VdGS - Meetings

Next meeting

Meetings are meant for people who are interested in the viol to get together to learn more and meet each other. They are a great place for newcomers to start as well as a forum for the latest research and ideas to be debated. There are always a number of different speakers and live music. There are usually three meetings each year (normally in March, June and November), at least one of which is in central London.

Our meetings are free to members, but a small charge or donation is requested from non-members. Please take note of our safeguarding policy. Zoom link for an online meeting is on the Members page.

Future meetings still being finalised:
November/early December: Robert Smith on the lyra viol music of William Corkine, its context and technique [online].
January 2027: Caroline Ritchie on learning divisions in the 17th century: a comparison between Christopher Simpson's methods and manuscript examples of contemporary sets of divisions [online].
Please keep an eye on the Meetings page for more detailed information

Online Meetings

No online meeting scheduled.

In person Meetings

Saturday 17 October
Blackheath Quaker Meeting House, Lawn Terrace, Blackheath, London SE3 9LL
John Dowland's Music for Viols - after 400 years

10.30 coffee and tea available

11.00 A Pilgrimes Solace presentation: Michael Fields and Ensemble Tramontana

12.15ish lunch

1.30 Young Performers Platform: Tess Roberts

2.30 Dowland non Dolens presentation: Elizabeth Dodd

4.00 coffee and tea available

4.30 end

Michael Fields and Ensemble Tramontana: 'A Pilgrimes Solace'
An investigation into philosophical considerations on the significance of, and rare opportunity to hear a performance of, all three songs from A Pilgrimes Solace (1612) that include obbligato parts for treble and bass viols.

Tess Roberts: 'Young Performer's Platform'
Having recently completed her final recital and master's dissertation as a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music, Tess will talk about her experiences learning the viol as a child and teaching other children, briefly discuss her research into the benefits of social consort playing for music students, and perform some consort music with fellow RAM student Theodore Nisbett and a non-student she met during her research.

Elizabeth Dodd: 'Dowland non Dolens'
An exploration of Dowland's writing for dances, especially looking at the three dance songs in The Firste Booke of Songes or Ayres (1597) and the instrumental versions of them in his Lachrimae collection of 1604. Live examples will be played.

Biographies:

Elizabeth Dodd is well known as a performer and teacher of the viola da gamba and is in demand as a tutor for early music summer schools and on weekend courses. She also performs and teaches early dance and has advised theatre companies on movement for period drama. She specialises in music for solo unaccompanied viola da gamba ranging from 16th century Italy, English lyra viola music and music from 18th century collections from France, Germany and England.

Michael Fields was for many years the Musical Director of the ensembles Vox Animae, Sprezzatura and Finland's leading early music festival, Sastamala Gregoriana. He recently founded The Minstrels of Melodious Melancholy, who performed in Oslo last year and toured a Dowland programme across southern England and Wales this year. In earlier days he played with the Consort of Musicke and continued to accompany Evelyn Tubb thereafter.

Medieval and Renaissance group Ensemble Tramontana shares its name with a wind and a star. Each programme creates a journey. We roam the centuries in Europe, crossing and connecting countries and eras with our voices and viols, on occasion joined by vielles, recorders, crumhorns, drums, and more. For Pilgrimes Solace, members Timea Gazdag (soprano), Amanda Seaborn (treble viol), and Esha Neogy (bass viol) join Michael Fields (lute).

Viol player Tess Roberts has been exploring historical instruments since childhood. A collaborator at heart, she enjoys sharing the playful nature of early musical styles with audiences and students. She has recently appeared with groups including the London Handel Festival, the Kansas City Baroque Consortium, and Early Music Missouri.

In addition to performing, she finds immense joy and meaning in creating spaces for social music making through consort music. Over the past academic year she organised open viol playing sessions at the Royal Academy of Music in London, as part of her postgraduate research. This work explores the value of creating social spaces where music students and amateur musicians can learn from one another in a non-performance atmosphere. While at home in Seattle, Washington, she regularly teaches with Seattle Historical Arts for Kids, an organization with a mission to pass the joy of different historical art forms on to future generations. Outside of music, Tess enjoys doting on her rescue horses and taking walks in the forest.

Videos of previous online sessions & meetings