DR. BRADY LANIER
VIOLA DA GAMBA
Dr. Brady Lanier is a specialist in the viola da gamba, a bowed, fretted stringed instrument popular from the 16th through the 18th century that is prized for its resonant, vocal qualities. A native Texan now based in Virginia, Brady performs as a full-time member of The Governor’s Musick, Colonial Williamsburg’s resident Baroque chamber ensemble. Dr. Lanier currently serves on the music faculty at William & Mary.
Though his musical background began as a cellist, Brady has dedicated the last two decades of his career to the seven-stringed viol. He first discovered the Historically Informed Performance movement around 2004 in his hometown of Houston, where he was soon performing with the Houston Bach Society, Mercury Baroque, and Ars Lyrica. By 2013, his growing passion for the viol led him to Indiana University, where he spent five happy years earning a Masters and a Doctorate in Viola da Gamba Performance, studying with many of the leading figures in the Historical Performance movement. He moved to Virginia in 2018 to perform with the Governor's Musick. His work as a performer and educator has taken him across the country, from teaching at early music workshops such as the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s “Conclave” and the Texas Toot, to performances with groups like the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Musikanten Montana, and the Winter Park Bach Festival in Florida.
He is an active voice in bringing the intimate, gut-stringed sound of the viol to audiences in both ensemble and solo settings. Recently, Brady toured Virginia extensively for three seasons performing with The Wren Masters, a chamber ensemble comprised of current and former William & Mary faculty. As a co-founder of Quaver Viol Consort, he has performed with them at the Boston Early Music Festival, in the Washington National Gallery of Art, at Yale University, and as part of the Barefoot Chamber Series in Berkeley, CA.
As an active solo recitalist, Brady specializes in the sizeable body of repertoire for unaccompanied bass viol, and enjoys sharing his love of the instrument with audiences across the country, having performed solo recitals in Boston, Washington DC, Houston, Bloomington, Richmond, and in his current home of Williamsburg. He is currently focusing on music by English and French composers - view his current repertoire on the "Solo Programs" page of this website.
Brady is also a frequent Bach soloist. He has performed the St. John's Passion, playing both Baroque cello and viola da gamba, around the country: with the Houston Bach Society; the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra; Indiana University's Baroque Orchestra; the Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale; the Winter Park Bach Festival in Florida; and toured Montana with the piece with Musikanten Montana. He has likewise performed the Cantata BWV 106, "Actus Tragicus", many times, in Texas, Indiana, Montana, and Virginia; and has performed the viol parts in the 6th Brandenburg Concerto with the Houston Symphony and Alexandria Symphony. He has performed the St. Matthew's Passion with the Houston Bach Society.
Brady is also much in demand as an arranger and composer, having had works performed by the Houston Symphony and the United States Air Force Orchestra; his arrangements have been featured at the Grand Teton Music Festival and broadcast nationally on NPR and WFIU's "Harmonia" program - listen here and here. He has had three original works performed at Carnegie Hall.