Arcadia Viols

About Arcadia Viols

Arcadia Viols, founded in 2009, is  a consort of viols or ensemble of violas da gamba, associated with Arcadia Players.

A viol (rhymes with 'smile') is a bowed, fretted string instrument which typically has six strings and a fingerboard fitted with adjustable frets.

Viols come in many shapes and sizes, but all are held vertically between the legs or on the lap.

Consorts of viols representing different ranges and different sizes were most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The current members of Arcadia Viols are Robert Eisenstein, Jane Hershey, Alice Robbins, Douglas Kelley, and Anne Legêne.


Five musicians each with a string instrument stand outdoors and smile at each other and the camera.
From left, Douglas Kelley, Jane Hershey, Alice Robbins, Anne Legêne, Robert Eisenstein
Arcadia Viols in Great Barrington

Recent Arcadia Viols Performances

Arcadia Viols with lutenist Christopher Kendall and harpsichordist Ian Watson

The ensemble has performed in many venues in the Northeast and beyond, including the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Music Before 1800 in New York, the Folger Library and National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and the Boston Early Music Fringe Festival. The consort also teaches at workshops and frequently appears in the Arcadia Players series.  

Past performances include J.S. Bach’s “The Art of the Fugue” at Clark University in Worcester, MA, and at Tufts University; “Lachrimae” in Hadley, MA, and “The Wonder of Will” with Stile Antico and the Folger Consort. Its program of adventurous music from the 17th and 21st centuries, “Viols on the Edge,” was performed at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Mount Holyoke Summit House Concerts and Tufts University. 

Arcadia Viols recently presented a thought-provoking program including a set of pieces based on the hexachord including English Renaissance fantasies as well as Froberger’s fantasia on the hexachord and American composer Larry Wallach’s Restless Hexachords. The program was performed at the Society for Historically Informed Performance in Eastern Massachusetts and at Concerts at 7 in Plainfield, Mass., as well as on the Arcadia Players season. 

During the previous Arcadia Players season in a collaboration with Newton Baroque, the viols performed a program of Tenebrae lessons by Capricornus and Colonna with organist Andrus Madsen and sopranos Agnes Coakley Cox and Teresa Wakim.  In November 2026 the ensemble will again perform on the Arcadia Players series in a program of English music for voices and viols. 


Four performers on a stage with music stands and various stringed instruments.

Arcadia Viols Repertoire

Arcadia Viols offers programs of music for 4 or 5 viols. The versatile consort often performs with voice(s), keyboard instruments or lute, and welcomes collaborations with choruses in concert and church settings. Arcadia Viols is equally at home with music from the 20th and 21st centuries (Will Ayton is a favorite composer, and his lush and expressive music is often included on our concerts) as with the vast repertoire of Renaissance and Baroque music available to viols.

Contact for more information and booking inquiries

Email us at info@arcadiaplayers.org or call the office at 413-586-8742.

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