In mid-July, Laurie and Deborah ran their first week-long course of female-voice polyphony, with optional morning yoga on the terrace, at Deborah’s house in Triora – part of Deborah’s summer workshop series Triora Musica. The building, Casa Convento, is an ex-convent (very appropriate); participants (and tutors) stayed in well-appointed cells with views out over the … Read more
We are delighted to announce that the Ambache Charitable Trust has awarded us £3000 towards our recording of RISM 1543/2, Musica quinque vocum motteta materna lingua vocata. The Trust is dedicated to supporting the dissemination of works by female composers. The grant means that our recording expenses are now almost fully funded. A great big thank you to the … Read more
We are so proud of everything that has happened this weekend. The concert at the Brighton Early Music Festival was intense and uplifting, and we have been overwhelmed by the immediate generosity of our friends, raising over £1000 in the first forty-eight hours of our crowdfunding campaign. Keep an eye on the updates on the … Read more
Musica Secreta has joined the crowdfunding generation with an appeal for our new CD of the materna lingua motets. We have until December 19 to raise £4000 – or hopefully a lot more – towards the project. Very exciting, and very scary at the same time. So, get your pledging hats on, and join our … Read more
So, today, in order to help me deal with the excitement of tomorrow, I’m keeping busy finalising our crowdfunding page for a new CD of the materna lingua motets, and making a video to publicise the campaign. And counting habits. More soon!
In some sixteenth-century convents – especially after the Council of Trent – the punishment for playing and singing polyphony was the ‘removal of the veil’. This entailed a loss of privileges, and a loss of voice in convent affairs, sometimes for as long as two years. You’d have thought that we had all been very … Read more
Yesterday the winners of the Engage Competition (run by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement) were announced at an awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum. Laurie won the Individually-led Project category with Celestial Sirens! We are so very proud of, and grateful to, every one of the Sirens, past and present. The award is … Read more
This week have been full of good news for Deborah and Laurie. We first learned that Brighton Early Music Festival had received its Arts Council grant for 2014, which is a huge achievement for Deborah and the rest of the BREMF team. Then, Laurie was notified that Celestial Sirens has helped her to the final … Read more
Deborah is running another fabulous course at the convent house, Casa Convento, in Triora – The Music of William Byrd, 6-14 September. Sopranos, tenors, and basses still needed (sorry, all the alto places are filled already)! apply online via the link. Hurry, places are going fast!
Celestial Sirens brought another first to St Michael’s Southampton last night with a performance of Cipriano de Rore’s Christmas Vespers – a work that has not been heard in modern times. But, given the news of the death of Nelson Mandela, the choir wished to mark his passing with an appropriate tribute – so we … Read more
We have a new web page! And with it, a new blog. We’re hoping this will make it much easier to update our friends with news of concerts, workshops, talks, and projects. July has already been a busy month for our directors: Deborah has been teaching at the Tallis Scholar Summer School at Uppingham, and … Read more
