the core
Gail Hernández Rosa - Baroque Violin, Viola & Vocals
Grew up in Puerto Rico, where music is a strong part of everyday life. Her love for music started at a young age, allegedly singing before speaking. Supported by her father’s fascination with classical music and his training as a baritone, she started violin lessons at age three and voice lessons at age six.
Her career has taken her all over the world, living in several continents and performing with groups such as Gabrieli Consort & Players, Florilegium & Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Her interest in period instrument performance led her to London where she gained a Master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Music. Thanks to her cultural immersion and Scottish roots, her love affair with baroque and Celtic folk music further blossomed, inspiring her to co-found Beneath A Tree - Baroque To Folk.
Gail is based in Monte Rio and performs with American Bach Soloists, Washington Bach Consort, Philharmonia Baroque, Bach Collegium SD, Ars Minerva, Voices of Music, Opera Neo, leads Marin Baroque, Lakeside Camerata & California Bach Society and has an active career as a soloist & chamber musician.
Her engagements as a soloist and chamber musician include Valley of the Moon Festival, Lumedia MusicWorks, University of San Diego, Sonoma State University, American Bach Soloist Festival (Beneath A Tree), Marin Baroque, Lakeside Camerata and Kreutzer Quartet.
She believes in the power of music education, which has led her to be faculty at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland & Hill House International School.
As part of SCO Connects she was chamber music coach/conductor, given Masterclasses in the US & UK and has served as adjudicator for the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Competition and Junior Bach Festival. In 2021, Gail joined Sonoma State University’s Music Department.
Her recordings include Chopin Piano Concertos and Mozart Opera Arias & Overtures with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Linn Records), Telemann and Janitsch with Tempesta di Mare (Chandos Early Music) and Mythologies Past and Present with the Washington Bach Consort (Acis Productions). Gail’s debut solo album in Collaboration with Beneath A Tree was released in 2022.
Gail has a strong yoga & meditation practice. She loves cooking, hiking, open water swimming and laughing out loud at the many wonders that life offers.
Daniel Turkos - Contrabass, Cittern/Irish Bouzouki & Vocals
Bassist DANIEL TURKOS is a freelance musician, educator and arts administrator based in San Francisco, CA, who maintains a busy performing schedule in orchestral, chamber, and solo settings as well as playing bluegrass, jazz and theatre. He performs regularly with The American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Handel & Haydn Society, Tempesta di Mare - Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, The Pennsylvania Ballet, Opera Philadelphia, The Philly Pops, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, The Wayne Oratorio Society, Pig Iron Theatre, Villanova Theatre and with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on a national tour with saxophonist Branford Marsalis. As an advocate for the promotion of cultural diversity and social change through music, Dan is a founding member of Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, which is the ensemble-in-residence at the historic Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia.
Dan is the co-founder of Beneath a Tree - Baroque to Folk, a group that explores the interrelationships found between classical baroque music and folk music, from traditional fiddle music through American bluegrass practices. Dan performs on contrabass, octave mandolin and vocals. Their album My Cup of Tea was released May 2022. His recordings include the music of Telemann and Janitsch with Tempesta di Mare under the Chandos early music label and the American Bach Soloists recordings of the complete Bach Orchestral Suites & Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen sings Gluck, Handel & Vivaldi.
Daniel Turkos served as Development Manager of American Bach Soloists from 2018-2020, a world renowned early music group focusing on historically informed performance practice. Their season includes performances, recording projects and educational programs. In addition to his development work with the group, Dan is a regular member of the ABS orchestra.
As a dedicated music educator and outreach coordinator, Dan was the Operations Director at The Primavera Fund, Philadelphia’s premier merit-based program for financially challenged young aspiring musicians. He was a student advocate for the Philadelphia Musical Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Initiative, a faculty member at The Westtown School, Summerfield Waldorf and veteran teaching artist for the internationally recognized El Sistema inspired program Play On, Philly! He maintains a private teaching studio at his home in Monte Rio.
Dan's summer activities include historical performance at The American Bach Soloist Academy, Oregon Bach Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival and The Vivaldi Project Institute for Early Music, performing as Principal Bass at the Music at Penn’s Woods and Catania International Music Festivals, Section Bass at the Colorado Music Festival & Center for Musical Arts and studyingat the National Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria and The American School of Double Bass.
Mr. Turkos holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a minor in Jazz Studies from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Music degree from The Pennsylvania State University with a focus on early music performance practice and a Graduate Professional Diploma from The Hartt School, University of Hartford. His primary teachers include Robert Black, Rob Nairn, Peter Paulsen, and Paul Rostock.