Programme includes
le Camus Ah! fuyons ce dangereux séjour and Laissez durer la nuit
Campion J’ai juré mille fois
d’Ambruys Le doux silence de nos bois
de Murcia El Amor
Handel Cantata Spagnuola
Purcell The cares of lovers and Ah how sweet
Corbetta Preludio and Caprice de Chaconne
Eccles I Burn and Find me a lonely cave
This concert is kindly supported by Making Music’s Philip & Dorothy Green Young Artists scheme
The Portrait Players are a UK-based trio bringing 17th and 18th century music to modern audiences. Described in its debut concert as ‘beguiling’, The Portrait Players is an all-female trio whose engaging programmes are inspired by historical characters. Featuring Claire Ward (soprano), Kristiina Watt (theorbo/lute) and Miriam Nohl (cello/viola da gamba), the trio, founded in January 2023, has quickly established a busy concert schedule across the UK.
Upcoming engagements for 2024-2025 season include recitals at Handel Hendrix House, London, Stoller Hall, Manchester and Buxton International Music Festival, as well as the launch of the Louise Labé Song Project, expanding the trio’s popular programme ‘Les Femmes Illustres‘ with a contemporary song cycle by composer Clare Elton. Click here to read more about this project.
The ensemble made its debut at St. Martin-in-the-fields in autumn 2023 in a recital hosted by City Music Foundation. Further concerts include performances at Brighton Early Music Festival, Amersham Festival, Surrey Hills International Music Festival, St. Pancras Clock Tower, Northumbria University, Barts’ Great Hall in the City of London, New College Oxford, The Workshop Series Lewes, University College Oxford, and collaborations with Opera Prelude in London and Henley.
Since its genesis, the trio have been supported by a number of emerging ensemble programmes, including the Stoller Hall Emerging Artist Programme (2024/2025), Making Music/Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artist Scheme (2024/2025) BREMF Live! (2023/2024) and Live Music Now (2023-2025). They took part in the 2024 RCM/NCEM/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble Development Day and have had the opportunity to develop their work with Dame Emma Kirkby, Sophie Daneman, Laurence Cummings, Christopher Suckling and Liz Kenny.
Graduates of the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music, the three members of The Portrait Players each lead busy freelance lives and work with many of Europe’s leading orchestras and ensembles including The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Academy of Ancient Music, La Nuova Musica, The English Concert and The Monteverdi Choir.
For more information about The Portrait Players visit their website