EarlyMusicNews.Org

“Minstrels Gallery were formed to bring early music to a new audience. It has been our experience that there is a genuine interest amongst people would not normally attend a "classical" music concert. The often lively and rhythmic vivacity of the music along with the unusual sound and appearance of the many instruments we play sparks the imagination of our listeners. This was born out by a series of informal concerts held in the Great Hall of the British Museum. A very diverse and mixed audience showed a lot of interest and asked many questions about the music and its performance.

This experience has led Minstrels Gallery to develop a number of concert formats where we not only perform but also explain the music, instruments and their historic setting. This along with our school visits, where children are given the opportunity to play on the many instruments we bring, has convinced us of the enduring delight that early music can create.  …“

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Added on: Dec 28, 2011 | Hits: 143

“The duo Misericordia specialises in the Music and Song of Medieval Britain and Europe.

Anne Marie Summers and Stephen Tyler have been playing and recording together as a duo for over a decade, taking some of the earliest scored music and combining it with the improvisational element of folk music for an exciting and dynamic performance. They are accomplished multi-instrumentalists, and their wide range of instruments allows them many different sound textures to match the different musical traditions of medieval Europe.

A performance by Misericordia will take you from the mesmeric drone-based harmonies of their trademark combination of bagpipes and hurdy-gurdy, to the harmonically sparser sound of recorder and citole, as well as to softer timbres such as voice and harp.

Misericordia regularly perform at concert venues and early music festivals throughout Britain and Europe and have made various recordings.  Originally formed as a duo, they now work regularly with other instrumentalists and singers for a larger ensemble; all are professional and extremely versatile musicians specialising in early music.

Workshops are also available in medieval instrumental music, song, and singing for dancing. ”

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Added on: May 11, 2009 | Hits: 367

"Musica Antiqua of London is one of the foremost early music groups in the UK today. Playing renaissance instruments including viols, recorders, lute, guitar, harp, crumhorns, rebecs, shawms and sackbut, their performing history includes tours on the Early Music Network, the London concert halls, festivals throughout Britain and Europe, and appearances on national radio and television.

Often joined by leading guest artists for larger programmes, Musica Antiqua of London's virtuosity and versatility has won critical acclaim in the music press. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 13, 2008 | Hits: 465

"Musica Donum Dei is based in Nottinghamshire, but performs throughout the Midlands and over an increasingly wide area beyond.

We perform music from Monteverdi to Mozart, and are known for our unusual and accessible programmes. We often use readings, dramatisations and visual images alongside the music to evoke the spirit of the age in lively and imaginative ways.

Members of the ensemble are involved in historical research to revive neglected works, and we are also active in commissioning new ones; we held our first composers' competition in Spring 2006. As well as chamber groups of five to eight players, we can also provide a full-sized baroque or classical orchestra for choral works such as the Monteverdi Vespers, Bach St Matthew Passion or Mozart Requiem.

The ensemble varies in size according to the programme:
* A chamber ensemble of five or six performers
* A trio (flute/recorder or violin, cello or viola da gamba and harpsichord)
* A chamber orchestra with a chamber choir of hand-picked singers for mixed choral and orchestral programmes
* A full-sized baroque or classical orchestra to join your choir in works such as Messiah, or Bach's Mass in B Minor (for more details on MDD's work with choirs "


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Added on: May 04, 2008 | Hits: 439

"What did women sing in the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries?

Musica Secreta was founded in 1990 to explore this question, and we have been particularly fortunate in having the help of the foremost scholars in this exciting new field. The answer seems to be that a lot of it has been sitting for decades on library shelves disguised as madrigals or sacred music for mixed a cappella voices. All that was needed was to rediscover a performance practice that always had taken huge liberties with the printed score. ...

Having performed and recorded music specifically composed by nuns or dedicated to convents, the group now plans to look at "mainstream" polyphony from 16th-century composers (Josquin, Rore, Palestrina, Victoria, Lassus, etc.) and arrange it as the nuns would have done - both accompanied and a cappella - thus giving a fascinating new historical slant to familiar repertoire. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 351

“In 1993 the late Sam Wanamaker asked Philip Pickett to form an associate ensemble to carry the name and ethos of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre around the world through concerts, recordings and broadcasts.

Determined to achieve the highest possible standards of musical performance, Pickett immediately formed the Musicians of the Globe from among the very best of England’s early music instrumentalists. Together with distinguished vocal soloists they explore a colourful and varied repertoire of Elizabethan and Jacobean music, much of it inspired by Shakespeare.

The nucleus of the group – a 6-part English consort of violin, recorder, cittern, lute, bandora and bass viol – can be expanded to perform large-scale programmes of 17th-century music. …”

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Added on: Nov 08, 2012 | Hits: 105

“Drawn from three continents, musicians from My Lady's Chamber have studied in New York, Brisbane and Toronto as well as in London at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music. The group aims to communicate the passion of the Baroque, whilst retaining its essential poise and elegance. ..“

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Added on: Apr 18, 2010 | Hits: 271

“One of the world's leading early music ensembles, Philip Pickett's versatile New London Consort explores a uniquely wide and colourful repertoire of Renaissance and Baroque music presented in carefully planned programmes designed to combine the very best in scholarship and entertainment.

The principal artists, all established soloists in their own right, share a rare unanimity of purpose and style, resulting in the New London Consort's undisputed reputation for artistry, flair and virtuosity.

Their concerts and recordings, while frequently including first modern performances of unpublished, undiscovered or reconstructed masterpieces, also shed unexpected and often controversial new light on more familiar works.”

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Added on: Nov 08, 2012 | Hits: 71

"New Renaissance Voices was formed in 1987 to perform polyphonic music of the 15th and 16th centuries. For ten years the choir made its regular home at St John the Divine, Richmond in south-west London. In 1998 the choir moved its base into central London and sang regularly for two years in the newly refurbished church of St John’s Waterloo. NRV has performed as part of the Southwark Festival and its concerts now regularly take place in Southwark Cathedral.

NRV’s founder and director is Bruce Saunders. A choral scholar at Cambridge and an experienced recitalist and oratorio soloist, he performs regularly with baroque orchestras using period instruments in London and elsewhere, and has appeared as a soloist with many London choirs and choral societies. Active in early music in Bristol and Portsmouth since the early 1970s, he moved to London in 1984 and drew together a group of friends interested in exploring the early music repertoire.

NRV is now a group of about eighteen singers. Since their first concert in March 1987 in the church of St Mary the Virgin Mortlake, the choir, whose name was chosen to echo something of the ars nova style of renaissance polyphony, have given more than fifty concerts exploring the music of composers from Dufay, Ockeghem and Josquin to Gesualdo and Monteverdi. NRV’s repertoire explores European rather than English music. This wider range of styles requires a willingness to move away from the soaring legato with which English Tudor music is customarily performed, in order to learn how to respond vocally in new ways to the enormous variety of demands made by the music of this fascinating period. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 322

“Nuada is a duo/trio playing Celtic, Folk and Early music.

Nuada are...

• Ruth Bramley -- Hurdy gurdy, vocals, guitar, banjo, Appalachian dulcimer and percussion.
• Sam Burke -- Vocals, bouzouki, guitar, laud, percussion, chalmeaux, lute and crumhorn.
• Ferris Jay -- Bagpipes, recorders, flutes, whistles, gemshorn, ocarina and vocals.

Nuada... the Duo

• Sam and Ferris, playing a wide range of traditional Irish, Celtic and Folk music.

Nuada... the Trio

• has more emphasis on the French, Folk and Early music. ..“

Added on: Jul 29, 2009 | Hits: 334

"Formed in 1988 by the Early Music Centre of Great Britain, the Orlando Consort has rapidly achieved a reputation as one of the most expert and consistently challenging groups performing repertoire from the years 1050 to 1500. While all four singers in the group are established soloists, they also contribute enormous experience and expertise in the field of early music gained through working with groups such as the Tallis Scholars and the Gabrieli and Taverner Consorts. Working with leading academics on music that has often never been performed in modern times, they have set new standards of performance, particularly with regard to the pronunciation and tuning of this fascinating repertoire. For their work on the extraordinary techniques of 12th Century Aquitanian polyphony they were awarded the 1996 Noah Greenberg Award by the American Musicological Society. In recent times the Consort has also attracted considerable attention for their imaginative programming of contemporary music and jazz. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 410

"The Oxford Waits take their name from a real-life band of city musicians, known as 'waits,' who flourished in Oxford during the 17th century, the tumultuous era of the English Civil War and Restoration. The performers appear in period costume, and concerts are enlivened by street ballads, dance tunes, airs and rounds as well as readings from diarists and poets. Superb singing voices are matched by specialist skills in an array of instruments that include fiddle, bagpipes, lute, cittern, harpsichord, pipe and tabor, hurdy-gurdy, shawm, flute and percussion. A typical concert line-up consists of four or five performers, but the Oxford Waits are also represented by larger and smaller combinations of musicians, as well as by individual artists in solo recitals. The Oxford Waits are available for public concerts - and for private events too, such as banquets, fairs, dances, themed parties, school visits, weddings, corporate entertainments and Civil War re-enactments. " Visit website for more information. (ed)

Added on: Apr 17, 2008 | Hits: 403

“Palladians (formerly the Palladian Ensemble) is a quartet of the highest calibre, firmly established on the international music scene since 1991. They present baroque chamber music infused with style, uninhibited virtuosity and intelligent musicianship.

The original members of the Palladian Ensemble (Rachel Podger, Pamela Thorby, Joanna Levine and William Carter) met during their studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) where they specialised in virtuoso chamber music of the baroque period. In 1991 they won the Early Music Centre International Young Artists' Competition, in 1992 they won the South East Arts Young Artists' Platform and by 1993 they had released their first album (An Excess of Pleasure) and made their Wigmore Hall debut.

Gamba player Susanne Heinrich replaced cellist Joanna Levine in 1995 and the Palladian Ensemble went on to tour extensively throughout the UK, South America, the US and Europe, enjoying consistent popularity with audiences and critics worldwide. They recorded six more albums on the way. By 2003 Rachel Podger decided to pursue a solo career and thus stepped in the prize-winning violinist Rodolfo Richter. The Ensemble made two more albums Les Elemens and Sonatas and Chorales - J.S. Bach.

The Palladian Ensemble's award-winning series of recordings for Linn Records have received unanimous praise. An Excess of Pleasure, A Choice Collection and Held by the Ears won the prestigious Diapason d'Or, with others winning Gramophone Magazine 'Editor's Choice' plaudits.

In 2007 Pamela Thorby left the Ensemble in order to pursue new performance opportunities. Nowadays, the Palladian Ensemble is known as "Palladians" allowing more artistic freedom for players to come and go as required, depending on the programme being performed.

In 2008 the Ensemble won a further two Diapason d'Or awards for "The London Collection: A Choice Collection / Held by the Ears" and "The Venice Collection: An Excess of Pleasure / The Winged Lion".  The winning albums are part of four double albums re-issued as the Collector's Series in September 2008.  These two new awards brings the Ensemble's total number of Diapason d'Or accolades to seven! “

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Added on: Nov 25, 2011 | Hits: 229

"Since its formation in 1998, The Parnassian Ensemble has gained a reputation for its virtuosic performances and innovative programming. It regularly appears at prestigious venues throughout the British Isles such as The Purcell Room and St John’s, Smith Square, London; St David’s Hall, Cardiff and The Fairfield Hall, Croydon. The ensemble also performs for festivals, music societies and museums as well as schools and universities.

The group’s 2005/6 concert schedule has included appearances at the Cobbe Collection of historical keyboard instruments, Hatchlands, Surrey; the Newbury Spring Festival; the Djanogly Recital Hall, Nottingham; the Firth Hall, University of Sheffield and the Totnes Early Music Society, Devon. They have recently accepted their first invitation to perform at St John’s, Smith Square, London. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 17, 2008 | Hits: 361

"For more than a decade Passacaglia has offered a refreshingly different approach to baroque music. Blending the sweet, articulate sound of recorders and baroque flute with the ravishing sonorities of viola da gamba and harpsichord, Passacaglia provides new insights into familiar music, whilst rediscovering a wealth of beautiful but neglected master works. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 311

"We devise and perform historical music, dance and spectacle for all occasions, specialising in the Elizabethan and Jacobean masque. We can provide anything from a small group of musicians to a stage full of lavishly costumed dancers and actors, and take pride in creating an event which is tailored to your needs. We also have a wealth of experience in the fields of heritage and education, creating unforgettable performances and workshops based on detailed historical research, and taking 'living history' into schools. We enjoy sharing our passion for history with the public. Our musicians tour regularly, and have recorded two cds, Gallimaufry, and the new release Christmas Music in Shakespeare's England. These are available in our shop, where you can also listen to clips. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 15, 2008 | Hits: 330

"Phantasm was founded in 1994 by Laurence Dreyfus, who dreamed of forming a viol consort embodying the highest artistic standards. Inspired by the great twentieth-century string quartets, Phantasm have championed a bold and passionate style of consort playing which does full justice to its magnificent repertoire.

The international members of the quartet (from Britain, Finland and the US) all trained on modern instruments, but were drawn to the viol consort because of the dazzling sonority of the ensemble and the independence of lines cultivated by the complex polyphony. Specialising in music from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the quartet have been applauded across the globe for their moving performances, which embrace the eloquent fantasies of Byrd and Gibbons, the magical works of Lawes and Purcell, even new arrangements of Bach and Mozart. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 14, 2008 | Hits: 302

"Piva is inspired by the professional Waits and Court Bands of the 16th and 17th centuries and specialises in giving lively performances of popular dance music and ballads of the period.

Piva performs in period costume using a range of historically accurate instruments including shawms, bagpipes, hurdy gurdies, curtals, sackbuts, violins and guitar. Their aim is to be faithful to the music and influences of the period whilst adding their own innovative arrangements and interpretations. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 422

“Rachel Podger is one of the most creative talents to emerge in the field of period performance. Over the last two decades she has established herself as a leading interpreter of the music of the Baroque and Classical periods and holds numerous recordings to her name ranging from early seventeenth century music to Mozart. She was educated in Germany and in England at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Takeno and Micaela Comberti.

Added on: Nov 25, 2011 | Hits: 201

"Red Priest is one of the major success stories on the international Early Music scene today. Named after the flame-haired priest, Antonio Vivaldi, this extraordinary English ensemble has re-defined the art of baroque music performance, combining the fruits of extensive research with swashbuckling virtuosity, creative re-composition, heart-on-sleeve emotion and compelling stagecraft. The group performs largely from memory, allowing an operatic level of freedom and interaction, and its highly imaginative programmes are drawn from myriad baroque sources to create a kaleidoscopic range of moods and colours.

Formed in 1997, Red Priest now gives over 60 concerts a year in some of the most prestigious festivals and venues in Europe, Australia and the USA (see below), together with regular Radio and TV broadcasts (notably ITV's South Bank Show) and a series of highly acclaimed and brilliantly original CD recordings on the Dorian label - including their baroque-horror epic, Nightmare in Venice and a best-selling, post-modern take on Vivaldi's Four Seasons. In February 2005 the ensemble pushed the boundaries of baroque performance yet further with the launch of the Red Hot Baroque Show at London's Hackney Empire - a dramatic fusion of 18th century music with 21st century sound, light and video technology. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 08, 2008 | Hits: 668

“Retrospect Ensemble is London's exciting new period instrument orchestra and choir. Founded in 2009 the group has already undertaken major concert tours to the Far East, Middle East and Europe and performed at a number of prestigious UK festivals. Directed by Matthew Halls, one of the UK's most dynamic young conductors and acclaimed keyboard players, Retrospect Ensemble is taking its musicians and audiences on a new journey - exploring the repertoire of four centuries, embracing the practices, styles and aesthetics of former ages with renewed vigour and a fresh approach.

Retrospect Ensemble is a flexible group which performs as an orchestra, a choir, a chamber ensemble (including the Retrospect Trio, whose first recording was issued by Linn Records in May 2009) and other combinations. …”

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Added on: Sep 26, 2011 | Hits: 214

"The Rose Consort of Viols takes its name from the celebrated family of viol makers, whose work spanned the growth and flowering of the English consort repertoire. With its unique blend of intimacy, intricacy, passion and flamboyance, this music ranges from Taverner and Byrd, to Lawes, Locke and Purcell, forming the basis of the Rose Consort's programmes, which may also include singers, lutes and keyboard instruments. The Rose Consort has received awards for its research and performance of newly devised programmes, some of which have been toured on the Early Music Network, and has also commissioned and performed new pieces for voices and viols by Malcolm Bruno, Elizabeth Liddle and Ivan Moody. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 14, 2008 | Hits: 401

"From deeply authentic baroque to wilfully unauthentic Mascagni, Sambuca present four hundred years of music plundered from all over Europe and beyond. Peter Martin performs on guitar, baroque guitar and lute with Michael Copley on recorder, ocarina, flute and other woodwind instruments. Whether classic Handel sonatas, virtuoso Vivaldi concertos, sultry tangos by Piazzolla, exhilarating Albeniz, or lively world music from Bolivia and Macedonia, Sambuca's eclectic range of music has an immediate appeal to audiences from school children to the most serious early music specialists. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 329

"Since their acclaimed debut in 1992, Sirinu have established a reputation at the cutting edge of Early and World music performance. Their first national tour was the most successful in the history of the Early Music Network and they have since undertaken extensive tours all over Europe, as well as British Council tours in Turkey, Egypt and South America. Sirinu have a particular interest in rural South American music and have performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall as guests of the Bolivian group Rumillajta.

Sirinu’s innovative programmes offer musical journeys through some of the world’s great cultural melting-pots, with themes including the Spanish invasion of South America, the epic voyage around the world of the Tudor adventurer Francis Drake and the Mexican Day of the Dead. Combining a staggering array of instruments with elements of theatre, ritual and dance, their extrovert performances and meticulous research have won critical acclaim and rapturous receptions from audiences around the world.

The four members of Sirinu – Sara Stowe (soprano/keyboards), Henry Stobart (recorders/wind instruments), Matthew Spring (lutes, early plucked/hurdy-gurdy) and Jon Banks (harp, gittern, percussion) – perform not only on their principal instruments but also, depending on the programme, a great number of less orthodox European and ethnic instruments. As imaginative and natural communicators their performances guarantee a freshness and variety of approach in which they capture the excitement of the most concentrated formative periods of musical history. " Visit website for more information;

Added on: Mar 14, 2008 | Hits: 364

“Jonny Sells
I founded Solomon's Knot back in 2008.  It started off as the Solomon Choir and Orchestra, and was later joined by the smaller-scale Solomon Consort.  Now we're fully flexible, and can perform in any configuration we want. My founding inspiration was to get away from all the tired old performances of this repertoire which even the performers bore themselves with.  Our vision is of a group of people who perform this wonderful music because they WANT to, and not for any other reason. When not working with Solomon I'm an opera singer based in Zürich.”

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Added on: Sep 26, 2011 | Hits: 237