GEMS joins the broader early music community in mourning the loss of Judith Davidoff, the "Grande Dame of the viol". After starting her career in Boston in the 1950s, she joined Noah Greenberg's New York Pro Musica in the early ‘60s. She later founded the New York Consort of Viols, served as a founding member of Music for A While with LaNoue Davenport and Sheila Schonbrun, performed regularly with the Waverly Consort, and cultivated a robust private teaching studio. Read a wonderful tribute to Judith here from Pat Neely.

GEMS presented Judith with our second Gemini award in 2015, honoring her life and work in the New York City early music scene. A slide show put together as part of that celebration can be seen here, with many wonderful photos and fliers for events over the years. While many of her recordings are out of print, one of her later recordings with the New York Consort of Viols, Road to Valencia, is still for sale on the GEMS online store.

Play on, Judith. We will miss you.