms. Hunt performs on Baroque cello and viola da gamba with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the American Bach Soloists, Agave Baroque, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, and the cello duo Bradamante. Other recent engagements include performances with Musica Pacifica, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Bach Collegium San Diego, Berkeley West Edge Opera, and Archetti. In addition to numerous orchestral and chamber performances, Ms. Hunt appears a a recitalist and concerto soloist across the United States and Europe.

    • JungHae Kim | harpsichord

      Korean-born JungHae Kim earned her bachelor's degree in harpsichord at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. She then earned a master's in historical performance in harpsichord at the Oberlin Conservatory before completing her studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam on a Haskell Scholarship. Ms. Kim's perfomances have been described as inspired, fluid, engaging, emotionally exquisite, warm and inviting. Her unique style blends a sparkling virtuoso technique with a gentle and lyrical sensibility that makes music of this genre instantly accessible to the modern ear.

    • Kevin Cooper | classical & baroque guitarist

      Kevin Cooper is a classical and baroque guitarist from central California with an affinity for the extremes of modern and early music. He performs as a soloist and as a member of the Coprario Consort, Agave Baroque, and Ensemble Mirable. Mr. Cooper records for Lifescapes, Lorenz Corporation and Doberman Editions. In 2006, he was honored as 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.

    Click on images to view bios.

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