Festival Finale

The Marian Consort, directed by Rory McCleery

The Marian Consort (TMC) is an award-winning British vocal ensemble that presents bold and thrilling performances of music from across the centuries. Led by founder and director Rory McCleery, TMC is distinguished by its flexible, intimate approach, with a clarity of texture and subtlety of interpretation that illuminates the music for performer and audience alike. TMC features regularly on UK and international television and radio (including BBC Two’s recent flagship documentary series ‘Art That Made Us’), and has released fourteen recordings to critical acclaim, garnering a variety of accolades and awards including the Diapason D’Or, Presto Classical Album of the Year and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Recent highlights of TMC’s live performance schedule include appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall, the BBC Proms, Festival Europäische Kirchenmusik Schwäbisch Gmünd (broadcast on German national radio), the Miller Theatre series at Columbia University in New York and Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall (filmed for Japanese television).

Noted for ‘performances that glow with golden purity and soul’, The Marian Consort performs music from the twelfth century to the present day, with a focus on bringing to light and championing marginalised and lesser-known Renaissance composers such as Vicente Lusitano, Raffaella Aleotti, and Jean Maillard. Praised for its engaging and innovative programming, TMC also works with living composers through its New Music Programme, commissioning extensively alongside mentoring developing composers through the Emerging Voices scheme. TMC has premiered over 30 works to date and in recent years has commissioned Dani Howard, David Fennessy, Anna Semple, Laurence Osborn and Electra Perivolaris. In 2024 TMC is New Music Partner with Choir & Organ magazine and a Royal Philharmonic Society Composers Programme Partner.

TMC is also a pioneer of projects which move beyond the confines of the traditional concert, notably ‘Breaking the Rules’, a staged concert-drama based on the life and crimes of Carlo Gesualdo called ‘daring and vivid’ by The Guardian; ‘Lusitano Remixed’, a touring surround sound installation made with Roderick Williams; and most recently ‘Face to Face’, a multimedia performance experience combining film, sound art, movement, Italian Renaissance madrigals and new music by Joanna Ward developed in collaboration with Britten Pears Arts. TMC joins forces with ensembles and soloists of international repute to give concerts, commission and record: recent collaborations have included Daniel Pioro, Britten Sinfonia, {oh!} Orkiestra and Illyria Consort.

TMC is committed to inspiring a love of singing and creativity in people of all ages, with a particular focus on children and young people, and hosts workshops & study days, performs schools concerts, and leads on longer-term education projects with partners in both the UK and internationally. We have an avid online following, and present performance videos and podcasts in collaboration with prize-winning poets, actors, writers, artists, academics, composers and musicians, reaching an audience of millions worldwide.

marianconsort.co.uk

@marianconsort

Spiritato

‘This is a brilliant group doing fab things – don’t miss them!’ Rachel Podger

United by a passion for exploring rare pieces of music and little-known composers, Spiritato is gaining a reputation for excellence with imaginative programming and engaging performances. In recent years the group has produced an exciting range of innovative projects including; Inspiring Bach – a pioneering new approach to period performance using real natural trumpets and equal tension strings, filmed and toured to 5 UK festivals (2021/22); Sonatas from the Düben Collection– A recording of rare works from the 17th Century, discovered in the Düben Collection library at Uppsala University; Music to her Majestie, exploring Royal odes by Purcell, Handel and Eccles in collaboration with lutenist Elizabeth Kenny and soloists including Nicholas Mulroy, Charles Daniels and Nardus Williams (2023).

Individual members of the group are active with period-instrument ensembles throughout the UK/Europe, including the OAE, AAM, Les Talens Lyriques and the Orchestra Révolutionaire et Romantique.

Producing unique, research-based performance projects, avoiding well-trodden paths wherever possible, Spiritato actively seeks to promote forgotten composers and bring their music to a wider audience.

In January 2025 the group recorded their first double-disc, featuring the complete Concerti Grossi of Handel’s virtuoso first violin, Pietro Castrucci. With 3235 bars of exquisite music recorded, the group are now inviting supporters to ‘sponsor a bar’ (or perhaps a few)…! To find out more and bring this incredible music to life, please speak to a member of the group, email or visit www.spiritato.co.uk

‘Frankly exquisite instrumental playing from Spiritato!’ ★★★★ Bachtrack