South American Baroque - choral music from Puebla Cathedral - Sunday May 4th 7pm Church of St John the Baptist Wellington TA218QY
Newe Vialles - Old Viols - Chamber recital w/b May 12th tbc All Saints' Church, Culmstock
Fiddlers Three - programme presented by Musical & Amicable Society Thursday July 17th All Saints' Church, Culmstock
London Obbligato Collective
We are delighted to be presenting The London Obbligato Collective, following their successful bid to the Continuo Foundation on February 7th 7.30 pm in All Saints' Church, Culmstock. More information here.
The ensemble specialises in under-represented chamber music repertoire featuring a written-out harpsichord part, where the harpsichord takes centre-stage, supported by beautifully complementary instruments.
Their programme features music composed by musicians whose works were often played in the salon of artist Thomas Gainsborough. He was a keen musician as well as a renowned artist and several of the composers' portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery, where the ensemble opened their tour on January 23rd. What a wonderful legacy from these associations!

PHAEDRUS present 'The King's Flutes' October 25
We are delighted to welcome the international ensemble Phaedrus, as part of their UK tour following an appearance at the Cambridge Early Music Festival.
Emma-Lisa Roux (voice & & lute) with Mara Winter, Charlotte Schneider and Luis Martinez Pueyo (renaissance flute consort) are bringing a programme entitled The King's Flutes, referring to the 72 Renaissance flutes found in Henry VIII's collection
The ensemble first came together while studying at the renowned Swiss music centre, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. They became fascinated with the refinement to be found in Renaissance music, which gave it a completely distinctive character, now recognised as representing courtly life in the 16th and 17th centuries.
In England, one of the greatest patrons of the arts was Henry VIII who developed the cultural and musical splendour of the Tudor court, and it is music of this time that the members of Phaedrus are bringing to Culmstock in October. Tickets available here

Next Choral Concert: LAUDATE DOMINUM
Give yourself a summer treat on Saturday August 24th in St John the Baptist Church, Wellington TA21 8QY
Looking forward to this exciting programme conducted by our principal Musical Director JanJoost van Elburg with sackbuts directed by Emily White and continuo Martin Perkins.
News of approaching concerts
Three dates for your diaries this Summer and Autumn, follow the links for ticket details
Friday July 12th 2024 in All Saints' Church CULMSTOCK
James Akers, guitar, in a programme called LOST TREASURES ; forgotten masterpieces for 19th century guitar
Saturday August 24th 2024 in St John's Church, WELLINGTON Soms
JanJoost van Elburg conducts a choral programme of Lassus & Palestrina including the extraordinary PROPHETIAE SIBYLLARUM
Friday October 25th 2024 in All Saints' Church CULMSTOCK
Phaedrus present THE KING'S FLUTES, this exciting ensemble of Renaissance traverso flautists explore the world of Henry VIII's court from a musician's perspective.
Think Milan in 1623... wonderful music in a bustling Cathedral full of singers, sackbuts, violins, maybe a cornetto tucked away somewhere, too! Transport yourself to the Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Wellington, Soms at 4pm on November 5th and enjoy a recreation of that atmosphere led by musical director Gawain Glenton, assistant director Emily White with a team of sackbuts and violins and keyboard player Masumi Yamamoto. This will be a full on Italian baroque immersion experience....come and try it!
Ticket information here
A welcome return for Newe Vialles
We are delighted to welcome Caroline Ritchie, Henrik Persson and Lynda Sayce back to Culmstock.
Highlights of their concert programme this year include music by the German violist August Kühnel, who visited England in the late 17th century to study
with the English masters. His music shows the influence of Christopher Simpson, especially in his flashy duos for two viols and continuo.
This is followed by a concerto by a later Kühnel, possibly his son, for obbligato lute, viol and continuo, in a more galant style.
Also featured are the solo fantasias for the viol by Georg Philip Telemann, rediscovered only in 2015, and the one surviving sonata for viol by Georg Frideric Handel, alongside music for German baroque lute by Silvius Leopard Weiss. More information here
NB Coaching for experienced viol players will be available on Wednesday 13th and Friday 15th September.
Please email info@bemp.co.uk for more details.
A cappella Concert - more information here
Four hundred years after the death of William Byrd, we still
delight in singing a huge number of his works. For him music was an
entire language, telling of the religious changes through his
lifetime as well as describing the lighter side of life.
1623 saw the passing of two other notable composers:
Thomas Weelkes, a prolific composer and organist at
Winchester and then Chichester Cathedral, by all accounts
a somewhat controversial fellow in Church circles.
Danish composer Mogens Pedersøn was the most highly regarded
musician in the court of Christian IV. He studied extensively in Italy
and accompanied the entourage of Anne of Denmark when she
came to England to marry James I of England and VI of Scotland,
possibly meeting William Byrd during his several years in London.
New events in June and July
Two concerts are lined up for June and July as part of the Third Thursday series in the perfect acoustic of All Saints' Church in Culmstock
On June 15th hear the sounds of early twentieth century America, when Julia Titus sings the blues as first performed by Ma Bessie Smith.
More information about Spirit of the Blues here and tickets here
Then on July 20 we return to the C17 for a concert of music such as Purcell would have known at court and in the countryside, Enlightenment & Entertainment provided by three multi-instrumentalists, information here and tickets here.