We’re currently booking artists for the next series, which will run from Autumn 2010 to Spring 2011. Preliminary details should be available by July or August, so do check back then. If you join our mailing list using the Contact Form we will send you information as soon as it becomes available.
In the meantime you may wish to read about some of the concerts from the last two seasons below, to get a feel for the sort of artists and repertoire that will be on offer.
Concerts from the 2009-2010 season:
| November 2009 Passacaglia A Chearful Collection Annabel Knight (flute) Oliver Webber (violin) Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba) Robin Bigwood (harpsichord) Passacaglia’s A Chearful Collection re-discovers an array of wonderfully accessible and tuneful sonatas and keyboard works by Thomas Arne, in celebration of his 300th birthday year in 2010. Complemented with music by contemporaries Handel, Oswald, Abel and JC Bach, some with a regional twist from Scotland and Ireland, Passacaglia offers a tantalising glimpse into the musical world of London’s famous Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. |  |
Website: www.passacaglia.com
| January 2010 Terence Charlston The King’s Hunt This fascinating programme explores the interchange of ideas and musical taste between Restoration England and mainland Europe, especially France. It includes music by Blow, Bull, Froberger, La Barre, Purcell and from the recently discovered Selosse manuscript, performed on the harpsichord and clavichord. |  |
Website: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terence.charlston
| February 2010 David Breitman Canadian pianist David Breitman returns to The Workshop Series with this wide-ranging programme exploring the development of works for the early piano. Sonatas, variations and fantasias by Haydn, CPE Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. |  |
Web: www.analekta.com/en/artists/David-Breitman.90.html
| February 2010 In Echo La Suave Melodia Gawain Glenton (cornetto/voice) Kirsty Whatley (triple harp) Robert Glenton (bass violin) La Suave Melodia mines the extraordinarily beautiful repertoire of early 17th century Italy to reveal the characters of three contrasting but mutually compatible instruments: the cornetto, triple harp and bass violin. Alongside the towering figures of Monteverdi and Frescobaldi, In Echo presents music by Rognoni, Cima, Falconiero, Trabaci and Kapsberger in a programme of songs and sonatas, both solo and ensemble, sacred and secular, from such culturally enticing cities as Venice, Rome, Naples and Milan. |  |
Website: www.inecho.co.uk
| March 2010 Horses Brawl Wild Lament Laura Cannell (fiddle, recorder, crumhorn) Adrian Lever (guitar) The feisty and experimental duo Horses Brawl draw listeners into a world where driving folk rhythms collide with the high and low musical cultures of ancient Europe and beyond. Improvising around phrases and fragments of music drawn from over eight centuries they transform them into their own mesmerising and spellbinding compositions. |  |
Website: www.horsesbrawl.co.uk
Concerts from the 2008-2009 season:
| November 2008 Trio Goya Kati Debretzeni (violin) Maggie Cole (fortepiano) Sebastian Comberti (cello) The members of Trio Goya come together out of a shared love of the Classical trio repertoire, to which they bring the excitement of re-discovering these works through the illuminating lens of period instruments. This programme finds them concentrating on Haydn in three of his later trios. Full of wit and poignancy, with references to music of an earlier time, while looking ahead in ways that still seem radical, the trios offer a feast for both heart and mind. |  |
Website: www.triogoya.com
| November 2008 Bardos Band Bardos Band formed in 2005 to explore the links between medieval music and storytelling. Their exotic collection of instruments – the luxurious string sounds of saz, fiddle, oud and gittern; soft flutes and recorders; intricate percussion timbres of tupan, daf and rik – evoke the timeless tales of love, valour and faith. The Oak of Two Greens and A Song of Nothing bring together early dance and song from Greece, Turkey, Spain, the Balkans, Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland – a melting pot of rare and beautiful sounds. |  |
Website: www.bardosband.co.uk
| February 2009 Jane Chapman Described by London Metro as ‘the hippest harpsichordist around’ and involved in cutting-edge collaborations with groundbreaking musicians and visual artists, Jane Chapman is equally passionate about contemporary and baroque music. Her programme, All in a Garden Green, explores the natural and mythical world of the harpsichord, with music by Farnaby, Byrd, Sweelinck, F Couperin, Rameau, Tanaka, Takemitsu and Andriessen. |  |
Website: www.janechapman.com
| March 2009 Alessandra Testai & Robin Jeffrey Italian-born soprano Alessandra Testai and lutenist Robin Jeffrey explore the powerfully expressive partnership of voice and lute in a programme embracing many different cultures and historical periods. They perform renaissance Italian and English Elizabethan lute song, together with baroque cantatas, nineteenth century chamber songs and Napoletanas. |  |
| April 2009 Passacaglia Flute and harpsichord music full of grace, intricacy and aching beauty, performed by Workshop Series artistic directors Annabel Knight and Robin Bigwood. Music for the Sun King contrasts ornate and irresistible dance suites by Philidor, Hotteterre and De la Barre with Italian-influenced sonatas by Dornel. |  |
Website: www.passacaglia.com