John Kerr Award for Early English Song

Today I was incredibly lucky to be awarded the First Prize in the John Kerr Award for Early English Song at Finchcocks Museum. Nathaniel Mander, with whom I regularly perform, won the accompanists prize so a celebratory gin absolutely had to be partaken in. Nat and I met at Dartington International Summer School in 2008 and have remained firm friends both on and off the musical platform ever since. We had great fun working on this project which demanded a great deal of research and digging away in archives to find a good balance of the well-known and obscure. Eight finalists performed a 25 minute programme. Nat and I performed songs by Haydn, Purcell, Liza Lehmann, Maude Valérie White and Charles Dibdin using just a few of the vast collection of keyboards available at Finchcocks. I was accompanied by lutenist Richard MacKenzie for two additional songs by Henry Lawes and John Dowland. Our programme, entitled 'Sirens', was an exploration of the power of women in society pre-1900 and how many had to resort to using their beauty and sexual allure in order determine their own destiny.