We are very much looking forward to our return visit to Kennardington this summer, as part of our artistic residency with Saxon Shore Early Music. We have an exciting new programme, co-developed by Henrik Persson, Lynda Sayce and Steve Coles, honouring the Platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II with a musical and poetic exploration of the life of Elizabeth I. We will be joined by soprano Anna Dennis, a renowned interpreter of English song, with the spoken texts read by Dame Felicity Palmer. For more information about our concert on June 2nd and about the whole series, please visit the SSEM website here
Gibbons recording released
We are delighted to announce the release of our recording of verse anthems and consort music by Orlando Gibbons, in collaboration with Orpheus Britannicus vocal consort and the chapel choir of Trinity Hall, Cambridge under the direction of Andrew Arthur. More details can be found here
Newe Vialles at the London Festival of Baroque Music 2021
We were delighted to be invited to perform at the 2021 London Festival of Baroque Music in St John’s Smith Square, with a programme of solos and duos for bass viols and lute. Very sadly, Caroline Ritchie was unable to join us due to quarantine restrictions, but we were delighted to welcome Emilia Benjamin in her place. More details here
http://www.lfbm.org.uk/whats-on/ex-tempore-17th-century-english-music-viols-and-lute
Update for 2021
2020 has been a difficult year for us all, with loss of family, loss of work, inability to travel and isolation from our friends and colleagues. We are hoping that with a gradual reduction in Covid cases and with the increased use of the vaccine, we will have the opportunity to meet, to rehearse and to begin to perform in public again. On that note: we are extremely excited to announce that, restrictions allowing, we will not only be returning to Devon for a concert of English division viol music on May 20th, but that we may even be able to offer some one-to-one tuition for viol players in the area. Obviously, consort coaching is off for now, but that may resume at some stage too. Please check this page for further details, as of course the situation is constantly changing!
Looking ahead, we are also excited to be returning to Kent for a new programme based around Dowland’s Lachrimae. This is scheduled to take place in October 2021 – details will again be announced as soon as we know what is possible.
In the meantime, please stay safe and stay healthy, and we look forward to seeing you all when restrictions are lifted. If you would like to hear us play why not order or download our Buxtehude recording?
Gibbons in the pipeline
In August 2019, we spent a wonderful week in Cambridge, recording verse anthems and consort music by Thomas Tomkins and Orlando Gibbons with Andrew Arthur, Orpheus Britannicus and the choir of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. The recording is scheduled for release in late 2021.
Newe Vialles in collaboration with Helen Charlston
We are delighted to promote a new programme of consort songs by William Byrd, featuring Helen Charlston, mezzo soprano. Helen was the winner of the 2018 London Handel Singing Competition and is a fantastic interpreter of this repertoire. This programme was premiered as part of the Saxon Shore Early Music series in Kennardington, Kent on 12th October 2019.
Buxtehude recording released
We are delighted to announce that our disc of Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, recorded in 2018 with our colleagues at Trinity Hall, Cambridge under the directorship of Andrew Arthur, has been released on the Resonus Classics label, and has already received some airtime on BBC Radio 3. Details here
South West Viols Fest
We are returning to Devon in May for another weekend of consort and solo coaching, concerts and more! For details, please see here or get in touch for more details!
Newes for 2019!
Newe Vialles began 2019 with an appearance in the On Your Doorstep concert series in Golders Green, London. We performed an intimate and reflective programme of French baroque music for the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, featuring Viallers Henrik Persson, Caroline Ritchie, and Lynda Sayce. The concert was very well-received and the venue – Golders Green Unitarian Chapel – a delight to play in. Thank you to everyone there for hosting us and making us feel so welcome.
In May, Henrik and Caroline will be coaching viol-players of all ages and levels at the second South West Viols Fest, hosted by our friends at the Blackdowns Early Music Project in Culmstock, Devon. Feedback from last year’s event was excellent and there are still some places for this year’s course available! Details will go up here soon – for more information in the meantime, please contact the BEMP at the link above.
On July 12th we will be making an appearance at the Stoke Newington Early Music Festival with a programme of English consort music for six viols! Expect to hear some of your favourite pieces and maybe a few new discoveries too. More details to follow soon!
In August, we will return to Cambridge to record Gibbons verse anthems with Andrew Arthur and the choir of Trinity Hall. This is our second CD with Andrew and the choir, and we are really excited to collaborate on some of our favourite repertoire. Our first recording together, of Buxtehudes Membra Jesu Nostri, will be released this year.
Please follow back for more Newes, events and upcoming performances. Happy New Year!
South West Viol Fest
Join us in beautiful Culmstock in Devon at the beginning of May for a weekend of masterclasses, recitals, a visit to the workshop of master viol-maker Jane Julier and much more! The inaugural South West Viol Fest will be taught by Henrik and Caroline, with continuo assistance from Lynda and featuring a recital by all three of their favourite French music for viols and continuo. The weekend runs parallel to the Blackdowns Early Music project, and participants have the opportunity to take part in its culminating recital of Spanish and Portugese polyphony under the direction of Jan Joost van Elburg. For more details, please click on the link below, or feel free to get in touch and we can tell you more!
