Banbury Early Music Festival is for early music fans and newcomers alike, to come and participate in inspiring workshops, listen to world class concerts, leaf through a myriad of music and try out early instruments until their heart's content!
An upper voices Chamber Weekender immersed in the beauty of Handel’s Italian duets. Directed by Scott Inglis-Kidger.
Festival organiser, early music specialist and choral conductor Dylan McCaig opens the 2025 Banbury Early Music Festival with a rich and inspiring Choral Workshop exploring the expressive depth and enduring influence of Orlando Gibbons. Through the shimmering polyphony of Gibbons’ Drop, Drop, Slow Tears (5-Part), participants will uncover his unique place in English sacred music,...
Join renowned recorder player and YouTube sensation, Sarah Jeffery (aka Team Recorder) for an inspiring recorder-focused intermediate-level workshop exploring early music by female composers. Delve into beautiful, lesser-known repertoire in the welcoming setting of St Mary’s Church Hall, Banbury. Limited places available! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to deepen your skills and discover the rich...
2025 marks 400 years since the death of Orlando Gibbons, one of the finest composers of the English Renaissance, so what better way to honour his legacy than by playing and singing his music together! In this special multi-instrumental and vocal workshop led by festival founder and viol player Alison Kinder, participants will dive into...
An opportunity for singers and continuo players to explore Purcell's solo songs and ensemble works in detail with Emily Owen and Satoko Doi-Luck.
An uplifting half-day exploration of the sacred music of William Byrd (c.1540–1623), one of the most influential composers of the English Renaissance. Directed by Scott Inglis-Kidger.
Ave Maria - from Parsons to Palestrina for singers with David Crown.
Explore a variety of music inspired by The Sixteen’s own Choral Pilgrimage.
Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren. Polychoral music for voices and instruments, with Stephanie Dyer.
This is for experienced choral singers who can sight read on the day or prepare their part in advance, so we can reduce note bashing to the minimum. There will be one other piece worked on by each portion of the choir. Expressions of interest invited here: https://5from500.co.uk/spem-in-alium/ Morning venue King Edward VII Upper School...
If you can hold your own sight reading in a consort then come and join Jo and Thomas Green for a sociable playing morning.
The workshop will cover a wide range of music, from France, Scotland, Germany and Italy and ranging from 5 to 22 parts. Open to the following instruments: Cornetts, sackbuts, curtals/dulcians, recorders, viol and violin family, plucked continuo.
Monteverdi's madrigals (from around 1600) are impossibly perfect miniatures, five voiced mini dramas that carry a surprising amount of musical weight. Spend a morning exploring them (and one contemporary classic from England) in the company of Robert Hollingworth, director of I Fagiolini and co-founder of the podcast Choral Chihuahua.
Internationally acclaimed conductor Andrea Brown will direct another splendid program of Venetian music.
Discover the exquisite world of early music in Singing Baroque: From Monteverdi to Bach, with Jonathan Peter Kenny.
The 2025 Brighton Early Music Festival: concerts, workshops and more, including: Saturday 27th September: Choral workshop exploring the music of Palestrina, led by Ben Vonberg-Clark. Sunday 5th October: Workshop on French baroque style for early instrumentalists at A=440, led by Sam Stadlen.
The Brighton Early Music Festival 2025
BFCS Musical Director Thomas Leech will take us through a selection from Handel's Messiah. Sing along with our friendly and supportive choir!
Renaissance Italian canzonas for viols and recorders (A=440).
Anthems by Orlando Gibbons - a workshop led by Bill Hunt. For all voices, viols of all sizes and soft wind (recorders, flutes) with a supporting role for well behaved curtals in the chorus sections, organ and lute are also welcome, A=440.
The EMFS annual Making Music Day workshop, directed by Michael Cameron-Longden and Lynne Hope, and tackling music by Orlando Gibbons and contemporaries. All voices and instruments are welcome.
Two day event in Thaxted Church with George Parris. Heinrich Schütz Schwanengesang for voices and instruments.
Non-residential study weekend directed by Philip Walsh.
Intermediate and Upper Intermediate. Run by Jacqui Robertson-Wade and Alison Kinder.
Vivaldi Gloria with Tutor Ben England - a Baroque (A415) workshop for voices and instruments.
Tackle Bach's fabulous Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 under the direction of Philip Redfern. All modern string players are welcome.
Come and join a consort of singers from Stile Antico in singing music from their programme ‘The Golden Renaissance’ ahead of their performance at St Mary’s Church.
This course, directed by Rory Wainwright Johnston, celebrates the musical achievements of renaissance Florence, both by its native composers and those drawn by the city’s dazzling éclat.
An immersive exploration of lute songs from around 1600 in Northern Europe - centred on John Dowland’s best-beloved "First Book of Songes", but also welcoming repertoire from lands that he visited. Open to singers of all ranges as well as lutenists. Facilitators: Emma Kirkby, Florian Franke & Sam Brown.
A friendly introduction for flute, lute and cello players to the rich but sometimes forbidding world of baroque chamber music.
Female Composers of 17th Century Italy with Emily White, for singers and instrumentalists.
Philip Thorby will be the musical director of this wonderful workshop, which will mark the 540th anniversary of the death of the great Andrea Gabrieli, composer and first organist at St Mark's in Venice from 1566 until his death in 1585. We will explore some of Andrea's great twelve-part works, including the psalm setting, `Benedicam...
This Chamber Weekender brings together a reconstructed Vespers drawn from the works of Spain’s most distinguished Renaissance composers, many of whom knew, influenced, or were aware of each other’s music. Directed by Scott Inglis-Kidger.
In this 400th anniversary year of the death of Orlando Gibbons, come and explore the glorious sound-world of music for voices and viols with Alison Kinder.
This course offers viol players the chance to explore consort repertoire from the viol's Golden Age and to improve their technique along the way. Composers studied will include Jenkins, Purcell, Holborne, Lawes and Coperario.
From Darkness to Light – a journey through Early Baroque splendour for voices and instruments. An Advent come and sing & play, led by Drew Cantrill-Fenwick, pitch: A=415.
Come & Sing Vivaldi Gloria and other Baroque excitement with Tim Knight.
If you can hold your own sight reading in a consort then come and join Jo and Thomas Green for a sociable playing morning.
A day of early choral music led by Alan Taverner.
‘The Sound of Power‘ – Johann Stadlmayr’s Polychoral Music for the Habsburg Courts, a workshop led by Gawain Glenton. The choice of repertoire for this workshop will be tailored as closely as possible to the ensemble on the day, but will hopefully include two 12-part motets: Deus qui glorificantes and Domine quis habitabit. This workshop will benefit from...
Renaissance Playing Day (A=440), for renaissance brass and wind (including recorders), viols and other appropriate instruments, and one-to-a-part singers.
Consumed with Sorrow – Renaissance Masterpieces inspired by loss. Workshop for Voices with Angus Smith.
The EMFS Choir will meet under the direction of Michael Cameron-Longden to continue exploring the music of Orlando Gibbons and his contemporaries.
A series of three workshops exploring the rich tapestry of choruses, chorales and select solo movements from J.S. Bach’s Weinachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio). Directed by Scott Inglis-Kidger. These workshops can be booked individually, or as a bundle. 8th November (Parts I & II) 6th December (Parts III & IV) 10th January (Parts V & VI) Three Workshop...
The London International Festival of Early Music 2025.
This workshop will explore Palestrina’s supreme mastery in the so-called ‘parody’ Mass genre. In this type of setting, the composer bases their Mass on a pre-existing polyphonic model – generally a motet or chanson – expanding and rhapsodising on the source material in each ‘movement’.
Workshop for voices and instruments directed by Ali Kinder, further details TBC.
Handel's Messiah - A Charity Workshop and Performance For All.
Preformed Consorts. Run by Jacqui Robertson-Wade and Alison Kinder.
Come and discover Medieval music with Mary Mohan, Jude Rees and Leah Stuttard. 2025’s focus will be Adam de la Halle.
Join Pam Smith online via Zoom on the run up to Christmas to play some beautiful medieval carols, in aid of Cheltenham & District Samaritans.
Three days of viol consort playing in preformed groups of any level, studying in depth any music chosen by the group, coached by members of the Rose Consort of Viols.
Tackle some of Purcell's marvellous music for celebrations under the direction of Philip Redfern. All modern string players are welcome.
A once a year treat for singers to come together to perform Handel's amazing music & raise money for a local charity.
Praise and Prayer - a day for voices and instruments exploring texts on the theme of praise and entreaty.
The life and music of Thomas Morley, a workshop for singers with Will Dawes & Katie Bank.
William Lyons and Richard Thomas from The City Musick will be heading back to Halsway Manor this Christmastide, bringing with them all the joys of the festive season during the Renaissance.
The York Early Music Christmas Festival was created in 1997 to introduce audiences to the extraordinary wealth of music associated with Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, from the Medieval to the Baroque, intertwined with the sagas, stories and tales of the north.
MEMF Workshop with Robert Hollingworth - a workshop for voices and instruments at pitch A=440 with free lunch.
If you can hold your own sight reading in a consort then come and join Jo and Thomas Green for a sociable playing morning.
Christmas with the Shepherds, a workshop for singers (all voices), players of soft wind (recorders, flutes, sackbut and curtal) and strings are all welcome. Pitch: A=440Hz.
Valls Missa Scala Aretina for singers and instruments with Patrick Craig.
The EMFS Choir will meet under the direction of Michael Cameron-Longden to sing some seasonal Christmas music. Mince pies and nibbles will be provided!
Tackle one of the best Christmas pieces written - Corelli's magnificent Concerto Grosso in G minor, the Christmas Concerto - under the direction of Philip Redfern. All modern string players are welcome.
For centuries Christmas and the surrounding seasons have inspired composers to new heights of invention. The repertoire chosen for this course will reach across the ages: from the eternal beauty of the Tudor church right up to the twenty-first century.
One singer's life in 16th-century England, talk on Zoom by Dr. Kerry McCarthy (open to everyone) at 7.30pm, followed by TVEMF AGM (TVEMF members only) at 8.30pm.
Workshop for voices and instruments at A=440 with David Hatcher.
Bring vocal and instrumental Renaissance works to life in this ensemble performance workshop for winds – cornetts, curtals, recorders, sackbuts and shawms – and string players, with continuo very welcome for those who can supply their own instruments. Modern string, wind and brass instruments are also warmly invited, provided they are able to read concert-pitch...
Anthems and Madrigals by Dr Orlando Gibbons and his son, Christopher. The day will be hosted by James Geer, the LCC Music Director, with Colin Hughes on piano. The fee for the workshop, including tea, coffee and biscuits, is £26. To reserve your place, please email your name and voice part to Margaret at: margaretsh1943@gmail.com.
Come & Sing works by Dowland, Weelkes & Copriario with City Chamber Choir, led by Stephen Jones.
A party in Ausburg - music of the early 16th century German Town and Dance bands - a workshop for instruments at A=440 pitch.
Come and Sing/Play Handel: Dixit Dominus and C P E Bach: Magnificat with Director: Richard Roddis, Répétiteur: Michael Overbury, and Instrumental Specialist: Kelly McCusker.
Three days of viol consort playing in a variety of group sizes and exploring some lesser-known repertoire in addition to ‘old favourites’. Tutors: Alison Crum, Peter Wendland.
Zoom Talk given by Patrick Craig on Orlando Gibbons and the Music of Westminster Abbey.
Inspirational and encouraging instruction in baroque style from expert tutors. For pre-formed chamber groups on period instruments. Tutors: Rachel Beckett, Theresa Caudle, Mark Caudle, Claire Williams, Oliver John Ruthven.
Mass settings by early Tudor composers based on Westron Wynde, including Taverner’s exuberant Gloria, Tye’s angelic Sanctus and Sheppard’s luminous Agnus Dei.
This Come & Sing day is part of Levens Choir's early preparations for performances of this sublime choral work in March, 2027, to celebrate its first performance 300 years ago. Levens' distinguished Music Director, Gawain Glenton,an early music specialist, will be leading the day. Refreshments and music scores (Barenreiter - we will be singing in...
Explore the rich and varied repertoire of musicians from court and city in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with William Lyons & Richard Thomas.
Come and Sing Handel's Messiah with Nantwich Choral Society.