Reformation Early Music - exploring the sacred and secular music of the 16th and 17th centuries
Repertoire includes music by: Byrd, Dowland, Josquin, Mundy, Padilla, Tallis, Victoria etc. for voices, lutes and chamber organ.
Contact: Paul Bracken 0795-167-4428 email: [email protected]
With the lutenist Stewart McCoy, it's may great pleasure to run the Reformation Early Music Group, a collective of seven singers and two lutenists specializing in 16th and 17th-century music from England, France and Spain.
Video of chansons by Claudin de Sermisy
Video of William Byrd's Ave verum corpus
Our most recent event was on Sunday, October 13th, 2019. 'Sweet Music hath a salve in store' - a concert of music for Voices and Lutes at 4 pm in the lovely Church of St Giles, West Bridgford, Nottingham. This was a fundraising event in aid of Ha Fusi school in Lesotho, and we were delighted to raise £692 for this fantastic educational project. The feedback from this concert has been amazing:
Repertoire includes music by: Byrd, Dowland, Josquin, Mundy, Padilla, Tallis, Victoria etc. for voices, lutes and chamber organ.
Contact: Paul Bracken 0795-167-4428 email: [email protected]
With the lutenist Stewart McCoy, it's may great pleasure to run the Reformation Early Music Group, a collective of seven singers and two lutenists specializing in 16th and 17th-century music from England, France and Spain.
Video of chansons by Claudin de Sermisy
Video of William Byrd's Ave verum corpus
Our most recent event was on Sunday, October 13th, 2019. 'Sweet Music hath a salve in store' - a concert of music for Voices and Lutes at 4 pm in the lovely Church of St Giles, West Bridgford, Nottingham. This was a fundraising event in aid of Ha Fusi school in Lesotho, and we were delighted to raise £692 for this fantastic educational project. The feedback from this concert has been amazing:
Reformation Early Music Group
This is a newly-formed collective - a group of nine musicians who sing and play renaissance lutes/guitars and historic keyboard instruments. Two of our group members hold postgraduate qualifications in the field of early music and have published research in the field, as well as teaching at university level. Therefore, we can offer not only interesting and historically-informed performances ideal for events at historic houses, conferences, weddings etc. but also educational talks about music history.
Stewart McCoy (Lute)
Elizabeth Dunford (Treble)
Lizzy Reavley (Treble)
Geraldine McElearney (Treble)
Christine Hutchings (Alto)
Amelia Wilson (Alto)
Jenny Bell (Alto/Quintus)
Chris Bell (Tenor and Lute)
Paul Bracken (Bass and keyboards)
Our repertoire is from England, France, Italy and Spain, dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and includes the following:
Renaissance Vocal Polyphony - motets, madrigals and French chansons - composers include Byrd, Morley, Mundy, Padilla, Tallis, Victoria etc.
Renaissance Consort Songs with lute - composers include Dowland, Campion, Josquin, Sermisy etc.
Lute Solos and Duets - composers include Dowland, Milano, Terzi, Galilei, Johnson, Daniel.
Early Keyboard Music - composers include Anon. Blow, Croft, Handel, Purcell etc.
plus a wealth of Renaissance dance songs, lute songs, broadside ballads and instrumental 'divisions' on Renaissance 'standards' such as Fortune, La Folia, Monsieur's Almain etc.
Reviews of our recent concerts (June and October 2019)
'Wow! What an amazing concert - and we were, of course, delighted to raise £692 for the project.
Elizabeth (on behalf of Ha Fusi)
'They sounded like The Sixteen!'
Audrey
Dear Members of the Reformation Early Music Group,
On behalf of the Trustees of the Rafiki Thabo Foundation, I would like to thank you for your amazing fundraising concert last weekend, which raised a total of £700 for the charity. This incredible amount is enough to pay for three years of secondary education for a child in Lesotho.
We were delighted to hear from Elizabeth how well Fusi Secondary School is doing when she returned from her visit in February. The school continues to grow: there are now more than 270 children receiving a vital secondary education – compared to 25 when Elizabeth lived there!
Elizabeth also hosted a get together of all the present Rafiki Thabo scholars, like Lemohang, pictured on the right, and any past scholars who could be contacted. All the High School scholars came, and Elizabeth also met several students who are now in higher education. They all completed an impact survey – telling us the difference our support has made to their lives. We are really excited about everything happening in 2019 so far – as well as continuing with our ‘business as usual’ we already have lots of projects lined up and are hoping to support more building/fencing projects at Fusi Secondary School. The money you raised will help make a real, transformational difference to the students we support.
Yours sincerely,
Kathy Clarke ([email protected]) Finance and Administration Officer, Rafiki Thabo Foundation
Rafiki Thabo Foundation – Registered Charity Number 1118430
1 Love Lane, Abbots Langley, Herts, WD5 0QA.
from Tracy Ault (Scheme Officer, Waterloo Housing):
Dear Paul,
I needed to write on behalf of the residents of Epperstone Court to thank you for the recent performance of the Reformation Early Music Group. It would be fair to say that people weren't quite sure what to expect, but were bowled over by the music and thoroughly enjoyed the session. In fact, they're already asking when you will be coming back! The choice of music was not only enjoyable, but also relaxing and well performed by the singers in the group. People continue to talk about what a wonderful concert they had - thank you so much for sharing your talents with us. We look forward to welcoming you back soon.
Kind regards
Tracy
Hi Paul,
Just to say how much we all enjoyed the recent concert - and especially the historical bits. They made the music so much more enjoyable because they gave it all context.
Please come again soon,
John.
This is a newly-formed collective - a group of nine musicians who sing and play renaissance lutes/guitars and historic keyboard instruments. Two of our group members hold postgraduate qualifications in the field of early music and have published research in the field, as well as teaching at university level. Therefore, we can offer not only interesting and historically-informed performances ideal for events at historic houses, conferences, weddings etc. but also educational talks about music history.
Stewart McCoy (Lute)
Elizabeth Dunford (Treble)
Lizzy Reavley (Treble)
Geraldine McElearney (Treble)
Christine Hutchings (Alto)
Amelia Wilson (Alto)
Jenny Bell (Alto/Quintus)
Chris Bell (Tenor and Lute)
Paul Bracken (Bass and keyboards)
Our repertoire is from England, France, Italy and Spain, dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and includes the following:
Renaissance Vocal Polyphony - motets, madrigals and French chansons - composers include Byrd, Morley, Mundy, Padilla, Tallis, Victoria etc.
Renaissance Consort Songs with lute - composers include Dowland, Campion, Josquin, Sermisy etc.
Lute Solos and Duets - composers include Dowland, Milano, Terzi, Galilei, Johnson, Daniel.
Early Keyboard Music - composers include Anon. Blow, Croft, Handel, Purcell etc.
plus a wealth of Renaissance dance songs, lute songs, broadside ballads and instrumental 'divisions' on Renaissance 'standards' such as Fortune, La Folia, Monsieur's Almain etc.
Reviews of our recent concerts (June and October 2019)
'Wow! What an amazing concert - and we were, of course, delighted to raise £692 for the project.
Elizabeth (on behalf of Ha Fusi)
'They sounded like The Sixteen!'
Audrey
Dear Members of the Reformation Early Music Group,
On behalf of the Trustees of the Rafiki Thabo Foundation, I would like to thank you for your amazing fundraising concert last weekend, which raised a total of £700 for the charity. This incredible amount is enough to pay for three years of secondary education for a child in Lesotho.
We were delighted to hear from Elizabeth how well Fusi Secondary School is doing when she returned from her visit in February. The school continues to grow: there are now more than 270 children receiving a vital secondary education – compared to 25 when Elizabeth lived there!
Elizabeth also hosted a get together of all the present Rafiki Thabo scholars, like Lemohang, pictured on the right, and any past scholars who could be contacted. All the High School scholars came, and Elizabeth also met several students who are now in higher education. They all completed an impact survey – telling us the difference our support has made to their lives. We are really excited about everything happening in 2019 so far – as well as continuing with our ‘business as usual’ we already have lots of projects lined up and are hoping to support more building/fencing projects at Fusi Secondary School. The money you raised will help make a real, transformational difference to the students we support.
Yours sincerely,
Kathy Clarke ([email protected]) Finance and Administration Officer, Rafiki Thabo Foundation
Rafiki Thabo Foundation – Registered Charity Number 1118430
1 Love Lane, Abbots Langley, Herts, WD5 0QA.
from Tracy Ault (Scheme Officer, Waterloo Housing):
Dear Paul,
I needed to write on behalf of the residents of Epperstone Court to thank you for the recent performance of the Reformation Early Music Group. It would be fair to say that people weren't quite sure what to expect, but were bowled over by the music and thoroughly enjoyed the session. In fact, they're already asking when you will be coming back! The choice of music was not only enjoyable, but also relaxing and well performed by the singers in the group. People continue to talk about what a wonderful concert they had - thank you so much for sharing your talents with us. We look forward to welcoming you back soon.
Kind regards
Tracy
Hi Paul,
Just to say how much we all enjoyed the recent concert - and especially the historical bits. They made the music so much more enjoyable because they gave it all context.
Please come again soon,
John.