Simone Molinaro (1565-1615) was born in Genua where he studied with his uncle Giovanni Battista dalla Gostena, who was Maestro di Capella at the Genoa cathedral. In 1593 Gostena was murdered and Molinaro succeeded him. In 1599 Molinaro published his Intavolatura di Liuto, containing lute works both by himself and by Gostena.In his Dances for lute Molinaro eschews formal counterpoint. They are purely melodic and harmonic works, attractive and appealing. The instrumental writing is highly skillful and graceful, with a strong vocal quality, capable of expressing all human emotions.

Ugo Nastrucci is a lutenist, theorbist and composer. He is co-founder of prestigious Early Music groups such as Europa Galante, Ensemble Pian e Forte, I Barocchisti, and Ensemble Zefiro.