Folk songs and madrigals will be the focus of our 17 May concert. 

The folk songs represent some of the most popular traditional material from the British Isles, and you may be familiar with titles such as Londonderry Air, The Parting Glass and There Was A Tree.

The arrangements we will sing were created at the beginning of the 20th century by composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, who sought to take songs that had been sung informal settings for generations and adapt them for the concert hall.

Madrigal singing, meanwhile, originated in Italy in the 14th century and became popular across Europe during the Renaissance. Madrigals are musical settings of poems, often with light-hearted themes such as courtly love and romance.

English composers include John Dowland and Thomas Morley, both of whom are represented in our programme. We also feature three settings by modern American composer Emma Lou Diemer, based on texts by Shakespeare.

In addition to our selection of folk and madrigals, we are being joined by three different groups: Singing For Fun, The Pielarks and Kingston Madrigal Society.

You can book tickets for the concert here.