Call for student singers for vocal consort and masterclass in January 2022
Instruments of Time and Truth are thrilled to launch a new initiative aimed at developing and inspiring Oxford’s finest student consort singers. Applications are now open to join a Vocal Consort which will sing as part of Instruments of Time and Truth’s concert performance ‘Divine Music! - Songs and Odes in praise of Music by Purcell, Blow, and Croft in the Holywell Music Room on Friday 28th January 2022.
We are looking to recruit 8 student singers to form an SSAATTBB octet. Haute-contre and baritones are also welcome to apply. Priority will be given to student singers who study and/or live in Oxford, but singers from further afield are welcome to apply. Applicants should be aged 18 or over on 1st January 2022.
We are looking for singers with interest in and experience in this repertoire and in consort singing, who are willing and able to be collaborative in rehearsal and performance and proactive musically. As a member of the consort you will sing alongside professional soloists and consort singers, and will receive coaching from harpsichordist Christopher Bucknall.
Additionally, on Wednesday 26th January Miriam Allan and Christopher Bucknall will give a masterclass on English song repertoire written between 1650 and 1700 which will explore stylistic interpretation and communication of text. Members of the vocal consort will be invited to take part in this masterclass, and the class will be open to the public.
IT&T rehearsing in the Holywell Music Room for ‘Handel’s Youthful Exuberance’ in February 2020
The Vocal Consort are invited to sing in three pieces in the concert on Friday 28th January:
Welcome to all the Pleasures (London, 1683) - Henry Purcell
Begin the Song (London, 1684) - John Blow
Begin and Strike the Harmonious Lyre (Oxford, 1693) - Daniel Purcell
The performance will be at A=415.
For more information or to apply, please email IT&T’s Education Officer Elizabeth Nurse at education@timeandtruth.co.uk, copying in info@timeandtruth.co.uk, including:
a one-page CV/a few paragraphs outlining your musical experience
a few sentences explaining why you are interested in being a part of the vocal consort
an email address for a referee; this would ideally be your singing teacher or a director of music you work with, or another musician who can speak to your singing experience.
any limitations on your general availability (e.g. cannot rehearse on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7pm due to Evensong commitments). Please note the provisional schedule when applying.
If the scheme is oversubscribed, we will request a recording.
The application deadline is Friday 24th December at midday.
Provisional schedule:
The “sublime singing” (Gramophone, 2017) of Soprano Miriam Allan has been enjoyed across the world, from her native Australia, through Japan and Singapore, as well as at festivals throughout Europe and North America. Frequent collaborators include Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Masaaki Suzuki and William Christie, whilst she has sung with the BBC Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Academy of Ancient Music. An experienced teacher and choir coach, Miriam currently teaches at Christ’s College Cambridge.
Christopher Bucknall is a conductor and harpsichordist equally at home in both concert hall and opera house. He regularly directs Instruments of Time and Truth and has worked with many of the country's great period instrument orchestras including the OAE, AAM and English Concert. He has also had fruitful collaborations with the BBC Singers and the choruses at ENO and Glyndebourne.
