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 recorded 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."  Ms. Wenstrom is a founding member of Wayward Sisters, winner of the 2011 Early Music America/Naxos Competition. As concertmaster she has performed under the direction of William Christie in Les Rencontre Musicales en Vendee in Thiré, France and has performed as violin soloist and concertmaster for Christopher Hogwood in Juilliard415. She also serves as co-concertmaster of New York Baroque Incorporated. Ms. Wenstrom can be heard performing in such ensembles as Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble, Apollo's Fire, Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Brandywine Baroque and Early Music New York (Fred Renz, director).

In addition to performing, Ms. Wenstrom is a committed and dynamic pedagogue.  She has taught undergraduates at Stony Brook University and has coached 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.  Her principal teachers have included Marilyn McDonald, Lucy Chapman, Pamela Frank, Soovin Kim, Cynthia Roberts and Monica Huggett.

Photo by Alexandra Catiere

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, has been described by critics as "soulful" and "the rhythmic heart of the ensemble." Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Anna now makes her home in Chicago, performing in ensembles across the midwest.

In addition to the modern cello, Anna specializes in early instruments such as the baroque cello and viola da gamba. She is principal cello of Chicago's period instrument orchestra, Baroque Band, and has performed with ensembles such as the Haymarket Opera Company, Newberry Consort, Callipygian Players, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Opera Theater, Madison Bach Musicians and Second City Musick. She is a founding member of Wayward Sisters, who won the 2011 EMA/Naxos recording competition and recorded their debut album of music by Matthew Locke in 2012.

Anna received degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Northwestern University, where her principal teachers were Peter Rejto and Hans Jensen.

John Lenti's playing on theorbo, lute, archlute, and baroque guitar has been described as “a joy to behold” (Seattle Times) and praised for its “nuanced beauty and character” (Gramophone), and he regularly deploys his “uncommonly big sound” (Third Coast Digest) in concert, over the air, and on record to considerable acclaim as a soloist and chamber musician with groups like Seattle Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Bach Collegium San Diego, Magnificat, Mercury Baroque, the New World Symphony, and Seraphic Fire, among many others. His recording credits include albums with Portland Baroque Orchestra and Seattle Baroque, Division with Ostraka, and forthcoming releases with Musica Pacifica and his baroque quartet, Wayward Sisters, winners of the Early Music America/Naxos recording competition. He studied lute with Nigel North, Jacob Heringman, and Elizabeth Kenny, and he is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and Indiana University. Additional musical help and inspiration have come from Ricardo Cobo, Ronn McFarlane, and Walter Gray.


Photo of John Lenti by Eric Rynearson