News

As we get closer to the release date of From Darkness Into Light, we want to share an essay written by Laurie to accompany the liner notes to the CD. There are only so many words a CD booklet can contain, but we felt there might be some listeners who wanted to know more, or who … Read more

It’s been whirlwind getting this recording together, from finding the music to booking the recording dates and trying to find time to do that thing – rehearse! – but we did it, and we could not be happier about the result. The disc pairs Brumel’s Lamentations for Good Friday, discovered by Laurie in their forty-five-minute-complete … Read more

 What a thrilling week! Monday, we met at the beautiful Tudor church of St Michael the Archangel in Southampton to rehearse some beautiful new repertoire, which we will be recording at St Michael’s in May this year. This includes a major new discovery, which Laurie unearthed when we were recently in Florence, and which we … Read more

We would like to invite you to join us this summer in the extraordinary medieval town of Triora, high up in the Ligurian mountains, for a week of convent polyphony.  From 7-14 July, we will be singing, eating, and laughing together, and we’d love to have you there, too.  More information on this page, where … Read more

Laurie’s book, Women and Music in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara is named in the 2019 finalists’ list for the Association of American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE awards) for books of extraordinary merit that make a significant contribution to a field of study.  We are delighted that women’s music – particularly women’s polyphony – is finally getting recognition!

Before the Christmas season gets underway, we thought we’d round up our autumn news and give you a few reminders about what’s coming up in 2019. September’s big news was the long-awaited release of Women and Music in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara. The book tells the story of Ferrarese music in a new way, by putting women … Read more

We are so sad this evening to hear the news of Tony Newcomb’s passing. His book, The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1579-1597, was our go-to reference for many years and the inspiration for the projects that led to recordings, concerts, and research of our own. His meticulous readings of documents, his insightful analysis that only could come … Read more

Musica Secreta has, over the past few decades, done concerts in England, Ireland, Germany, France, Croatia, in cathedrals, decommissioned churches, hotel restaurants, and once memorably in a tent in a field. But we have never performed in Italy before, so Wednesday night was a wonderful first for us. Thanks to an enterprising invitation from Linda … Read more

As usual, it’s all very busy here at Musica Secreta central, what with performances and workshops being planned, oh and books being published… Well, one book in particular, Women and Music in Sixteenth-Century Ferrara, which is finally out and available from Cambridge University Press, or Hive (other online retailers are available). While I was putting together all the final materials … Read more

Well, friends, finally I can start making the scores from the recording available as PDFs.  It’s not quite as I would want it: despite our best intentions, we are having to operate with human intervention rather than making them downloadable through the shop, at the moment.  Which means lots of manual work for me. But … Read more