We are committed to integrating educational work into our activities and aim to offer engaging, informative and fun workshops for musicians. If you would like to know more, please contact us.
Working with choirs
We have recently worked with CAMMAC, the choirs at St Wulfram’s Grantham, Bath Abbey, Hexham Abbey and York Chapter House Choir. During these sessions we have explored all kinds of repertoire, focusing on key skills such as intonation and balance, and encouraging singing as an expression of a healthy connection with breath and body.
“Without exception, the choristers enjoyed and gained so much from the sessions, which were pitched perfectly at their level, great fun and entertaining, as well as technically being extremely valuable. It has helped us energise the choir for the opportunities that lie ahead, after such a long time of isolation and remotely accessing choir.”
Dr Tim Williams, Master of the Music, St Wulfram’s Grantham
“CAMMAC Music Centre was delighted with the online vocal workshop offered to our participants in the fall of 2020. The Gesualdo Six were wonderful: well-prepared, entertaining, showed a high level of musicianship and inspired our participants. We would welcome them back anytime!”
Guylaine Lemaire, Artistic Director of CAMMAC Music Centre (Canada)
Young Singers
We feel fortunate to have grown up singing and know how vital it is that young people are exposed to high-quality music making and given opportunities to explore and express their own musicianship throughout their development.
We recently lead a workshop for 250 schoolchildren from around Somerset for Churchill Music. We also ran workshops with local primary schools in Bruton. Find out more about our 2017 visit here.
“The visit of The Gesualdo Six to Churchill was one of the very best experiences the choir has ever had as they are all such engaging characters setting our students and staff at ease straight away. The workshop was a wonderful mix of fun and challenge as Owain led us through a lively and effective warm-up followed by incredibly helpful and insightful tips on voice production, interpretation and performance. The opportunity to then sing with them in a public concert was the icing on the cake – a never to be forgotten moment.”
Paul Harrison, former Director of Music at Churchill Academy
“It was a fantastic experience and a real boost to have professional singers performing in amongst our own pupil voices. The whole day really lifted the sound of our choirs to an incredibly impressive level.”
Ashley Marshfield, Director of Choral Studies at King’s Bruton
“I found the choir rehearsal with The Gesualdo Six very fun and educational. It was great to hear their way of warming up, singing and dealing with mistakes (forgetting song words). I would love to sing with them again as they are amazing!”
Chorister at St Wulfram’s Grantham
Residencies
In 2019 we were Artists-in-residence at St Andrews Voices, leading workshops with local singers on works including Haydn’s Creation and a masterclass for young ensembles featuring Cantus Firmus.
In 2021 we collaborated with York Music Hub to deliver an exciting programme of classroom music videos for primary school children, aiming to encourage singing in a healthy and fun way.
Collaborations
As part of our Isolation Creation series we collaborated on two lockdown video projects with the senior girl choristers of Truro Cathedral, both of which were premiered on BBC Radio 3 Breakfast by Petroc Trelawny.
In 2020 we worked collaboratively a number of artists in Australia, including The Giovanni Consort, Voyces and Songmakers Australia.
Composers
We have recently commissioned new works from Joanna Ward, Kerensa Briggs, Deborah Pritchard, Joanna Marsh, and Richard Barnard alongside coronasolfège for 6 by Héloïse Werner.
Find out more about Christus factus est by Joanna Ward
Find out more about coronasolfège for 6 by Héloïse Werner
The Gesualdo Six has curated two Composition Competitions, with the 2019 edition attracting entries from over three hundred composers around the world.
Our training
We are grateful to St John’s Smith Square and Brighton Early Music Festival for helping us to develop our skills, and to Hannah King for helping devise our workshop materials.
Find out more
If you have any questions about our educational activities or would be interested getting us involved with your project, please don’t hesitate to contact us.