The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble is a virtuoso period instrument group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name. In addition to regular recital work, the ensemble collaborates with leading vocal ensembles such as I Fagiolini, The Tallis Scholars, Alamire, Resurgam, The Marian Consort, Westminster Cathedral Choir, and is a regular at major festivals. As of October 2022 ECSE is also Ensemble in Residence at Holy Sepulchre, London, the National Musicians' Church.
ECSE is in demand as a recording ensemble, contributing to Gramophone Award-winning discs such as The Spy's Choirbook (Obsidian) in 2015, and the monumental Striggio mass in 40 parts Missa ecco si beato giorno with I Fagiolini (which scooped the Gramophone Award for Early Music 2011 and also the Diapason d'Or). ECSE celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018 with a solo CD on the Resonus label entitled Music for Windy Instruments: Sounds from the Court of James I.
Upcoming plans for 2023 include concerts and a recording with the Irish vocal ensemble Resurgam, plus ensemble recitals in Edinburgh, York and Manchester. For our 30th anniversary year in 2023 we will once again participate in the NCEM/BBC Radio3 Young Composer Competition, culminating in a broadcast recital on Radio 3 from Manchester's Stoller Hall.
