Mateo Flecha's 'Ensalades' with Anita Datta on 14th September 2024
2024-09-14 10:30 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | St.Faith & St.Laurence Church Hall, Balden Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B32 2EL, United Kingdom
Those of us who were able to attend Anita Datta’s ’s last MEMF workshop will know we are in for a treat!
She will explore with us three of the ‘Ensaladas’ of Mateo Flecha el Viejo (1481-1553). So-called for their eclectic mixing of languages and musical styles, they depict allegorical dramas as a form of courtly and carnivalesque entertainment. Exploring the Ensaladas offers musicians liberty to play with sound and imagination, creating rich and atmospheric depictions of life and politics in early modern Europe through delightful polyphony.
Repertoire: La Guerra; El Jubilate; La Bomba and Riù Riù Chiù. There’s a Spotify playlist here with performances of all the pieces to get a flavour of what we’ll be doing.
The workshop is for SATB voices and pretty much any instruments – melody (which can double any vocal line in their range) or continuo. Especially welcome: sackbuts and cornets, early percussion, early Iberian instruments (e.g. Vihuela). There will be some percussion instruments at the workshop, so anyone who would like to bang a drum or rattle a tambourine is welcome to come as a percussionist. Pitch: A=440
Please note that Anita will need notice well in advance for instruments not in C so she can prepare parts.

The Tutor, Anita Datta, is a conductor and Early Music Specialist from East Yorkshire. She is the founder and artistic director of vocal ensemble The Swan Consort, and with them has performed at major music festivals across the UK and Europe. Graduating from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge as an organ scholar (2014), she is frequently engaged as an organist and continuo player, and has directed a number of early and contemporary operas. She is also a soprano, Indian Classical musician, and composer, having recently delivered commissions for Multitude of Voyces and the BBC Singers.
The Venue St Faith & St Laurence Church is on the junction of Balden Rd & Croftdown Rd in Harborne. There is a small amount of parking on site, and plenty more street parking on Croftdown Road.
The MEMF AGM will be held during the lunch break at 1pm.
Organiser: Jonathan Spencer 07784 657563 or jonathan-spencer@blueyonder.co.uk

Booking is now open – click here for the booking form.

From Mexico with Tears: Lamentations by Padilla and López Capillas with George Parris on 12th April 2025
2025-04-12 10:30 - 17:00 | St.Faith & St.Laurence Church Hall, Balden Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B32 2EL, United Kingdom
We welcome back George Parris to tutor this workshop, for voices and all instruments at A440 pitch.
We will explore two settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah by outstanding composers: Juan Gutierrez de Padilla
(c. 1590-1664) and Francisco López Capillas (1608-1674). Both composers worked at the magnificent cathedral in Puebla, Mexico, where the music-loving Bishop Juan Palafox y Mendoza presided over the richest establishment of the Spanish Empire outside Spain. Their music represents a high point in the Spanish manner of sacred polyphony, exhibiting a use of voices and a tonal instability that is both remarkable and highly expressive.
Juan Gutierrez de Padilla was born in Málaga, in Old Spain, and was appointed maestro at Cádiz Cathedral in around 1616. He next appears at the Cathedral in Puebla in 1622 where he later became maestro and would spend the rest of his life.
Francisco López Capillas was born in Mexico City where he sang in the Cathedral choir and studied theology at the University. By 1641, he is found working as organist, cantor, and assistant to Juan Gutierrez de Padilla at Puebla Cathedral, but he later returned to Mexico City where he became maestro of the Catedral de México in 1654.
George Parris read Music at Cambridge University, following by a Master’s Degree at Oxford University, and then studied choral conducting and ensemble singing at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In 2011 he founded The Carice Singers, now a professional vocal ensemble, and works across Europe as a singer, chorus master, and conductor. His work is varied and far-reaching, from being Artistic Director of the Aurore Renaissance Music Festival in Helsinki, performing vocal works by Kaija Saariaho and Luciano Berio, and mentoring the next generation of choral composers on schemes for Cheltenham Music Festival, Spitalfields Music Festival, and the Three Choirs Festival.
Timetable for the day
10.00 Registration and drinks – PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN MUG
10.30 Morning session (with a short break)
1.00 Lunch (bring your own /or use local pubs and cafes)
2.00 Afternoon session
3.30 approx Tea break
4.00 Final session
5.00 Finish
Venue St Faith & St Laurence Church is very visible at the junction of Balden Rd & Croftdown Rd in Harborne, Birmingham, B32 2EL . There is a small amount of parking next to the church, and plenty more street parking on Croftdown Road.
The organiser is Jonathan Spencer. If, having booked, you need to cancel, please let him know on 07784 657563
Booking is now open- book here.

Vivaldi's Gloria with Tutor Ben England on 18th October 2025
2025-10-18 10:30 - 17:00 | Dorridge Village Hall, Grange Road, Dorridge, B93 8QA
Come and sing the choruses from Vivaldi’s momentous Gloria in D major, and learn about the fascinating history of this work – how it was lost for centuries before being rediscovered in the mid 20th century. Ben England BEM, acclaimed conductor and music educator will lead the day, with support from an array of online resources to help singers learn the parts before they come. Pitch will be A415 (Baroque pitch).
Vivaldi’s celebrated Gloria was written for the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice around 1715. It is a perennially popular work and great fun to sing and play but it is perhaps more unusual to have the chance to work on it at the pitch for which it was intended, which is also easier on the singers’ voices. This workshop will also give us a chance (in chorus or perhaps semi-chorus) to try out the lovely soprano and alto solos and duos.
We welcome applications from all voice parts.
Have a look at Ben’s preparation materials on www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIngS9V1Y4Lj-ovsbCMiW06Go1IqMsi7V
Singers, please read the following notes with care before applying.
We will be working from the Westermann score of the Gloria: https://koorpartij-oefening.nl/partituren/Partituur-Gloria-RV-589-Vivaldi.pdf
The vocal score runs to 90 pages, so it is impractical to print vocal scores for all. You are welcome to download the vocal score to a tablet or print it yourself. The correct printed score is also available readily for a small cost: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gloria-RV-589-Vocal-score/dp/1932419551
If you own a different edition of the vocal score, these are mainly compatible, except for the second movement (Et in Terra Pax). A substitute page 11 can be provided for the problems in the Ricordi edition.
Instrumentalists: The Gloria is scored for oboe, trumpet, strings (of the violin family) and continuo. Winds are not used throughout so wind players may wish to sing in the other movements if they have a vocal score (spare scores will not be available – please read above). We welcome applications from violins, violas, cellos, double bass/violone, and one or two Baroque oboes or trumpets. Up to two recorder players may be accepted if they have C instruments (descants) at A415; they will be doubling or substituting the oboe and trumpet parts. One or two keyboard continuo players (one organ and one harpsichord), theorbo and bassoon are welcome to apply. The orchestral bass part is figured.
Instrumental parts can be provided on the day or links can be sent out in advance. MEMF reserves the right to limit acceptance to preserve the orchestral balance.
Ben England is a new tutor to MEMF, but our South West colleagues were very enthusiastic about this workshop: https://swemf.org.uk/vivaldi-workshop-with-ben-england/. Ben is an award-winning conductor, educator and musical innovator based in Bristol. He has conducted choirs and orchestras across the UK and internationally and was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2020 for services to music and the community during the COVID-!9 pandemic.
Ben is the founder of Homechoir and co-founder of Choir of the Earth, two pioneering online choirs that bring high-quality choral learning to singers around the world. He is also Principal of Earth Choir Academy, a non-profit organisation dedicated to music education and digital singing resources. In recognition of his work, he received the University of Bristol Alumni Award for Community Engagement and Impact in 2022.
Ben is known for his engaging and inclusive approach to music-making, from Renaissance motets to large-scale symphonic works and in much in demand He has conducted major performances in venues such as Salzburg’s Mozarteum, the Haydn Hall at Esterhazy and St Philip’s Cathedral in Atlanta, and has worked with groups such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Tenebrae and the Gesualdo Six. His educational music work reaches tens of thousands of singers globally.
An award-winning Advanced Skills Teacher with a long and successful teaching career, Ben has worked extensively across the education sector, including city-wide as Vocal and Instrumental Manager for the Bristol Beacon and prominent roles with the University of the West of England and St George’s Bristol on the ground-breaking Sing for Happiness initiative.
Venue Dorridge Village Hall, Grange Rd, Dorridge, Solihull B93 8QA
https://dorridgevillagehall.org.uk/
The drive to the Hall can be found on the B4101 (Grange Road), on the left hand side heading away from Dorridge village centre, just after the park. The What3Words location is ///sponge.flopping.wedding . Satnavs tend to misdirect you. Dorridge station is 0.6 miles away.
Workshop organiser is Jane Warren, janeariadnesclew@gmail.com
Booking is now open. Click here.
