The Triumphs of Oriana with Tutor Giles Underwood on 20th April 2024

The Triumphs of Oriana – a workshop for voices.

In 1601 Thomas Morley published a collection of madrigals in honour of Queen Elizabeth. There were 25 pieces in the publication from 23 different composers. All the works ended with the lines:

Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana:

Long live fair Oriana.

This day of singing will include a selection of these 5- and 6-part madrigals, written by some of the foremost composers of the day; Morley himself, Mundy, Tomkins and Farmer as well as some writers who are less well known. These pieces are full of joy, movement and soloistic writing, being consort pieces, not choral. They were intended to be sung in drawing rooms across the land, and use commonplace pastoral imagery as well as more elevated language, all for the glory of the Queen.

Giles Underwood has a varied career as a bass-baritone, voice teacher, vocal coach and conductor. He is Professor of Singing at The Royal Academy of Music, having previously held a professorship at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD). He studied Biology at Oxford before going on to postgraduate and opera studies at GSMD under Professor Susan McCulloch. He runs a successful teaching practice in Oxford and taught in Cambridge from 2004-13. Since 2013, he has been Director of Music at University College, Oxford, where he runs the Chapel Choir and the two ensembles in residence – Martlet Voices and The Martlet Ensemble. These groups give student musicians the opportunity to work alongside professional performers in rehearsal and concert. He is a tutor for the Cambridge Early Music Summer School and Chorworks at Duke University in North Carolina.

Giles has sung with many of the UK’s leading vocal ensembles, most notably I Fagiolini, Contrapunctus, Magnificat and Gallicantus. He has been a soloist for The Academy of Ancient Music, The Gabrieli Consort and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has performed a variety of operatic roles, including Don Giovanni, Conte Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Marcello (La bohéme) and Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia). In recital, he has sung English and Swedish song for Oxford Lieder, Wolf and Schumann in Wigmore Hall and Strauss in the Purcell Room.

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 it is the next turning after the school. There is ample free parking on site.
Lifts can be arranged from the station which is 1 1/2 miles from the venue. Please contact the organiser after you have booked

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Link to Booking Form