our mission

Bacchanalia's mission is to perform early music on period instruments, to enrich the culture of New York by making early music a part of the community, and to foster an atmosphere where music is supported and appreciated by a wide and diverse audience through its concerts and children’s presentations. 

We aim to foster creativity and experimentation in both historical performance practice and seek to include music from different cultures and some modern compositions as well. To that end, we explore the music of different cultures and create intersections between them. 

We also believe that baroque music was intended as a living art form that incorporates improvisation and creativity of expression, while remaining faithful to tradition and to knowledge passed down through active participation and study. 

 A native of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Bráz began his violin and viola studies at age 10 and began touring and playing with many prominent international musicians at a young age. After coming to the US, he appeared with numerous orchestras in venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Town Hall in New York City. He founded The Terra Symphony Orchestra in 2015. The orchestra's mission is to foster appreciation for the art and classical music of Brazil, and to share it with the world. The orchestra appears regularly at the Dimenna Center in New York City. Braz has been featured on Saturday Night Live, The View, and The Today Show, and has appeared at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall with contemporary pop artists including Marc Anthony, Rihanna, and Dionne Warwick. 

Ellis Burrows made her career in the financial services industry in Miami, Florida and New York City, where she worked as a Director on the retail side of UBS Financial Services during the last 19 years of her career. She is retired as of 2016. Of note is her appreciation for classical music, both as a listener and as a participant, growing up playing the piano as well as oboe and trombone throughout high school. 

Gabe Kirchheimer is a music producer, drummer, engineer and photographer, and is lead editor of supplied content for Bloomberg Media Group. He has performed with, recorded and created promotional material for a wide range of music ensembles, and is the proprietor of Studio Chill, a rehearsal and recording facility in Times Square, established in 1995. His band, CCB All-Stars, is the most popular and longstanding reggae band in New York City. 

Dee Ann McIntyre serves on the board of the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe. She also serves as vice-president of the McIntyre Foundation in Cedar Rapids, and is on the Board of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation in Wichita, KS. She is a member of the National Advisory Board for the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and is a member of the Circles of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Her background is working in the state legislative process. She was the Director of Committee Staff for the Oklahoma State Senate, the administrative assistant to the House Minority Leader and to the Senate Majority Leader in Kansas. She was a project manager for Legis50, the Center for Legislative Improvement in Denver. She was a regional manager for The Alliance of American Insurers in Chicago and Director of State Affairs for the National Association of Insurance Brokers in Washington, DC

Founder and director Laura Thompson is a versatile musician, equally adept on both modern and historical flutes, and is highly regarded as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and educator. She has appeared as soloist with the Schiller Institute Orchestra and the New York Chamber Players, and has appeared with The American Classical Orchestra, The New York Collegium, The Westchester Symphony, The Garden State Philharmonic, Teatro Lirico D'Europa, MidAtlantic Opera, The Green Mountain Opera Festival, The Strathmere Festival Orchestra, Lyric Opera of New York. In addition, she has performed with the Tafelmusic Festival Orchestra, and at the Longy and Amherst early music festivals.