Midlands Early Music Forum

The Music of Robert Parsons with Bill Carslake on March 25th 2023
2023-03-25 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Coton Centre, Tamworth, Church Comberford Road, Tamworth, B79 9AA, United Kingdom
BOOKING IS NOW CLOSED AS THE MUSIC HAS BEEN PRINTED.
The composer Robert Parsons
Parsons, you who were so great in the springtime of life, how great you would have been in the autumn, had death not come. This Latin epitaph by the copyist, Robert Dow, is from a collection of partbooks produced in the 1580s, a decade or so after Parsons’ death. Robert Parsons (c. 1535-1572) is remembered today as a masterful life cut short when he drowned in the Trent. His music provides a remarkable link between the opulence of late 15th century composers such as those in the Eton Choirbook (e.g., Cornysh, Browne) and the emotional precision of artists like Shakespeare and Tomkins (who was born in the year Parsons died). It’s as if Parsons channelled his grandparents and grandchildren all at once. We will be singing the following pieces: O bone Jesu sings the soaring lines of Roman Catholic England before Henry VIII’s birth; Retribue is a detailed discussion of faith from the fraught period after Henry’s death; and Ave Maria is so pure and timeless that it is almost an icon for the ear.
The Tutor, William Carslake, studied orchestral conducting with Martyn Brabbins, Jorma Panula and Ilya Musin, and singing with David Lowe and Peter Alexander Wilson. He was a busy bass-baritone soloist before he decided to focus exclusively on conducting and composing. He has since held two composing residencies at Banff Centre, Canada. He composes music inspired by outdoor places such as Greenland, the Cairngorms and, currently, peatlands in Ireland. He has composed for the Finzi Trust and Imperial College Sinfonietta, and is currently writing for Orchestra of the Swan. He is Artistic Director of Farnborough Symphony Orchestra and co-directs the Farnborough Young Composers’ Competition. He was Music Director for the Royal Ballet’s Elizabeth in 2016 and 2018. He enjoys directing programmes for EMF forums and Lacock Courses.
The Venue The Coton Centre is on the A315 Comberford Rd on the north edge of Tamworth. The post code B79 9AA will take you to Rawlett school but if approaching from the north on the A513 it is on the left before the school and from any other direction is the next turning after the school. There is ample free parking on site.
Please let the organiser know if you are travelling by train and require picking up from the station which is 1 1/2 miles from the venue.

The Noodle Factory with Paula Chateauneuf on 25th February 2023
2023-02-25 10:00 - 17:00 | Dorridge Village Hall, Grange Road, Dorridge, B93 8QA
The Noodle Factory is a gentle introduction to the art of improvisation, ornamentation and decoration in the manner of the great 16th- and 17th-century Improvisation Masters.
Some people think one needs to be born with an ‘Improvisation Gene’ to be able to extemporise, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. All that’s required is to learn some basic techniques which can be ‘plugged in’ to a given situation. 16th- and 17th-century writers recognised this, and their fascinating improvisation manuals contain all the materials you could ever need or want to learn to improvise, and expand your ear and musical imagination. This workshop will be a taster session for anyone who would like to try their hand at doing some early improvisation – it’s very informal and no prior improvisation or early music experience is necessary to take part. However this course is designed to be inclusive – more experienced improvisers are also welcome and will benefit just as much.
The day will consist of various sessions during which different aspects of early improvisation will be covered, starting with a brief introduction to each subject. We’ll explore the materials in 16th- and 17th-century manuals and how to use them practically, and then apply those techniques to learn to extemporize on ground basses, create variations on popular tunes, and add your own graces and ornamentation to pre-composed pieces. There will be both solo and ensemble opportunities. Improvisation enhances, intensifies, and ‘seasons’ performances, and helps you to make a piece your own. Singers and instrumentalists are welcome (Pitch A+440) – come along and dip your toe in the water!
The Tutor: Paula Chateauneuf’s playing has been described as “one of the most exciting things on the pre-classical concert circuit”. A Fulbright Scholar to London, she soon established herself there as one of early music’s leading soloists and ensemble players and became the linchpin of numerous groups including the Gabrieli Consort, New London Consort and Sinfonye. She has also performed with the Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Concert, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, Handel and Haydn Society, Avison Ensemble, De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and Jordi Savall’s Le Concert des Nations.
Paula’s repertoire spans medieval music to the baroque, with particular expertise in early improvisation and the music of early 17th-century Italy. Her knowledge and skill in the art of basso continuo has made her one of the most sought-after accompanists in early music, resulting in fruitful collaborations with many leading singers. Her wealth of experience in early opera has led to involvement as both repetiteur and continuo player for numerous international opera houses, including Bayerische Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Royal Opera House, English National Opera, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera.
Venue Dorridge Village Hall is at the end of a driveway (with a height barrier) off the B4101 between Dorridge and Hockley Heath and is easy to reach from the M42.. The satnav is not pinpoint accurate so when you get near look for :the following:
From Hockley Heath, the driveway to the Hall is the first right after the Railway pub, before the “Welcome to Dorridge” signs and the start of the built-up area.
From Dorridge centre, the driveway to the Hall is the first left after Dorridge Park. If you get to the Railway pub you have gone too far.
Booking is now open until 17th February – scroll down for the booking form.

English Catholic Composers in Exile with David Allinson on 21st January 2023
2023-01-21 10:00 - 17:00 | Collegiate Church of St Mary’s , Stafford
“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange Land?”
This should be a marvellous day of music which ranges from bombast to pathos, from protest to serenity. Seasoned tutor David Allinson will set the music in context and shepherd us through.
William Byrd was not alone among church musicians in holding to the Catholic faith in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, at a time when it was increasingly perilous to do so. But several of his most talented contemporaries chose to leave England and work in exile. Peter Philips settled in Flanders, becoming a priest; Richard Dering worked in Brussels at a convent of English nuns. Perhaps liberated from native tradition, their music doesn’t feel particularly English; they absorbed the latest Italian style.
Byrd stayed in England and his talent shone openly, even as he endured an internal exile of faith. The Latin-texted music of his mid-career seems to articulate the anxiety and anger of recusant Catholics, whereas his last works serve the community’s need for liturgical music that may be used in secret domestic contexts. And always with Byrd, there is a scintillating level of inspiration, mixing native tradition with the latest continental innovations.
Our programme focuses principally on Byrd’s music – 2023 is, after all, the year in which we celebrate the 400th anniversary of his death – but we set him in wider context as a Catholic composer by sampling a Marian motet by Peter Philips (Ave Regina caelorum) and an Italianate motet by Richard Dering (Factum est silentium). As we will be singing in the beautiful Collegiate Church of Saint Mary, Stafford, much of the programme is Marian, with Byrd’s Salve Regina, Ave Maria and other pieces.
The planned repertoire needs lots of Tenors in particular (and some can-do singer flexibility about awkward ranges!), so please sign up in good time.
Venue St Mary’s Collegiate Church, St Mary’s Place, Stafford, ST16 2AP
St Mary’s is situated just off the main street (Greengate Street) accessible on foot by the side of Boots Chemist or the Ancient High House. Road access (drop-off only) off Earl Street. From Stafford Station (five minutes walk): turn left then immediately right over the river bridge, straight on through pedestrian area between Stafford College and law courts into St Mary’s Place. Regular direct trains from Birmingham New St.
Please note that the church does not have its own car park. We have arranged for a limited number of parking spaces in the church close, for those with limited mobility. Please telephone or message Tim Boardman if you would like to make use of one of these spaces, and please try to car-share where possible. Tim’s mobile: 07794 837396.
Details of town car parks can be found here . The website includes a link to a map. Note that some car parks are pay-by-phone only.
Neither MEMF nor the venue can accept any responsibility for property lost or damaged.
Tutor David is a specialist in early music choral works who has led workshops for every regional EMF in England, as well as EMF Scotland. He is a regular and popular tutor for MEMF workshops.

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Benevoli Mass for four choirs c 1650 with Robert Hollingworth
2022-12-17 10:00 - 17:00 | St Philip’s Church Centre, Dorridge, B93 8DX
Expect a wonderful day with one of our favourite Tutors to get you in the spirit of Christmas! Robert has not told us which of Benevoli’s four masses we will be singing – he is still editing them! This is an opportunity to discover a really important figure – a lost link if you like – in the world of multi-choir music in the mid-seventeenth century: ORAZIO BENEVOLI. We will get to know a newly edited mass for four choirs and this time (unlike so much Venetian music) the choirs are manageable by all voices so plenty of male voices please
We will also be singing Sweelinck’s Hodie Christus Natus Est to get us in the Christmas spirit and there will be mince pies!
Pitch =A440 suitable for strings, recorders, cornetts, sackbuts and dulcians doubling the choral parts, and continuo including theorbo and bass instruments.
Robert founded I Fagiolini in 1986 and has spent much of his life thinking around how to present music of a different time and context to contemporary audiences. He has presented all the group’s signature projects but also directed the English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, BBC Concert Orchestra and some of the world’s finest chamber choirs including Accentus, NDR Chor, BBC Singers, RIAS Kammerchor, Capella Cracoviensis, VOCES8 and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. He succeeds Mark Deller as Artistic Director for the Stour Music festival from 2020, and is Reader in Music at the University of York where he directs ‘The 24’ and runs an MA in Solo-Voice Ensemble Singing. During lockdown he created and presented ‘Sing The Score’ on Youtube and the podcast ‘Choral Chihuahua’ with Eamonn Dougan and Harry Christophers. He likes Monteverdi and Monty Python.
Booking is now open..

Song of the Birds - a Workshop for voices with Anita Datta
2022-11-12 10:00 - 17:00 | Solihull Methodist Church Hall, Blosssomfield Road, Solihull, B91 1LG, United Kingdom
The natural world has been a source of musical inspiration to singers and composers across the centuries. Taking its Janequin’s playful Chant des Oyseaux as a point of departure, this workshop explores the wide-ranging influence of bird calls on the early choral repertoire. This will include Vautor’s Sweet Suffolk Owl, Casulana’s Vaghi Amorosi Augelli alongside more familiar reference points including La Claire Fontaine, and Sumer is Icumen In (… seasonal!). The workshop also incorporates an invitation to try out bird-call inspired motifs within medieval and renaissance improvisational structures, in direct response to Janequin’s quirky paradigm.
Anita Datta is a Tutor new to MEMF. She is a conductor, soprano and organist from the East Riding of Yorkshire. Founder and Director of The Swan Consort, she is a specialist in music of the European Renaissance and Baroque. With The Swan Consort she has recently toured to Spain, and directed performances across the UK including for Ryedale Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival, and London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. She is currently pursuing further studies in Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, in which capacity she made her debut conducting the orchestra of Welsh National Opera in June 2022. Drawing her musical knowledge together her academic expertise in Social Anthropology, she sits on the boards of English Touring Opera and the National Centre for Early Music, with special responsibilities for advising on Education, and Inclusivity and Relevance

Solihull Methodist Church is close to the centre of Solihull, at the junction of Blossomfield Rd and Station Approach. It is right next to Solihull Railway Station, which is also served by buses. If coming by car, use postcode B91 1LG for your satnav; there is plenty of parking. The hall is a separate building to the church and is clearly signed.
Booking is now open.

Songs of Love and Death - the music of Leonhard Lechner Athesinus with Philip Thorby
2022-10-22 10:00 - 17:00 | Solihull School
Philip Thorby is one of our most popular tutors and has again found some wonderful music by a composer most of us will have never heard of. This year it is a one day workshop so that members who could previously never commit to a whole weekend can take part.
All singers and the following instruments are welcome – recorders, cornetts, sackbuts, curtals, viols, violins and continuo (with figured bass). Pitch will be A=440.
The fees are £20 for MEMF and other EMF members, £25 for others.
Music will be provided on the day. Instrumentalists please bring a labelled music stand.
The Music
The German composer Leonhard Lechner Athesinus was born in the Italian Tyrol and was a gifted boy soprano who went on to sing tenor and study composition with Orlando di Lasso. The influence of the master is evident in the pupil, but Lechner is very much his own man, as demonstrated in the wonderful pieces Philip has chosen for our workshop. These include a six-part setting of a section of the funeral sentences, a fifteen-part three-choir setting of Laudate Dominum, and the masterly and splendid 24-part setting of a Latin verse commissioned for a wedding. In keeping with the German practice of the time the singers will be supported by many varied instrumental sounds.
Directions to Solihull School
By road – leave the M42 at junction 5 and onto the A41 towards Solihull. Take the first left turning towards Solihull town centre.
Turn right at the roundabout and continue towards Solihull town centre along the Warwick Road B 4025.The school entrance is on the right at the second set of traffic lights. There is plenty of parking in front of the chapel. The David Turnbull Music Centre is a short walk beyond the car park. The barrier will be unlocked so that instrumentalists can drive to the centre to drop off instruments.
Solihull railway centre is approximately a 1km walk through the town.
Booking is now open.

Schütz and his World - with Tutor Gawain Glenton
2022-09-17 10:00 - 17:00 | Collegiate Church of St Mary’s , Stafford
This workshop will focus on the works of Heinrich Schütz and his brilliant German 17th-century contemporaries.
Schütz is regarded today as the leading German composer before Bach, but there is still much we can learn about his life and world (for example his first name: he only ever signed himself Henrich). Born in Thuringia in 1582, he received early training at the court of Moritz von Hessen-Kassel before being allowed to study for three years in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli. This sparked in Schütz a life-long desire to incorporate the sounds and styles of Venetian music into German musical life, a project he would take to great heights during his long tenure as kapellmeister at the court of the Elector of Saxony in Dresden.
Schütz was not the only German composer to be inspired in this way. Michael Praetorius also wrote highly Italianate music despite never travelling south of the alps (thanks to the explosion in Venetian music printing he could educate himself in the latest styles via imported printed editions). Hans Leo Hassler meanwhile made the journey to Venice a decade before Schütz, also studying with Gabrieli.
More broadly, Schütz was just one of many gifted German kapellmeister composers who produced music of great skill and emotional depth in the appalling backdrop of the Thirty Years War which ran from 1618-48. We will also explore large-scale works by some of these, including Hammerschmidt, Staden and Berger.
We invite singers and players of renaissance strings (from the viol and violin families) and winds (in particular cornetts, sackbuts and dulcians). Pitch A=440. Music will be provided, but players must bring your own music stand.

The Tutor – Gawain Glenton is a specialist cornetto player whose work as a soloist and an ensemble musician takes him all over the world and is a member and co-director of the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble.

The Venue: St Mary’s Church is in St Mary’s Place situated just off the main street (Greengate Street) accessible on foot by the side of Boots Chemist or the Ancient High House. Road access (drop-off only) off Earl Street.
STOP PRESS: THERE IS A TRAIN STRIKE SCHEDULED FOR THIS DAY SO PLEASE CHECK BEFORE TRAVELLING. If you have no other way to get there please get in touch with Tim Boardman on 07794 837396 and he will try and help.
From Stafford Station (five minutes walk): turn left then immediately right over the river bridge, straight on through pedestrian area between Stafford College and law courts into St Mary’s Place. Regular direct trains from Birmingham New St.
Please note that the church does not have its own car park. We have arranged for a limited number of parking spaces in the church close, for those bringing bulky instruments or those with limited mobility. Please telephone or message Tim Boardman if you would like to make use of one of these spaces, and please try to car-share where possible. Tim’s mobile: 07794 837396.
Details of town car parks can be found at https://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/car-parking-in-stafford. The website includes a link to a map. Note that some car parks are pay-by-phone only.
Booking is now open.

Not Mortals but Angels - Convent polyphony from the 13th-16th centuries - with Tutor Prof Laurie Stras
2022-07-16 10:00 - 17:00 | St.Faith & St.Laurence Church Hall, Balden Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B32 2EL, United Kingdom
MUSIC
This one-day workshop will look at music from the convents of Europe, drawn from medieval and renaissance manuscripts and prints. We will cover a range of styles and practices, from simple harmonisations to complex imitative polyphony, in songs, antiphons, mass movements, and motets. Depending on voices available, sources will include manuscripts from the Bologna library, the Brenzoni-Maffei manuscript from Verona, the Biffoli-Sostegni manuscript from San Matteo in Arcetri (convent home of Galileo’s daughter), and motets attributed to Suor Leonora d’Este – including repertoire that has fed into Musica Secreta’s newest project, Mother Sister Daughter. All female voices, from high soprano to low tenor, are very welcome, along with soft instruments (including viol, theorbo and recorder players of any gender). A keyboard player would be a welcome addition, too!

TUTOR
Laurie Stras is Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Southampton and the director of Musica Secreta (co-directed with Deborah Roberts from 2002-2021). Stras and Musica Secreta have been at the forefront of research and performance of music written for and by women in the Renaissance. They have made numerous acclaimed recordings, the latest of which, Mother, Sister, Daughter, is released in June 2022. Her book, Women and Music in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara (CUP, 2018), won the prestigious Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society in 2019.
Booking will open in a few days.

Wot No Bars 2 with Tutor David Hatcher
2022-06-18 10:00 - 17:00 | Solihull Methodist Church Hall, Blosssomfield Road, Solihull, B91 1LG, United Kingdom
A second workshop for singers reading from facsimile, following on from the highly successful one 2 years ago. Beginners welcome!

We’ll be looking at Isaac’s Missa Virgo Prudentissima a6, from the beautiful BSB Mus. Ms. C. Isaac had already composed the piece by the beginning of the century as it was almost certainly one performed by the joint choirs of the Emperor Maximilian I and of his son, Philip the Fair, when they met in Innsbruck to hold funeral rites for Maximilian’s brother-in-law, Hermes Sforza of Milan, on 26th September 1503. Each choir sang in turn during two consecutive services. At the first, the Burgundian choir performed Pierre de la Rue’s requiem mass and at the second, Maximilian’s choir (probably) sang the Missa Virgo Prudentissima. The lavish copy in Mus. Ms. C was a gift from Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria to the Palsgrave of Neuberg and contains both Isaac’s mass and de la Rue’s Requiem.
The void mensural notation is extremely clear and will present all the usual (surmountable) challenges, including perfect and imperfect tempus, colouration, a selection of ligatures and, of course, text placement – all of which will be very ably explained by David! It should be a challenging but very rewarding day; the sense of achievement from managing to sing from music as it was notated over 500 years ago makes it well worth the effort.

Tutor
David Hatcher is well known to MEMF and other EMFs. He studied viola da gamba with Charles Medlam and recorder with Philip Thorby at Trinity College of Music, London and began his career based in England, touring to America, Israel, France, Germany and the Netherlands. He has broadcast for both the BBC and independent radio and television. In 1987 he moved to Japan where he was to remain for the next nine years, taking an active part in that country’s flourishing early music scene.
He now lives in Leominster and has appeared with many other period orchestras and ensembles. He has taught regularly on summer schools and is in demand as a tutor for many weekend and day courses. He has taken part in a number of large-scale projects, including Damon Albarn’s opera “Dr Dee”, “The World Encompassed” (Fretwork) and performing and recording with I Fagiolini in their hugely succesful interpretation of Striggio’s 40-voice mass. David is a member of the Linarol Consort of Viols, specialising in early 16th century consort music.
Booking is now open.

Music by Rosenmüller with Tutor William Carslake
2022-05-21 10:00 - 17:00 | St Philip’s Church Centre, Dorridge, B93 8DX
Johann Christian Rosenmüller

Following his early career in Leipzig, Rosenmüller spent over twenty years in Venice where he was Maestro di Coro at the Ospedale della Pieta (like Vivaldi after him). At the end of his career he returned to Germany and settled in Wolfenbuttel. There is a fine blend of Italian and German styles in these appealing and approachable pieces of sacred music which show the influence of both Corelli and Schütz. Before emigrating to Italy in the late 1650’s Rosenmüller had already been there briefly in 1645/46 and the trip had a decisive influence on his style. This can be heard in his two famous collections of 1648 and 1652/3, the Kern Spruchen (Core Sayings) and Andere Kern Spruchen (other Core Sayings). The word painting is evocative and the sudden turns of harmony can take you by surprise! If you don’t yet know him you’re in for a treat.
We will be studying “Siehe an die Werke Gottes”, “Lauda Jerusalem”, “Also hat Gott” and a Magnificat
This is a workshop for Voices and the following Instruments:
One harpsichord and one chamber organ (or electronic organ) at A415 or two harpsichords at A415 and one or two theorbos. All keyboard and theorbo players need to be comfortable reading figured bass.
Strings with baroque set ups, or modern instruments with gut strings and baroque bows: violins, violas or tenor/bass viols, baroque cellos.
Sackbuts, cornets, curtals and recorders are welcome.
Bill Carslake

Bill studied singing with David Lowe at Cambridge and Peter Alexander Wilson at Royal Scottish Academy of Music, and orchestral conducting with Martyn Brabbins, Jorma Panula and Ilya Musin. He was a busy bass-baritone before he decided to focus exclusively on conducting and composing. He composes music inspired by outdoor places such as Greenland and is a 2018/19 Finzi Scholar for his current composition project about Mountain Hares. He is Artistic Director of Farnborough Symphony Orchestra and Imperial College Sinfonietta and was Music Director for the Royal Ballet’s Elizabeth in 2018 and 2016. He is passionate about Renaissance and Baroque music and directs programmes for EMF forums, Lacock Choral Courses and Benslow Music. He is a Trustee of the Elgar Foundation.
Music will be provided on the day.
Instrumentalists please bring a labelled music stand.
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Purcell: Choruses from Dido and Aeneas with Tutor George Parris - CANCELLED
2022-04-02 10:00 - 17:00
Sadly we have had to cancel this workshop – the small number of people who had booked were not suficient for the workshop to be practical.
We are sorry for this, and hope to book George Parris for another workshop in the future.

Communion Motets with David Allinson
2022-03-05 10:00 - 17:00 | Solihull Methodist Church, Blossomfield Road, Solihull, B91 1LG, United Kingdom
This workshop in Warwick is for all voices. David will introduce us to Motets by Victoria, Morales and – if numbers and voice parts allow – Palestrina, Guerrero, et al.
Music will be provided on the day.
David is one of our most popular and inspiring Tutors. He is a freelance musician based in Canterbury and has spent his musical career teaching, lecturing and conducting. He has taught and lectured at Universities in Oxford, Bristol and eventually Canterbury Christ Church University where he was Director of Music. Three years ago he returned to freelancing and now Tutors at workshops and Summer Schools all over the country and abroad. He has conducted choirs since he was a teenager and now regularly conducts two choirs – The Renaissance Singers and Cantores – and regularly guest conducts other Early Music groups. During Lockdown he mastered the art of lecturing on Zoom and as well as doing many excellent online workshops he instituted Friday lunchtime talks on Facebook in his own inimitable style.
Please book below

The Gabrieli Times Table with Tutor Alison Kinder
2022-02-05 10:00 - 17:00 | Dorridge Village Hall, Grange Road, Dorridge, B93 8QA
This will be an innovative multi choir day of music by Giovanni Gabrieli, with Tutor Ali Kinder, increasing the choir numbers as we go from 6 parts, to 8 parts (two choirs), to 12 parts (three choirs) and 14 parts (three choirs)
We welcome all singers and instrumentalists (strings, recorders, reeds and brass all welcome) Pitch A=440. Fees for MEMF and other EMF members is £18, non-members £23.

Giovanni Gabrieli
Nephew of the great Andrea Gabrieli and student of Orlando Lassus, Giovanni Gabrieli held the posts of both principal organist and principal composer at the basilica of St Mark’s in Venice. This workshop will look at four pieces from his vast output, two with sacred texts and two secular. As well as being beautiful music, it will hopefully be fun to witness the expansion of our ensemble into ever increasing numbers of parts during the day!

Alison Kinder read Music at Oxford and then studied viol with Alison Crum at Trinity College of Music, being awarded the college’s Silver Medal for Early Music Studies. Her love is of viols in all shapes and sizes, from soundpost-less Renaissance instruments to 7-string baroque basses. Alison is an enthusiastic teacher both privately and on courses, and she runs the Rondo Viol Academy with fellow teacher and player Jacqui Robertson-Wade

Booking now open – please scroll down

Jean Maillard - International Man of Mystery with Tutor Rory McCleery
2022-01-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Online(Zoom)
In view of the recent alarming rise in Covid cases we felt it sensible to cancel our live workshop with Rory McCleery at the beginning of January and have this Zoom session instead, which Rory is happy to do.

Despite his being identified as ‘one of the most important French composers of the sixteenth century’ by the renowned Musicologist François Lesure nearly half a century ago, Jean Maillard is a figure who remains shrouded in mystery and whose works have rarely been performed in modern times. This contrasts sharply with his reception during his own lifetime: his works were widely disseminated and survive in manuscripts and prints originating in Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK. Telling also is the number of composers who modelled their own compositions on works by Maillard: this list includes fellow Frenchman Goudimel and also such luminaries as Orlando Lassus, Jacob Handl and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. It is possible that Maillard harboured Protestant sympathies which may have resulted in his exclusion from the circles of the Catholic royal court in Paris, and even, like his fellow composer Claude Goudimel, his death in the 1572 St Bartholomew’s Day massacres.
The session will last around 2 hours in all – 45 minutes then a 15 minute tea break with another 45 minutes and time for questions.
We shall be singing:
Pierre Cadeac Je suis desheritee
Jean Maillard Agnus Dei
Jean Maillard Fratres mei elongaverunt
Jean Maillard Omnes gentes attendite
Jean Maillard Ascendo ad Patrem meum
Jean Maillard In me transierunt
Jean Maillard Gaudent in caelis
Please book below. As usual all donations will go directly to Rory so please donate what you can.

Let Us Seek with the Shepherds: The Musical Legacy of Quaeramus cum Pastoribus by Jean Mouton CANCELLED
2022-01-08 10:00 - 17:00 | Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, Forest Road, Loughborough, LE11 3NW
This workshop for singers with Rory McCleery is about the fascinating history and rich music lineage of Jean Mouton.
Composed at the very beginning of the sixteenth century, Mouton’s work would remain in the repertoire of the Cappella Sistina for over a hundred years, as well as travelling in print and manuscript as far afield as Aberdeen and Guatemala and inspiring parody compositions (both masses and motets) by several later generations of composers, including Cristobal de Morales, Pedro de Cristo, Adrian Willaert, Thomas Crequillon and Annibale Stabile. We will be singing some of these works, as well as Mouton’s original – which Rory says is ‘one of his all-time favourite pieces!’
Venue: We will be using either Emmanuel Church or the Church Hall, Loughborough (SATNAV LE11 3NW).
For all singers, fees for MEMF and other EMF members is £21, non-members £26.

Rory McCleery began his musical career as a chorister. He gained a double first in music at Oxford University as both Organ and Domus Academic scholar of St Peter’s College, subsequently completing an MSt in Musicology with Distinction. Rory is the founder and director of The Marian Consort, with whom he performs across the UK, Europe and North America. Under his direction, the Marian Consort has become renowned internationally for its compelling interpretations of a wide range of repertoire, particularly the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, and in 2017 was nominated for a Gramophone Award. As a countertenor, Rory greatly enjoys performing as a soloist and consort singer with other ensembles including The Dunedin Consort, Contrapunctus, The Monteverdi Choir, The Sixteen, The Gabrieli Consort, Le Concert d’Astre?e, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Cardinall’s Musick. He also enjoys a solo career in venues across the UK and Europe. Rory is much in demand as a guest conductor, workshop leader.
Booking is now open – please scroll down to the booking form.

Christmas Workshop with Steve Davis
2021-12-04 10:00 - 17:00 | St Philip’s Church Centre, Dorridge, B93 8DX
Our Christmas Live Workshop will be a joyful day with Steve Davis and this time festive refreshments will be provided.
The workshop will explore three works – Gabrieli: In Ecclesiis, Schütz: Weinachtshistorie and Sweelink: Hodie Christus Natus Est. There will be opportunities for some solo singing and some interesting instrumental playing as well as ensemble work, with a run through of some of the music at the end of the day.
We welcome all voices, cornets/trumpet, sackbuts/trombones, recorders, viols, violins and continuo instruments. The pitch will be A440 and the cost for the day is £18 for MEMF and other EMF members, non – members £23

To get to the church you drive along the B4101 from the Knowle direction into Dorridge and under a railway bridge. There is a Sainsbury’s garage on the left after the bridge and you need to turn right after this onto Manor Road. The church is immediately on the right. There are plenty of disabled parking places and a few others. However, there is a large public car park immediately behind the church. To get to it you turn right immediately after going under the railway bridge and before the Sainsbury’s garage. This is a station over-spill park which is free at weekends. The signs do not point this out, but this has been confirmed by Chiltern Railways and the Council.

Stephen began singing lessons with the late Mary Parsons, and subsequently went to the Birmingham Conservatoire where he studied singing with Brian Raynor-Cook and conducting with Roy Wales and Jonathan Delmar. After graduating with distinction, he studied with Jessica Cash, Pamela Cook, Andrew King and Ian Partridge. He has been a regular soloist with many of the leading choirs in the Midlands, most notably Ex Cathedra, the region’s foremost chamber choir, and has also sung with the Britten Singers, Northern Voices, London Voices, The Academy of Ancient Music and The Schütz Choir of London. He is musical director for Halesowen Choral Society, having been appointed in 2004. He also works as guest conductor for several other choirs in the Midlands. He has recently retired from teaching singing at Malvern College, and as music librarian for Ex Cathedra (although remaining a singer with the choir).
Please scroll down for the booking form.

Josquin 500 with David Hatcher
2021-11-06 10:00 - 17:00 | Solihull Methodist Church, Blossomfield Road, Solihull, B91 1LG, United Kingdom
Following on from their excellent Josquin 500 festival of concerts and online events, David Hatcher from The Linarol Consort of renaissance viols is going to lead this workshop for voices and viols (Jacobean and Renaissance) at A440 pitch.
We will be celebrating the life of Josquin. Imagine, shortly after his death in Condé sur Escaut on August 27th, 1521, that a group of this associates, friends, and colleagues, gather together to privately lament his recent passing. They are singers, but they are also players of the still relatively new viol and have access to copies of a number of his greatest works that would normally have been heard only in church without instrumental participation. With this as our pretence, we will look at a selection of motets written by Josquin, including what was possibly his last work, Pater noster/Ave Maria, which he asked to be sung in front of his house on religious processions. We will also take a look at some of the many songs of lamentation that were composed in his memory

Linarol Consort
David Hatcher was born in Warwick and upon attaining the LTCL diploma two years after taking up music, he went on to study viola da gamba with Charles Medlam and recorder with Philip Thorby at Trinity College of Music, London. In 1987 he moved to Japan where he was to remain for the next 9 years, taking an active part in that country’s flourishing early music scene. David now lives in Leominster on the Welsh Marches and regularly teaches on summer schools and is in demand as a tutor for many weekend and day courses. He is a founder member of The Linarol Consort of Viols, exploring the rich heritage of early 16th century music.

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Welcome to Beautiful Venice - with Philip Thorby
2021-10-23 10:00 - 2021-10-24 17:00 | Solihull School
Philip will introduce us to a feast of music showing Venice at her most extravagant and sumptuous best in order to welcome royal and distinguished guests. In 1574 King Henri III of France visited the Serenissima and Andrea Gabrieli wrote the 10 part “Ecco Vinegia Bella” for the occasion. The King attended services in San Marco and we will represent this with Andrea Gabrieli’s sumptuous 16 part Gloria and Claudio Merulo’s setting of the Te Deum verse “Salvum Fac Populum”. Andrea also composed “Dal Gran Tuonante” for a distinguished lady visitor.
In this 2 day workshop we will also enjoy Giovanni Gabrieli’s 12 part motet “Virtute Magna” in honour of St Mark and “Udite, Chiari” to celebrate the Sposalizio, the annual ceremony when the Doge marries Venice to the sea.
Philip Thorby is a specialist in music of the Italian Renaissance, particularly Venetian. Formerly a Professor at Trinity College, Philip has become one of the most popular of workshop tutors. His four Zoom lectures on the music of Venice earlier this year were stunning and widely acclaimed. They can be viewed on another page of this website.
This workshop is for all voices, cornets, sackbuts, curtals, recorders, viols, violins and continuo instruments. The pitch will be 440.
Booking now open – please scroll down for the booking form.

Monteverdi: Flaming Heart - workshop with Robert Hollingworth + I Fagiolini concert + buffet lunch
2021-10-09 10:00 - 17:00 | The Orangery Ingestre, Stafford
Our return to live workshops starts with this wonderful day in Ingestre, Staffordshire (SATNAV: ST18 0RF). We hope as many of you as possible will join us to make it a joyous occasion. We will be celebrating:

The start of live workshops again.
The life of former MEMF member Camilla Kurti.
A concert of vocal music by her favourite group I Fagiolini.
with the whole day led by Robert Hollingworth.
There will be two workshop sessions, one first thing, followed by the concert and then a catered buffet lunch, and one after lunch
We will be using the fabulous Orangery for the workshop and lunch, plus the only Wren Church outside London for the concert.
The event is being subsidised by the Estate of Camilla Kurti and an anonymous donation.
Friends of Camilla and MEMF members will have priority booking until 1st September and if numbers exceed 95, we will operate a waiting list. It will be very helpful to us (and to you) if you could book as soon as possible so that we can quickly get an idea of numbers and how many to cater for.
You will receive pdf’s of scores when you book, but a printed book of music will be provided on the day, as usual.

Zoom Celebration with Robert Hollingworth
2021-07-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
What a strange 16 months it has been. How we have all adapted to keeping early music and musicians going as best we can, has been quite amazing at times. To celebrate this, we are finishing our season before our traditional summer break as we started, with Robert Hollingworth and a MEMF zoom workshop. Who knows what we will come back to in the Autumn – still zooming, live workshops? At present we just don’t know but we are going to sign off in style.
The session will start with a short chat between Robert and MEMF chair Nancy about how, in April 2020, they started things off, how difficult it was coping with the new technology we suddenly had to use and the pitfalls that beset the first sessions as we dipped our toes into the world of zoom, mute. etc – and who can forget the arguments over chat….
Then we are asking you to vote for some of your favourite MEMF zoom workshops and the Saturday morning EXTRA sessions. To help you choose there will be a list of all the Zoom sessions we have hosted and there will be voting buttons on the Jotform for you to fill in. You will hear a clip from the most popular ones during the session.

Please book below.

Henry Purcell and the Music of Westminster Abbey with Patrick Craig
2021-06-05 20:00 - 21:00 | Online(Zoom)
Another presentation in Patrick’s inimitable style, with wonderful pictures, musical excerpts and personal anecdotes.
Henry Purcell has been described as England’s Orpheus and ranks alongside the greatest of this country’s composers. His rise to the position of Organist of Westminster Abbey at the age of 20 saw him lauded above the talents of his predecessor, John Blow and his teacher, Pelham Humfrey, both of whose music we will hear in order to place Purcell in context. His family home was just round the corner from the Abbey and for a while he turned his back on the theatre music he had been pursuing to focus on this job.
As a countertenor Patrick has had the joy of singing much of Purcell’s solo music and will be delighted to share this colourful period in our country’s history. Including music by Gibbons and Croft, Patrick will trace some of the most influential names in the musical heritage of Westminster Abbey and guide us through this extraordinary building.
Please book below.

SingtheScore Extra with Robert Hollingworth
2021-06-05 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
The last this summer in our popular fortnightly series of Zooms with Robert Hollingworth of I Fagiolini and guest. Robert is a natural chat show host and these Saturday mornings are always entertaining and informative. He will talk about the music he has chosen and you will have a chance to sing it through twice. This week’s guest will be the musicologist Professor Laurie Stras who will talk about the (until recently) mostly unknown world of music in convents in 16th century Italy.
Professor Stras is co-director of two early music ensembles, Musica Secreta and an amateur female-voice choir, Celestial Sirens. For over twenty years, her principal research focus has been the female musicians at the court and convents of 16th-century Ferrara, and she has complemented this research with performance activities with her two ensembles. Her monograph on the female musicians at the court and convents of 16th-century Ferrara, Women and Music in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara will be published in 2018. She is also Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield.
Robert is hoping to continue SingTheScore Extra in the autumn, but probably only once a month.
Please book below.

SingTheScore Extra with Robert Hollingworth
2021-05-22 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
Another in our popular series of Zooms with Robert Hollingworth of I Fagiolini and guest. Robert is a natural chat show host and these Saturday mornings are always entertaining and informative.
This week Robert and Nicolas Mulroy will talk about Monteverdi. They will each choose a track, play it and talk about why they like it and other Monteverdi-ish things. The two tracks are Laudate Dominum and T’amo mia vita and you will receive links to the scores when you book (see below) and have a chance to sing them on the day.
Questions welcome, as always.

Definitely not the Pope - an online workshop with Rory McCleery
2021-05-15 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
In this workshop, Rory McCleery, Artistic Director of The Marian Consort, examines the music of Clemens non Papa and his elusive biography, including the origins of his intriguing soubriquet. We will be exploring some of Clemens’ lesser-known Marian motets, including Videte miraculum and O Maria vernans rosa, as well as the famous Ego flos campi and the chanson that seems to have given him his nickname, found in the colourful manuscript songbook of Zeghere van Male. We will be singing these as part of the workshop, with pdf scores circulated in advance.
Rory McCleery began his musical career as a chorister at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh. He gained a double first in music at Oxford University as both Organ and Domus Academic scholar of St Peter’s College, subsequently completing an MSt in Musicology with Distinction. Rory is the founder and director of The Marian Consort, with whom he performs across the UK, Europe and North America. Under his direction, The Marian Consort has become renowned internationally for its compelling interpretations of a wide range of repertoire, particularly the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, but also of works by contemporary British composers, and in 2017 was nominated for a Gramophone Award. As a countertenor, Rory greatly enjoys performing as a soloist and consort singer with other ensembles including The Dunedin Consort, Contrapunctus, The Monteverdi Choir, The Sixteen, The Gabrieli Consort, Le Concert d’Astre?e, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Cardinall’s Musick. He also enjoys a solo career in venues across the UK and Europe, has appeared as a soloist for broadcasts on UK and European radio, and collaborates regularly with the Rose Consort of Viols. Rory is much in demand as a guest conductor, workshop leader and programming consultant, and has led workshop sessions, study days and singing courses across the UK, Germany, Spain and the USA, working with choirs of all ages and sizes in repertoire from 16th to 21st century. He is a passionate believer in the importance of music education and singing for young people and is director of choral music at City, University of London.
Booking will open in May.

SingTheScore Extra with Robert Hollingworth
2021-05-08 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
Another in our popular series of Zooms with Robert Hollingworth of I Fagiolini and guest. Robert is a natural chat show host and these Saturday mornings are always entertaining and informative. He will talk about the music he has chosen and you will have a chance to sing it through twice. The guest this week is Greg Browning who will enthrall us with tales of his filming exploits with I Fagiolini over the last 20 years! He will play clips to us of his favourite moments and perhaps even the odd out take! His direction, production and filming of The Polyphonic Concert Club was quite something. He will also be open to questions so have any you might want to ask ready.
Please book below.

Requiem for a King - a workshop for voices and instruments (A=415) with Jeffrey Skidmore
2021-04-27 19:30 - 20:30 | Online(Zoom)
Jeffrey Skidmore explores music by Michel-Richard de Lalande including two magnificent Grand Motets written for Louis XIV to be performed in the golden splendour of the Chapelle Royale in the palace of Versailles. The workshop includes the powerfully moving Requiem from De Profundis, which was performed at the Sun King’s funeral in 1715, and the uplifting Hymn for Easter Day O filii et filae. He will take a look at primary source material, discuss research and explore some important features of French Baroque style – ornamentation, pronunciation and notes inégales.
We will sing these two pieces at A 415 – SATBB chorus, backed by an orchestra of strings, oboes, bassoons, flutes, recorders, organ and theorbo. (Instrumental parts will also be available)
The powerful music of Lalande is still the least well-known of the great Baroque composers. With a major anniversary creeping up in 2026 NOW is the time to start putting things right. His music is consistently incroyable!
Jeffrey Skidmore OBE has been Artistic Director of Ex Cathedra for over 50 years and has an international reputation for the quality and range of his work. Baroque music from Latin America has featured prominently in recent years and he has given many magical performances in beautiful venues around the world, he has recorded four CDs, created many new editions and explored a whole new world of performance practice.
Please book below.

SingTheScore Extra with Robert Hollingworth
2021-04-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
Another in our popular series of Zooms with Robert Hollingworth of I Fagiolini and guest trumpeter, Russell Gilmour. Robert is a natural chat show host and these Saturday mornings are always entertaining and informative. He will talk about the music he has chosen and you will have a chance to sing it through twice. This week we will be singing Monteverdi’s Beatus vir and “Departure is my chief pain” (Henry VIII manuscript) – anon . You will receive links to the music when you book.
Please book below.

Salamone Rossi - an online workshop with Elam Rotem
2021-04-17 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
Elam will begin the session by telling us a little about himself and how he became interested in Early Music. He will then go on to a presentation on Salomone Rossi and the Jewish musical scene in Italy in the early 17th Century. We will sing together two pieces by Salomone Rossi, one Italian Madrigal (Udite lacrimosi spirit d’averno) and one Psalm in Hebrew (Lamnatseach al haggittit / Psalm 8). After that Elam will share with us how Rossi’s unique endeavours inspired him to compose new compositions in the style of the early 17th century and we will hear some examples.
Dr Elam Rotem is a harpsichordist, composer, and singer. He is the founder and director of his choir Profeti della Quinta. He specialized in historical performance practice at the Schola Cantorum in Basel and graduated with a master’s degree in continuo playing and another in improvisation and composition. In 2014 he established the award-winning resources website Early Music Sources. In 2016, he finished his PhD thesis with distinction “Early Basso Continuo Practice: Implicit Evidence in the Music of Emilio de’ Cavalieri“, within a new collaborative program between the Schola Cantorum in Basel and the University of Würzburg, Germany.
Please book below.

SingTheScore Extra with Robert Hollingworth
2021-03-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Online(Zoom)
Another in our popular series of Zooms with Robert Hollingworth of I Fagiolini and a mystery guest. Robert is a natural chat show host and these Saturday mornings are always entertaining and informative. Robert will talk about the music he has chosen and you will have a chance to sing it through twice.
Please book below.

Renaissance Recycling: an instrumental workshop (singers welcome) with Alison Kinder
2021-03-22 19:30 - 20:30 | Zoom
Reusing old material is not a new concept – Renaissance composers did it all the time, sometimes with their own material and sometimes with someone else’s. We’ll look at two such examples in this workshop, in both cases a kind of ‘upcycling’ from a short initial motet or chanson into an entire mass.
The first is a composer reworking his own material: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s beautiful 6-voice motet Tu Es Petrus is then gloriously expanded into a mass, not once, but twice! The first Missa Tu Es Petrus is also for 6 voices, but then he gets a bit carried away and does a setting for 18 voices in three choirs, still based on the same material. We’ll do the motet and a movement from the 6-voice mass, and if we’re feeling very brave then maybe the Kyrie of the three choir version…! The second example is where one composer borrows a piece by someone else. At that time it was thought of as a compliment – today we’d call it plagiarism! The original piece is the beautiful 4-part chanson by Josquin, Mille Regretz, and the recycling is done by Cristobal de Morales, who uses it as the basis for a 6-voice mass setting.
Alison Kinder read Music at Oxford and then studied viol with Alison Crum at Trinity College of Music, being awarded the college’s Silver Medal for Early Music Studies. Her love is of viols in all shapes and sizes, from soundpost-less Renaissance instruments to 7-string baroque basses. Alison is an enthusiastic teacher both privately and on courses, and she runs the Rondo Viol Academy with fellow teacher and player Jacqui Robertson-Wade.
Please book below:
