News – Page 21 – Worcestershire Early Music

WEM in 2020

You may not have heard much from us at Worcestershire Early Music since the summer – but that’s because we have been so busy behind the scenes! There are lots of events in the pipeline, including our Festival which is nearly ready to go. Our first event of 2020 is a collaboration with Ben Sawyer’s Oriel Singers, from Cheltenham, on Saturday 7 March, for which we’re providing instrumentalists including cornetts, sackbuts and other exotica. You might have caught Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir on Radio 3 the other day – that’s likely to be in the programme. It’s an extraordinary and exciting piece of music – don’t miss it!

Come and sing early music!

We’re organising another come-and-sing-early-music day this year on Saturday 31 August, with specialist conductor/director Robert Howarth, and his singer wife Lisa Wilson. Don’t miss it! There’s further information on our Events page – we’ll be looking at some wonderful madrigals by Monteverdi, Gesualdo and Schütz.

Outreach at the Commandery Museum

On European Early Music Day (21st March) the Waites of Gloucester played in the beautiful great hall, to museum visitors. A collection of bagpipes, shawms, recorders, crumhorns, hurdy gurdy and flutes were played in various combinations. The music was chosen from sources with a Dutch connection and included works by Clemens non Papa and Susato.

On Make Music Day (June 21st) Merrie Noyse played to the museum visitors, again in the great hall. An array of instruments were introduced and played, and the audience were invited to sing in the chorus of one of their songs. An opportunity to have a try on the instruments was offered and the audience members engaged in playing and talking to the musicians at the end of the performance.

Early Music Festival 2019

Thanks to everyone involved our festival this year was a great success. We attracted visitors from Spain, Dublin, Aberystwyth, Peterborough, Cheltenham and of course many from nearer to home. Our return to the Guildhall for the two evening concerts was well received and our new venture, the family concert proved popular.

The Musical and Amicables gave a glittering performance of Baroque trio sonatas (you can hear a clip on the Worcester Arts Council website). Fontanella recorder consort gave us a rich variety of music spanning from the fifteenth to 21st century, and the Emily Askew Band proved to be a fitting finale to our festival with their medieval music presented in a folk tradition.