• THE GONZAGA BAND
• Faye Newton soprano
• Jamie Savan & Fiona Russell cornett
• Adam Woolf sackbut
• Steven Devine chamber organ & harpsichord

Early seventeenth-century Italy was a ferment of new ideas, in music as in the other arts. Performers and composers developed new ensembles, new ways of singing and playing, and new ways of exciting audiences with their expressiveness and virtuosity.

The programme explores virtuoso pieces for soprano with varied combinations of cornetts, sackbut and keyboard by Monteverdi and his Venetian and Roman contemporaries, including Alessandro Grandi, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Giovanni Battista Riccio and Giovanni Picchi. An intriguing link between the old and new are the madrigals and motets by the sixteenth-century masters de Rore and Palestrina updated with the addition of virtuoso passagi or florid ornaments for voice or solo instrument.

Faye Newton specialises in Mediaeval, Renaissance and Baroque music, and sings with a number of leading ensembles in the field, including the New London Consort, Concanentes, Trobairitz and Concerto delle Donne.

‘Faye Newton’s bright but appropriately varied delivery and well-projected wit made each of her contributions a delight.’ – The Times

The Gonzaga Band was formed by the cornett player Jamie Savan in 1997 to explore the historical approaches to the performance of vocal and instrumental music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It has become one of the most sought-after early music groups of the younger generations, making numerous festival appearances throughout the UK and appearing on BBC Radio 3. Its first commercial CD is due for release soon on the Magnatune label. 

‘Flair and invention’ – The Times 

‘Sublimely played’ – The Independent