Agréable Early Music at Shaw House

Baroque ensemble to perform 16th-century music, speeches and poetry

AWARD-winning baroque ensemble Charivari Agréable play at Shaw House next month in an evening of 16th-century female monarchs, consorts and regents.

The Game of Queens tells the story of those who wielded power in England, Scotland and France and the complex relations between the three kingdoms.

The trio – Isobel Collyer, Layil Barr and Kah-Ming Ng – will fill the Great Hall of Shaw House with the music, speeches and poetry of the period, performing works by Attaignant, Arbeau, Bataille, Dowland and Guédron, as well as the sonnets and speeches of Shakespeare.

Isobel Collyer, who lives locally, says: “This particular ensemble – we all work in others – is unique in putting together history, drama and entertainment in a dynamic and exciting form, combining excellent scholarship and performance practice with energy and humour and some absolutely beautiful music.

“That we can bring this to an Elizabethan building in my home town is the icing on the cake.

“And Shaw House will be serving cake on the day too. Perfect.”

Charivari Agréable – which means pleasant tumult – was formed at the University of Oxford in 1993, and within the year became a prizewinner of the International Early Music Network Competition and recorded the first of many subsequent live concerts for the BBC.

The concert is on Sunday, November 26, at 2pm.

Tickets include tea and cake and are available from Shaw House, telephone (01635) 279279.