Artists
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International Baroque Consort
The International Baroque Consort is an historically informed chamber ensemble, performing music mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries. Our current formation is natural trumpet, soprano, baroque cello, and harpsichord. Read more ➤
Artist Spotlight
In conversation with: Lynda Sayce
Originally trained as a flautist, Lynda Sayce read Music at Oxford, where she heard a lute for the first time, and was immediately smitten by the instrument and its repertory. She subsequently studied lute with Jakob Lindberg at the Royal College of Music, and now performs regularly as soloist and continuo player with leading period instrument ensembles worldwide. She is principal lutenist with La Serenissima, The King’s Consort and Ex Cathedra, and appears on more than 100 commercial recordings. She also directs the lute ensemble Chordophony, whose repertory and instrumentarium are based entirely on her research. Lynda has performed with many leading modern instrument orchestras and opera companies, and was chosen by Sir Simon Rattle to play lute continuo for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s recent epic staging of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, performed in Europe and the US. Her discography ranges from some of the earliest surviving lute music to the jazz theorbo part in Harvey Brough’s ‘Requiem in Blue’ and the latest album from folk rock legend Boris Grebenchshikov. She is very happy to revisit her first musical love, and often plays early flutes and recorders in concert. In 2014, after many years as a frustrated listener, she bought a viol, and now ventures on stage as a gamba player with Newe Vialles, The City Musick, and Sounds Historical.
What do you love about your job?
Many things! It’s very sociable - my colleagues are also my friends. I get to travel a lot, and sometimes have access to amazing places not normally open to the public. I love research and working with historic sources, and I have many opportunities to apply this rather niche skill. My main instrument's repertoire covers almost 1,000 years, so there’s always something to learn.
What’s so special about early music concerts?
The frequency of the surprises!
What’s your number 1 listening tip?
Seek out music you don’t know. This might be a genre, a composer, an instrument….
If you could meet anyone from the past, who would it be?
Claudio Monteverdi. He is the main reason I can earn a living playing the theorbo in the 21st century, and I would like to thank him. Also to ask him where his lost operas are….
What would you do if you weren’t a musician?
Probably working with wildlife in some capacity.
What’s on your bed-side table right now?
Stephen Jay Gould, ‘Wonderful life’, which introduces the often bizarre Pre-Cambrian animals of the Burgess Shales. Some of his ideas have been revised, but this remains a beautifully written musing about evolution and the role played by chance.
Where would you most like to live?
Italy, preferably somewhere in Tuscany.
What do you do outside of music that provides you with inspiration?
Wildlife photography, especially bird photography. It needs patience, so there’s a lot of thinking time!
Performing soon
Do you have an early music concert to list? Let us know!