Workshops for female voices offer a unique opportunity to experience some of the growing repertoire that would have been performed by women, and especially nuns from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Much of this music has been researched and edited by Laurie herself, and thus participants can often find themselves taking part in first performances in modern times!
Workshops and courses for 2019-20 are listed on the Events Diary
4th May 2019: North West Early Music Forum
Palestrina: Missa Confitebor tibi for eight voices. Day workshop for female voices, and instruments (any gender)
Baptist Church, Didsbury
An exciting day of singing and playing a large scale festal mass as it might have been performed for special occasions in Italian convents. Female voices from high sopranos to low altos are welcome, along with players (either gender) of instruments such as: sackbuts, cornetts, viols, violins and well behaved curtals! Pitch A=440
7th (arrival) -14th (departure) July 2019: Musica Secreta Summer School, Triora, Italy
Enjoy a week of total immersion in convent polyphony in one of Italy’s most beautiful medieval towns, perched high in the Ligurian Pre-Alps, but only 40 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea.
Repertoire will be tailored to the course participants but will feature music from the 14th – mid 16th century, including some fascinating new discoveries resulting from Laurie’s research! We welcome experienced female singers from high sopranos to low altos and tenors.
In addition to around six hours of singing per day, there will be talks, discussions, sessions on vocal technique and plenty of time to relax and enjoy the stunning setting. We tend to end each working day over a glass or two of prosecco on the terrace before going out to eat in the local restaurant. Self- catering options are also available.
NEW FOR 2019: STUDENT BURSARIES: Thanks to the generosity of the University of Southampton, we are able to offer four travel bursaries of £500 each for undergraduate or postgraduate music students coming from outside Europe.
13th-15th September: Cambridge Early Music
The Women of Ferrara: Two-day workshop with the Friends of Cambridge Early Music
We will be exploring Ferrarese culture through its music, introducing you to repertoire and performance practice techniques that were important to the female religious institutions of Ferrara. Expect plenty of Josquin, Suor Leonora d’Este, Suor Raffaella Aleotti, Cipriano de Rore, and others!
