Fiona Hook – Total Baroque Magazine

Sergio Bucheli, a Mexican lutenist at the heart of European Baroque music

At just 28, Sergio Bucheli has already lived several musical lives: a young guitarist in Mexico City, a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School thanks to the Rolling Stones, a lute student in London, and now a sought-after continuo player with some of Europe’s leading baroque ensembles. From Bach to Dowland, from Handel to Virginia Woolf, he reflects on his arrival in England, his love of singers, and the day he cut off his fingernails so he could never play the guitar again.

by Fiona Hook 19 August 2026

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Beniamino Paganini: for the Glory of Music

Interview

Young Talents

Beniamino Paganini: for the Glory of Music

Founder of Musica Gloria, a baroque ensemble born out of his early years of training, Belgian flutist and harpsichordist Beniamino Paganini, 31, has cultivated an intimate and devoted approach to music since discovering Monteverdi in Bruges at the age of 7.

by Fiona Hook 15 July 2026

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Greg Skidmore: A Renaissance Man from Canada

Focus

The Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools

Greg Skidmore: A Renaissance Man from Canada

As a teenager in Canada in the 1990s, Greg Skidmore could not fully pursue his passion for Renaissance polyphony. Having since become a London-based baritone, he founded the Canadian Renaissance Music Summer Schools to offer others what he himself had lacked: the opportunity to study, sing and pass on this repertoire at the highest level.

by Fiona Hook 12 May 2026

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Portrait

Countertenors: the South American Pipeline

Samuel Mariño: From Caracas to Paris

Trained in Caracas and then at the Conservatoire de Paris, the sopranist Samuel Mariño, with his crystal-clear, high-pitched voice, recounts how he failed his diploma because he was not a countertenor, how he sources his flamboyant stage costumes in thrift shops, and why he dreams of a kinder and more benevolent world than the one in which he spent his childhood.

by Fiona Hook 9 April 2026

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Franco Fagioli: from San Miguel de Tucumán to Madrid

Portrait

Countertenors: the South American pipeline

Franco Fagioli: from San Miguel de Tucumán to Madrid

Trained in his native city of San Miguel de Tucumán in Argentina, then at the theatre school in Buenos Aires, countertenor Franco Fagioli now lives in Madrid. He speaks about his favourite opera houses, the unexpected discovery of his voice, and that persistent childhood dream: to become Mozart’s friend!

by Fiona Hook 26 February 2026

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Portrait

Countertenors: the South American pipeline

Bruno de Sá, from São Paulo to Berlin

A sopranist since childhood, Bruno de Sá first stepped onto the stage at the age of two. He now tells us how, by defying gender stereotypes, he designs his own stage outfits and became the first man to sing many roles traditionally assigned to women.

by Fiona Hook 19 February 2026

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Maximiliano Danta, from Montevideo to Innsbruck

Portrait

Contertenors: the South American pipeline

Maximiliano Danta, from Montevideo to Innsbruck

Trained in Uruguay and then in Italy, countertenor Maximiliano Danta explores early music as both singer and multi-instrumentalist, while continuing, whenever possible, his commitment to working with underprivileged children.

by Fiona Hook 12 February 2026

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Dennis Orellana, from Honduras to Austria

Portrait

Countertenors: the South American pathway

Dennis Orellana, from Honduras to Austria

From Honduras to Europe’s leading stages, Dennis Orellana found his voice almost by chance, somewhere between trombone, choir, and symphonic metal. Fascinated by Bach and Handel and revealed by a visionary teacher, he recounts his meteoric journey—from his beginnings in Madrid to his discovery of Europe—and that overwhelming sensation of finally feeling “at home” on stage.

by Fiona Hook 5 February 2026

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Georgia Burashko: from Wagner to Early Music

Interview

YOUNG TALENTS

Georgia Burashko: from Wagner to Early Music

Trained in Canada and then in Europe, and a former member of Le Jardin des Voix (Les Arts Florissants), mezzo-soprano Georgia Burashko explores early music with a blend of stylistic curiosity and a strong sense of collective adventure.

by Fiona Hook 13 January 2026

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Interview

Young Talents

Charlotte Spruit: Between Two Violins

Dutch classical violinist Charlotte Spruit only discovered the Baroque instrument at university, but now they’re linked for life. She looks back on this unexpected turning point, her first steps on gut strings, the momentum sparked by the Bach Competition, and how she now moves between Baroque and modern, refusing to choose one over the other.

by Fiona Hook 25 November 2025

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Articles by Fiona Hook

Sergio Bucheli, a Mexican lutenist at the heart of European Baroque music

Beniamino Paganini: for the Glory of Music

Greg Skidmore: A Renaissance Man from Canada

Samuel Mariño: From Caracas to Paris

Franco Fagioli: from San Miguel de Tucumán to Madrid

Bruno de Sá, from São Paulo to Berlin

Maximiliano Danta, from Montevideo to Innsbruck

Dennis Orellana, from Honduras to Austria

Georgia Burashko: from Wagner to Early Music

Charlotte Spruit: Between Two Violins