Astrid Knöchlein was born in Rothenburg o.d.T. (Germany) in 1977. During her schooltime she was already a student at the "Meistersinger-Konservatorium" Nürnberg. After graduating from high-school, she became a student of Matthias Weilenmann and Kees Boeke in Zurich, where she received her teaching diploma and concert diploma with distinction.

At the moment she is studying baroque oboe with Martin Stadler at the "Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik" Trossingen.
She is intensively working not only on early music, but also on contemporary music and performed several depute performances which were recorded by radio.

She is prizewinner of several competitions and received invitations to important festivals (e.g. Fränkischer Sommer, IGNM...). Furthermore she is working in different ensembles and orchestras (e.g. Orchestra della Scala, Milano) all over Europe.
She is teaching recorder in Zurich.

"O dolce melodia con vaghi canti..."

The programme shows the wide and colourful range of recorder repertoire.
Starting with the ballata "Lucente Stella" from Codex Rossi, treating the recurrent topos of unfulfilled love. The ballata is the main form of italian Trecento, here for one voice, normally for two or three voices.
" Lucente Stella" is followed by a diminution of Giovanni Bassano over the madrigal "La Rose". The diminution of wellknown melodies was a main component of musical practice in the renaissance, which continued until the early baroque (see Rognoni "Selva de varii passaggi" 1620), where the soft renaissance like flow of the melody develops to a highly expressive, sometimes eruptive one. This can be seen in Uccellinis "Sinfonia prima" where he quotes the famous Aria from Giulio Caccini ("Le nuove musiche", Firenze 1601) "Amarilli mia bella".
The composer Giorgio Tedde says about "Austro", a piece of a continuing flow of sound: "Austro is a transcendental piece, that explores the polyphonic possibilities of the instrument. Austro is the name of a southern wind. The piece whishes to transport this "wind", the southern traditional culture, to the north and to equalize it towards the established cultures."
The process of an increasing rhetoric expression in music, which started during the early baroque period, came to a climax in high baroque. This can be heard also in the different national styles, like in the "Prélude" from Hotteterre, modulating through all the steps of the scale and in the Sonata C-Major from Telemann's "Essercizii musici".