William Simcoe, Guitar & Lisa Nielson, Cello

William Simcoe & Lisa Nielson - the Artists

William Simcoe
William Simcoe lives in Albany, New York, with his wife Elizabeth and he is the father of Renée, Tom and John. Bill was born in 1952, and began playing guitar at age 15. His formal classical guitar studies were with Anthony Sano. Bill continues his studies by attending workshops each year. In 2000, 2001 and 2002 Bill attended the Stetson International Guitar Workshop, in Deland, Florida.

Bill is a director of the Classical Guitar Society of Upstate New York. Bill is an artist member and Vice President of the Monday Musical Club of Albany, and has performed annually in their artist concert series since 1999. Bill has performed solo at the Siena College, First Presbyterian Church, RPI Chapel + Cultural Center, and The Hyde Collection Art Museum in Glens Falls.

In 2001 and 2002 Bill has performed at The Hyde Collection Art Museum, at the First Oneonta Fall Guitar Festival, on the Syracuse Channel 3 TV program “Entre Vecinos”, on Albany’s public radio station WAMC “Performance Place”, at the Albany’s First Night celebration, at Caffe Lena in Saratoga, and at the Osceola Center for the Arts.

In 2002 Bill released a CD, “Studies, Memories & Moons”, which includes the 20 solo guitar studies, “Estudios Sencillos”, of Leo Brouwer, the “Suite del Recuerdo” of Jose Luis Merlin, and “Three Moons” for guitar and cello by David Leisner.

Lisa Nielson
Lisa Nielson received her Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance from the University of Maine at Orono as a student of Diane Harrington Roscetti and earned her Masters in Cello Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University, studying with Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet. While at Northern, she began playing and doing research on the viola da gamba with Dr. Robert Green and shifted her focus from cello to the viol. W. Simcoe & L. Nielson After finishing her Masters, she went to Seattle, Washington to study viol and rebec with Margriet Tindemans at the University of Washington. While in Seattle, she formed Duo Elise with keyboardist Lisa Lewis, performing numerous recitals and chamber concerts on both ‘cello and viol and participated in performances of Medieval liturgical dramas such as Ordo Virtutum and The Play of Daniel. During the summer, she was a full scholarship student to the Oberlin Baroque Institute, where she was given the opportunity to work with artists such as Catharina Meints, Stanley Ritchie, Webb Wiggins, and Mary Anne Ballard over the course of several years.

Ms. Nielson has performed as a guest artist and lecturer in the Faculty Concert Series at Northern Illinois University, with Duo Elise at the Frye Art Museum Chamber Series and Early Music Guild Concert Assistance Program in Seattle, Washington, the Capital Chamber Artists and Monday Musical Club of Albany, NY, and is a past member of the Bangor Symphony and Bangor, Maine. She has collaborated with several artists for recording projects; most recently with William Simcoe as part of "Studies, Memories and Moons" and an upcoming CD of French Baroque chamber music with Robert Green. She currently resides in Albany, New York, where she teaches both cello and viol and performs frequently with guitarist William Simcoe as the other half of Spiral Duo.