Kiele (Ki) Sacco
Historical Keyboardist & Tuner
About
Kiele (Ki) Sacco is an American harpsichordist and a Master of Music graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied under James Johnstone and Nicholas Parle. Based in London, she is a founding member of two historical performance groups, The Great Bear Ensemble and Duo Pathopoeia, and regularly performs with the Piccadilly Sinfonietta. She is currently a sessional lecturer in harpsichord at Morley College.Recent performances include appearances at the 5th and 7th edition of Prangins Baroque, Leeds Minster, St. George's Hanover Square, Danny House, The Music Summer School and Festival, Benslow Music, the London International Festival of Early Music, and the Dartington Summer School. Ki has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Steven Devine, Bojan Čičić, Emma Kirkby, John Butt, Rachel Podger, and Nigel North.
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Alongside her performing career, she is passionate about early keyboard tuning, historical temperaments, and instrument maintenance.In her free time, Ki is often outside in nature, birdwatching, and wildlife photography.
Musical Groups
Kiele is a founding member of two ensembles, The Great Bear Ensemble and Duo Pathopoeia. Both projects reflect her passion for historical performance and for discovering lesser-known music, combining research, collaboration and historically informed practice to create fresh and engaging approaches to early repertoire.
The Great Bear Ensemble
Kiele is one of the founding members of The Great Bear Ensemble, alongside Francine Maas, and Matthew Millkey.
Formed in 2024, The Great Bear Ensemble is an up and coming historical chamber group based in London. The ensemble takes its name from G. F. Handel, whose gruff temperament and imposing stature earned him the nickname “the Great Bear.” TGBE actively performs both at home and abroad, with recent recitals at Danny House, the Royal College of Music Museum, and the Prangins Baroque festival in Switzerland. Recent projects have focused on Austro-German and Italian music ca. 1650–1700, including efforts to make the first-ever recording of Erlebach’s Sonata in A major with a second violin in place of the viola da gamba.The ensemble is committed to presenting the results of original research on the concert stage. TGBE embraces the performer-led nature of the HIP movement, along with the notion that performance practice has been at least as important for making sense of texts, images, and instruments as the other way round.
Duo Pathopoeia
Duo Pathopoeia, named after the eponymous musical-rhetorical figure defined in Joachim Burmeister’s Musica Poetica (1606), is a violin-keyboard duo specialising in the performance of 17th century repertoire. Violinist Matthew Millkey and historical keyboardist Kiele Sacco began collaborating while studying at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and have since curated several recital programmes, particularly highlighting the stylus phantasticus. With a keen interest in research, the duo endeavors both to bring forgotten works to the concert stage and to present new interpretations of well-known staples of the repertoire. Recent projects include the recording of four different versions of JP von Westhoff’s Sonata “la Guerra”, each one performed in the style of a different well-known violinist of the Baroque period. Based in London, Matthew and Kiele are both founding members of The Great Bear Ensemble.
The Great Bear Ensemble
Kiele is one of the founding members of The Great Bear Ensemble, alongside Francine Maas, and Matthew Millkey.
Formed in 2024, The Great Bear Ensemble is an up and coming historical chamber group based in London. The ensemble takes its name from G. F. Handel, whose gruff temperament and imposing stature earned him the nickname “the Great Bear.” TGBE actively performs both at home and abroad, with recent recitals at Danny House, the Royal College of Music Museum, and the Prangins Baroque festival in Switzerland. Recent projects have focused on Austro-German and Italian music ca. 1650–1700, including efforts to make the first-ever recording of Erlebach’s Sonata in A major with a second violin in place of the viola da gamba.The ensemble is committed to presenting the results of original research on the concert stage. TGBE embraces the performer-led nature of the HIP movement, along with the notion that performance practice has been at least as important for making sense of texts, images, and instruments as the other way round.
Duo Pathopoeia
Duo Pathopoeia, named after the eponymous musical-rhetorical figure defined in Joachim Burmeister’s Musica Poetica (1606), is a violin-keyboard duo specialising in the performance of 17th century repertoire. Violinist Matthew Millkey and historical keyboardist Kiele Sacco began collaborating while studying at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and have since curated several recital programmes, particularly highlighting the stylus phantasticus. With a keen interest in research, the duo endeavors both to bring forgotten works to the concert stage and to present new interpretations of well-known staples of the repertoire. Recent projects include the recording of four different versions of JP von Westhoff’s Sonata “la Guerra”, each one performed in the style of a different well-known violinist of the Baroque period. Based in London, Matthew and Kiele are both founding members of The Great Bear Ensemble.
Press
Continuo Connect profiles Kiele Sacco in an interview exploring her journey into historical keyboard performance, her work with The Great Bear Ensemble and Duo Pathopoeia, and her approach to Historically Informed Performance. Kiele discusses the teachers, instruments, repertoire and research that have shaped her musical identity, as well as her belief in Early Music as an ongoing conversation between performers, sources and audiences.
Music educator, Arwen Norman, interviews Kiele (Ki) Sacco for the Glastonbury Citizen (published on July 16, 2026).
Leeds Minster Recital – Review by Tyke It To The Limit
Stan Graham’s review of Kiele Sacco’s Leeds Minster recital praised the thoughtfully curated programme, which traced a journey from Renaissance England through the French Baroque. The review highlighted Kiele’s ability to bring together works by Byrd, Fischer, Scarlatti, Bach and Couperin into an accessible and engaging programme, while noting how effectively her playing filled the historic Minster with the distinctive sound of the harpsichord.
Media
Photos
Contact
Please feel free to contact me, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Events
Please continue to check here for future events!!! :)
Past Events
U.K.
September 7-13th, 2026 - Prangins Baroque - 7th Edition
July 29th, 2026 @13:00 - Christ Church, Waltham Cross
July 17th, 2026 @13:00 - Leeds Minster
June 15th, 2026 @19:15 - Danny House, not open to the public
July 12, 2026 @15:00 - St. Rumble's Church, Stoke Doyle - Organ and Harpsichord Recital
March 10, 2026, 18:00 @Royal College of Music Museum - Accompanying doctoral student, Matthew Millkey
March 4, 2026, 12:00 @Christ Church, East Sheen - Duo Pathopoeia
March 2, 2026, 19:15 @Danny House - Duo Pathopoeia
January 26, 2026, 19:15 @Danny House - Virginal Recital
November 19th, 2025, 13:10 @St. George's Hanover Square - Duo Pathopoeia
October 21st, 2025, 12:30 @St. John the Baptist, Holland Road - The Great Bear Ensemble
September 9th, 2025, 13:00 @St. Paul's Church, Bedford - Musicians from The Great Bear Ensemble/Duo Pathopoeia
March 23rd, 2025, 13:00-15:00 @London Handel Hendrix House - Informal Performance with Kristiina Watt (voice and theorbo) & Kiele Sacco (harpsichord)
February 24th, 2025, 19:15 @Danny House - The Great Bear Ensemble performs for the first time in West SussexU.S.A.
March 9, 2025, 10:30 @All Saints' Episcopal Church, East Hartford, CT - A Varietie of Harpsichord Lessons
March 11, 2025, 13:30 @The Residence at Glastonbury, Glastonbury, CT - A Varietie of Harpsichord Lessons
March 13, 2025, 19:30 - Mrs. Korman's Piano Studio, South Glastonbury, CT - A Varietie of Harpsichord Lessons
March 14, 2025, 19:30 @Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester, NY - A Varietie of Harpsichord Lessons
A Varietie of Harpsichord Lessons
Kiele curated two versions of a programme, titled, A Varietie of Harpsichord Lessons, inspired by Robert Dowland's publication, A Varietie of Lute Lessons, for her recent visit to the U.S.A. in March. These programmes present an array of national styles and forms, and try to appeal to audiences by the differences in character.
