Stile Antico

Beautiful photos from our performance at Muziekcentrum De Bijloke Gent last month!

A very happy Epiphany to you all! We’re back to it after a restful Christmas and New Year with our families, reflecting on a fabulously Byrd-filled 2023.

First things first this year, we’re busy preparing our new Dante-themed programme, A Divine Hope. Through this concert, we follow the story of Dante’s epic ‘La Commedia’ (‘The Divine Comedy’): descending with Il Divino into Hell, journeying with him through Purgatory, and finally arriving at the gates of Heaven, with works by composers including Gombert, Palestrina, Morales and Victoria.

We’ll be premiering this programme in Leamington and Nantes next month, or you catch us in Oxford on 6th March. More info and tickets are available via our website!

https://www.stileantico.co.uk/events

We’re coming to Newcastle Cathedral in March! Read on below for details and to buy tickets ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Stile Antico is one of the world's finest vocal ensembles, renowned for vibrant and expressive performances of music from the Renaissance. We are thrilled to welcome them on Friday 8 March, as they guide us through ‘The Golden Renaissance’ – a captivating exploration of their favourite music: ticketsource.co.uk/newcastle-cathedral

Sign up to receive our newsletter for more announcements about special services and upcoming events: newcastlecathedral.org.uk/newsletter

A very Merry Christmas from Stile Antico!

Here’s the final, festive offering of our series: Byrd’s exultant setting of Rorate Caeli, introduced here by Nathan. Wishing you all the most wonderful day! 🎄

[December] Nathan introduces 'Rorate caeli desuper' by William Byrd #Byrd2023 During 2023, Stile Antico will release monthly videos featuring the music of William Byrd, together with introductions by each member of the group.This recor...

Huge thanks to Dr Ann Kelders at KBR for inviting us to view some amazing Alamire codices, and other beautiful manuscripts large and small! We even sang 'Se je souspire' from Margaret of Austria's famous chansonnier.

https://www.facebook.com/royallibrarybelgium

While we’re (quite literally) waiting in the wings for our final concert of 2023 in beautiful Brussels, we’re delighted to share that we’re joining the ranks at REMA - EEMN!

An early start on the Eurostar this morning (on which we bumped into our friends The Sixteen!), but we’ve made it to Muziekcentrum De Bijloke Gent and are looking forward to performing to a full house this evening in this fabulous space!

Tomorrow morning we’ll be heading to Belgium for our final two concerts of 2023! Catch us singing our Christmas programme in Ghent tomorrow evening, or in Brussels on Thursday night. We can’t wait!🎄

Kerst op grandioze wijze — Stile Antico All I want for Christmas is … dit concert

📣 Full details of our courses as part of The Music Summer School and Festival are now available at the booking link below! We can’t wait to part of this fantastic lineup next summer ☀️

No video today, instead we invite you to have a look at our new programme and booking website at www.mssf.org.uk. There's still some work to do including some events and course details to upload, but hopefully you can get a feel for next year's The Music Summer School and Festival. We hope you enjoy exploring the site.

This Friday! 🎉

We had the most wonderful time debuting our new Christmas programme in Cambridge last night - thanks to our lovely audience who braved the cold to hear us! Next up is Wigmore Hall next Friday, and then we’ll be heading to Belgium just before Christmas for our final two concerts of the year!🎄

This Joyful Birth – Events – Stile Antico A musical retelling of the Christmas story

Our penultimate video of the year, Byrd’s wonderful ‘Quomodo cantabimus’, is introduced here by Ben… whose birthday happens to be today! 🎂🎉

[November] Ben introduces 'Quomodo cantabimus' by William Byrd #Byrd2023 During 2023, Stile Antico will release monthly videos featuring the music of William Byrd, together with introductions by each member of the group.This recor...

Our concert in Cambridge this Saturday is fast approaching, and top-tier tickets have now sold out. However, £15 tickets are still available - there’s still time to nab yours! 🎄✨

This Joyful Birth – Projects – Stile Antico We are delighted to unveil our new Christmas programme at a special concert in the beautiful mediaeval church of Little St Mary's, Cambridge, on 2nd December.

Our concert in Cambridge next month is fast approaching - join us for a feast of festive Renaissance favourites! 🎄

This Joyful Birth – Projects – Stile Antico We are delighted to unveil our new Christmas programme at a special concert in the beautiful mediaeval church of Little St Mary's, Cambridge, on 2nd December.

Beautiful blue skies greeted us today as we arrived to rehearse ahead of tonight’s concert for Bath Mozartfest!

We’re already looking forward to being part of this extraordinary event again next September. Read on for more details! 🤩

See you tomorrow ByrdCentral!

England’s Nightingale - The Remarkable Music of William Byrd - The Barber Institute of Fine Arts Barber Evening Concert Wednesday 8 November 7.30–9.30pm Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building Stile Antico Marking 400 years since the death of William Byrd this programme weaves together the strands of Byrd’s complex life as both pillar of the Protestant musical establishment and faithful ...

🚨 It’s just two days until our family concert in Birmingham! Read more below in this lovely article, thanks to Midlands Music Reviews:

➡️ https://www.midlandsmusicreviews.co.uk/2023/10/birmingham-schoolchildren-take-up.html?m=1

Cara and Jonathan spent a lovely afternoon workshopping an all William Byrd evensong with the fab All Saints Fulham Choir today. Thanks for your wonderful singing!

We're excited to be launching our new Christmas programme in Cambridge on Saturday 2nd December. Join us in the beautifully intimate, medieval surroundings of Little St Mary's for a programme of Renaissance choral music for Christmas ✨

Book now: https://www.stileantico.co.uk/events/2023/12/02/this-joyful-birth

Stile Antico Stile Antico is one of the world's finest vocal ensembles, renowned for vibrant and expressive performances of music from the Renaissance.

We’d like to wish a very special Happy Birthday to our friends The Tallis Scholars, who are celebrating an incredible 50 years today! 🎂👏🏆

Fifty years ago, on 3 November 1973, a choral ensemble was born. A twenty-year-old Peter Phillips, then a student at Oxford, had an idea of a sound in his head which he thought would suit the Renaissance sacred polyphony that he heard regularly sung in chapel. He has spent the last half century honing that sound to perfection, gaining us global notoriety as 'rockstars of the Renaissance' (The New York Times). With more than 60 recordings and 2500 concerts under our belts, today we celebrate our 50th birthday.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 '𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵? '. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵. 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘩, 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳." John Rutter

We send our enormous thanks to the audiences, supporters, agents, festival directors and venue managers worldwide who have all done so much to give us the global reach that we have achieved. Here's to all of you, and here's to the next decade! 🎊🥂🎊

It’s time for the October instalment of our video series! Here’s Rosie introducing Byrd’s jubilant six-part setting of ‘Praise our Lord, all ye gentiles’.

[October] Rosie introduces Byrd's 'Praise our Lord' During 2023, Stile Antico will release monthly videos featuring the music of William Byrd, together with introductions by each member of the group.This recor...

📣 Attention, families in Birmingham! 📣

We are excited to be coming to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts to present a free, interactive concert on Wednesday 8th Nov at 4.30pm. ALL are welcome to come and explore the life of William Byrd in an informal setting, which will include the premiere of a fabulous new interactive piece, written by Dr Kerry Andrew and commissioned for Byrd’s 400th anniversary.

Please share far and wide!

https://barber.org.uk/reasonstosing/

ByrdCentral

📝 US Tour Blog #2: Byrds, Alligators and Seals… Oh My! (By Matt)

Saturday 7th saw us complete our journey through South Carolina as we crossed the state line into Georgia, and the beautiful City of Savannah. Half the group made their way to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist (Sunday’s concert venue) to lead a masterclass with the Cathedral choral scholars, whilst the other car decided to stop off en route to visit the beach at Hilton Head Island and enjoy a dip in the Atlantic on a lovely sunny day! Before it started to feel a bit too much like a holiday, we decided to get back on the road and join the rest in Savannah (who, to be fair, were now occupying the sun loungers around the hotel pool), but not before a last minute attempt to spot an Alligator or two! We took the scenic route, driving slowly through a housing community characterised by a series of lagoons, which felt like a kind of urban safari. Just as we thought we were out of luck, we spotted one! A few pictures taken, and we were on our way. Our evening concluded with a fun meal overlooking the Savannah river, before a highly anticipated ghost tour revealed the City’s dark and historic past – not for the faint-hearted!

We woke up to another glorious sunny day on Sunday, which served as a great opportunity to have a wander around the City squares and shopping streets. We couldn’t resist the urge to visit the aptly named ‘Byrd’s famous cookies’, and came away with a few nice gifts for friends and family back home. Today was our 5th concert of the tour, and we really enjoyed performing in the Cathedral. It’s a beautifully bright and colourful building – large canvas murals cover the walls and the deep blue ceiling above the altar made a lovely backdrop for a concert. A warm, generous acoustic helped to create an atmospheric evening of singing, which was then followed by a superb meal out. Thank you, Savannah!

After all the warm weather, we started to unpack our jumpers in preparation for colder weather as we flew up North to Minnesota the following day. St Paul was our destination, the neighbouring twin city of Minneapolis. Board games and a deck of cards kept the spirits high during a long travel day, and eventually we arrived at the beautifully eccentric Celeste Hotel, with most of us heading up for a good night’s sleep!

The weather gods were still on our side the following morning, so we thought it a nice idea to get some fresh air, and take a long walk in the morning sunshine on the way to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. We arrived just in time for Sparky’s morning show – the Zoo’s famous resident seal - who provided us with tricks and entertainment that any of our dogs would have been proud of. After a short walk around the rest of the park, it was time to head back. Today’s concert venue (thanks to the wonderful Schubert Club) was the Landmark Center in downtown St Paul, which was really striking as we walked through the doors into a tall, five-story atrium serving as a multi-use performance space that worked really well for us. After an enjoyable concert, we walked back to the hotel, with kudos being given to the bartender staying open just for us!

Wednesday 11th saw our last long drive, and marked our final stop of the tour as we travelled east to Kenosha WI, on the shores of Lake Michigan. We were heading for Carthage College, and were looking forward to sharing a concert on Thursday night with three of the music department’s choral ensembles. After a quick rehearsal and soundcheck, a few of us decided to get a taste of collegiate life with a windswept walk around the campus, and headed for the baseball stadium to watch the team in a practice session. It was really fun hearing the Carthage College Choirs in the first half, as we watched from the choirs – they sounded fantastic, and Maggie Burk, the Director of Choral Activities, had clearly prepared them really well. We loved seeing each choir sing with such cohesion and enthusiasm! After our contribution in the second half, we made a relatively swift departure and drove to our hotel just outside Chicago airport, ready for an early morning flight back home.

Until next time, y’all! 🐊

We made it safely back from the US on Friday night (more to come from part 2 of the blog very soon!), and immediately whisked ourselves off to beautiful Sion for tonight’s concert at the Basilique de Valère. Always such a treat to come back here!

Lovely to read this review of last night’s concert ahead of our final performance of the tour tomorrow night.

Thanks once again Schubert Club for having us!

Review: A ca****la ensemble Stile Antico performs a lush and spine-tingling concert in St. Paul The 12-member early music group sang works of Renaissance composer William Byrd.

After a lovely few days in sunny Savannah with Friends of Cathedral Music we’re off up north for our concert in St Paul, MN tomorrow evening at the Landmark Center with the Schubert Club. See you soon! ✈️

📝 US Tour Blog #1: A Bit of Southern Comfort (by Jonathan)

We left London last Saturday, fleeing England as Autumn seemed to finally set in, arriving in the much warmer and sunnier climes across the pond! Our first stop was Swarthmore, just outside Philadelphia, where we all settled in for a few Philly Cheesesteaks and a drink or two before the jet lag hit us. The next day we headed up to the Swarthmore College campus where we enjoyed exploring their arboretum and rose garden, and performed a programme of William Byrd in their beautiful Lang Music Center, before sharing dinner with some of their music students and giving a masterclass. It’s always good to find people who love William Byrd as much as we do!

The next day, we packed ourselves up into our two six-seater vans, and set off on our first road trip of the tour. On the way, we stopped off in Washington DC to visit our old friend Robert Aubrey Davies, to record a radio show for Sirius XM about – you guessed it – William Byrd! After a quick bite to eat and a glimpse of the capitol building in the distance, we continued south onto our next stop - Elon, North Carolina.

We were delighted to find a pool at our next hotel to cool down in the balmy temperatures, and then headed to an excellent Mexican restaurant where the frozen margaritas were bigger than our heads! The next day, after a relaxed morning, some of us attempting to work off our enchiladas from the night before, we headed to the campus of Elon University for concert number two. This was in the Whitley Auditorium, an old building which had a great acoustic. We were also honoured to be invited to listen to some students’ presentations about William Byrd, and perform a few pieces especially for them. As a group of foodies, we were also delighted to be offered a really special ‘private dining’ experience from the College catering team, with many ingredients they grew on campus.

The next day was just a short trip to Davidson, North Carolina to perform for old friends at the Methodist Church there. On our way, we stopped off at the Lake Norman State Park for a short but sweaty hike along the shore, and then drove down to Davidson for an al fresco pizza lunch. We were performing in the lovely chapel of the Methodist Church, and received such a warm welcome from lots of familiar faces there. It was also wonderful to help celebrate our host, Rev. Kevin Turner’s birthday, dedicating ‘Laudibus’ to him! After the concert, we then split off into twos and went to find our generous hosts for the next couple of nights.

Many of the hosts had houses on the lake, and so we spent the next morning sunning ourselves and swimming in the cool water, before our concert at Davidson College, just up the road. Again, we were delighted to take part in a masterclass with three choral groups from the college, and it was a joy to perform de Monte ‘Super flumina’ and Byrd ‘Ave verum’ with them in concert. It was also a second outing for our ‘Bee madrigal’, which we performed for a special event in August, and which requires the use of kazoos which brought the house down!

After saying goodbye to our generous hosts in Davidson (and to Andrew who was heading back home to London), we began the next leg of our journey through to South Carolina. Ready for a day off, we had rented a boat on Lake Marion, where we saw alligators, blue herons, cranes, and turtles. A few of us had a go a driving the boat, while others sat back and relaxed with a beer and a picnic. Then, after another quick dip in the hotel pool and a hearty southern dinner, we went to bed before finishing our trip south to Savannah, Georgia, where we’ll be performing later today!