Wayward Sisters is Beth Wenstrom (baroque violin), Anne Timberlake (recorders), Anna Steinhoff (baroque cello), and John Lenti (theorbo and guitar). In 2011, Wayward Sisters won the Early Music America/Naxos recording competition, and will record their debut CD with Naxos during the 2011-2012 season. Critics have praised Wayward Sisters' "imaginative program and alert, stylish performances," as well as the group's "polished and spirited playing and well-balanced ensemble" (Chicago Classical Review).

Since debuting in 2009, Wayward Sisters has excited and inspired audiences across the United States, including appearing as Emerging Artists on the Newberry Consort's 2010-2011 concert season. Members of Wayward Sisters have studied historical performance at Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, and The Juilliard School.

The name "Wayward Sisters" refers not only to Henry Purcell's vivid conjuring of Shakespeare's witches, but to the group members' scattered lives and continuing commitment to making music together.

Beth Wenstrom's performances have been described by The New Yorker as "elegant and sensual, stylishly wild."  As an early music specialist, Ms. Wenstrom can be heard performing in Apollo's Fire, Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Concert Royal, Early Music New York (Fred Renz, director), and Clarion Music Society.  As soloist and concertmaster she has performed under the direction of William Christie and Christopher Hogwood in Juilliard415.  Ms. Wenstrom is committed to furthering emerging artistic visions in such groups as Chicago-based Wayward Sisters and St. Paul's Flying Forms.

In her modern guise, Ms. Wenstrom has served as concertmaster of the Richmond County Orchestra on Staten Island. She is also a passionate chamber musician and continues to collaborate with colleagues from summer festivals Kneisel Hall and Musicorda, where she was winner of the 2002 Concerto Competition.

In addition to performing, Ms. Wenstrom is a committed and dynamic pedagogue.  She has taught undergraduates at Stony Brook University and has been invited to coach baroque ensembles at Rutgers University and SUNY Stony Brook.

Born, raised and musically trained in Fairbanks, Alaska, Ms. Wenstrom continued her education with a BM from Oberlin Conservatory, an MM from NEC and a DMA from SUNY Stony Brook.  Most recently, she received a Graduate Diploma from The Juilliard School in the inaugural class of the historical performance division, where she studied baroque violin with Cynthia Roberts and Monica Huggett.  Her principal modern teachers have included Marilyn McDonald, Lucy Chapman, Pamela Frank and Soovin Kim.

Anne Timberlake has appeared across the United States performing repertoire from Bach to twenty-first-century premieres to Celtic tunes. She holds degrees in recorder performance from Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Alison Melville, and Indiana University, where she studied with Eva Legene and won the 2007 Early Music Institute Concerto Competition. Critics have praised her "fine technique and stylishness," "unexpectedly rich lyricism" (Letter V), and "dazzling playing" (Chicago Classical Review).

Anne has received awards from the American Recorder Society and the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, and was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study recorder performance in Belgium. With Musik Ekklesia, Anne has recorded for the Sono Luminus label.

Anne is a founding member of the ensemble Wayward Sisters, specializing in music of the early baroque. In 2011, Wayward Sisters won Early Music America's Naxos Recording Competition. In addition, The Newberry Consort presented Wayward Sisters as Emerging Artists during the 2010-2011 concert season.

Anne enjoys teaching as well as playing. In addition to maintaining a private studio, Anne has coached through Indiana University's Pre-College Recorder Program, the Virginia Baroque Performance Institute, Mountain Collegium, Catacoustic Consort's community recorder program, and for numerous ARS chapters.

Anna Steinhoff, cellist, enjoys making music old and new. As a baroque cellist she is a regular member of Chicago’s period instrument orchestra, Baroque Band. As a modern cellist, Anna has performed in ensembles including the New Millennium Orchestra and Dal Niente and is a former member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra.

Anna has performed on a variety of early instruments including baroque cello, viola da gamba, and bass violin with ensembles such as the Newberry Consort, Music of the Baroque, the Callipygian Players, Chicago Opera Theater, the Bach and Beethoven Ensemble and Madison Bach Musicians. This coming year brings several exciting new projects including performances with the Haymarket Opera Company and Second City Musick.

In addition to classical music, Anna has recorded and performed with bands such as Saturday Looks Good To Me, Flashpapr, Function Ensemble, City Cricket, and Ontologist.

A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and Northwestern University, Anna studied with Peter Rejto and Hans Jensen.

John Lenti has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician on lute and theorbo across the United States and abroad, and his performances have been broadcast on “Performance Today” and “Harmonia.” His playing has been described as “a joy to behold” (Seattle Times) and praised for its “nuanced beauty and character” (Gramophone) and "uncommonly big sound" (Third Coast Digest).

His recording credits include Division with Ostraka, And I remain... with soprano Linda Tsatsanis, and The Amorous Lyre with La Monica, plus forthcoming releases with Seattle Baroque and Portland Baroque Orchestra. John has also played with Seattle Opera, American Bach Soloists, Seraphic Fire, and Pittsburgh Opera (with Chatham Baroque) and is a founding member of the award-winning renaissance quartet Plaine & Easie.

He studied lute with Nigel North, Jacob Heringman, and Elizabeth Kenny and holds degrees from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Indiana University.


Photo of John Lenti by Eric Rynearson