Round 12 funding from the Continuo Foundation
We’re thrilled to have been awarded a generous grant from the Continuo Foundation for our Friendship and Flowers project, taking place between Feb – May 2027. We all need a little Friendship and Flowers in our lives, a digital detox to take us back to the beauty of nature, the joys of being outside and the simple pleasures in life. Handel’s Deutsche Arien perfectly fit the bill, each one an impeccably crafted miniature championing our world’s natural beauty. These are paired with neglected gems by his great friend Telemann, selected from the Morality Cantatas. These contain practical life advice, apt considering the enduring bond between the two men. Nature and the sublime from Handel, everyday common sense from Telemann, all bases covered! Originally scored for soprano, BSB re-imagines and ‘re-heats’ these glorious pieces in a way Handel and Telemann, entrepreneurs and forward-thinkers, would recognise. We repurpose them for tenor, separating vocal and melodic instrumental lines, giving clarity and definition, to help us hear the music in a fresh new way. We’ll be giving 5 concerts across the Uk, in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, London, and Norfolk. Keep an eye on our concert listings for details of dates/locations.
loveHandel 2025
It’s been an amazing couple of weeks for love:Handel, with 12 events over two weekends in Norwich between 26 September and 5 October. We’re busy collating films and photos form the events, but for now, here’s a happy collage to give a flavour of what we enjoyed!
NCEM Young Composers Award 2025
We’re thrilled to be a part of the prestigious NCEM #YoungComposers Award 2025 for aspiring young composers, in conjunction with the wonderful National Centre for Early Music and BBC Radio 3 and can’t wait to sample the results, a trio sonata movement inspired by Handel’s Opus 5 Trio Sonatas, amongst some of his finest chamber music. Click here to find out more!
CD launch concert at Heath Street Baptist Church
We launched Heinrich Schütz – A German in Venice into the wide world with a live concert and a bit of a party at the beautiful Heath Street Baptist Church in Hampstead, North London. The space was packed with loyal and supportive audience members, with plenty of young people and a sizeable home-crowd. The decision to offer ‘bottomless’ glasses of Prosecco only added to the fun, and it’s a concert we will cherish and remember for years to come. As ever, enormous thanks to the Continuo Foundation for their generous support for the recording and to the Hampstead Church Music Trust for enabling the live performance to happen.
CD launch – Heinrich Schütz – A German in Venice
We’re thrilled that our latest recording Heinrich Schütz – A German in Venice is released today on the First Hand Records label. Several tracks have already made the Spotify New Releases playlist, and the first review is in, Classical Music Sentinel writing: “David de Winter well captures and projects the innate character of each [piece], and the members of The Brook Street Band not only provide solid yet flexible support throughout, but are, on their own, a prime example of how a baroque music ensemble should sound. Elegance and dynamic balance throughout, a lightsome sound and gentle cadence. The recording itself, which took place in a large, open space called “The Great Barn”, offers the perfect level of acoustical space and depth to the soundstage.” As ever, enormous thanks to the Continuo Foundation for their generous support for this recording. You can hear this amazing music at a live concert in London on 30 May, 7.30pm at Heath Street Baptist Church (84 Heath Street, Hampstead). This concert has been generously sponsored by the Hampstead Church Music Trust. Hope to see you there!
Happy Birthday Handel!
It’s Handel’s 339th birthday today, so a good opportunity to post one of our favourite movements from his violin sonata in D major, HWV 371. We recorded this in glorious Oxnead Hall in Norfolk, and have put a few behind-the-scenes photos of the sessions, and of Handel himself, to illustrate the film.
Heinrich Schütz – A German in Venice
We’re thrilled that the UK launch of our latest disc is scheduled for 19 April 2024. If that still seems a long way off, look out for three singles, released in advance of the full album. March 8: Schütz – Herr unser Herrscher March 22: Cavalli – O quam suavis April 5: Schütz – Lobet den Herrn We’ve even got a sneak preview and some behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions available to view on David de Winter’s website None of this would have been possible without the generous support of the Continuo Foundation and so many wonderful individuals, so a huge thank you from us!
The Dragon still roars!
It’s heartening to see The Dragon of Wantley included in BBC Music Magazine‘s list of fifteen fabulous but forgotten operas. BBC Music Magazine has an apt summary of the plot in this tweet: “The plot of The Dragon of Wantley is utterly potty, by the way, consisting of a beast who hares around Yorkshire munching everything, plus a hero who has to be dragged out of a pub to tackle it. Lampe, a colleague of Handel, was having a little fun at the great man’s expense…” The disc is available on Resonus Classics and available from all the usual places. The project was funded by several generous donors including the Continuo Foundation.
BBC Music Magazine Opera Award
We’re absolutely thrilled to announce we’ve won the BBC Music Magazine 2023 Award in the Opera category for our “Dragon of Wantley” recording. This was our first major project post-Covid, and we recorded in the glorious late summer days of September 2021. The recording features soloists Mary Bevan, Catherine Carby, Mark Wilde and John Savournin, conductor John Andrews and an expanded Band of 18 players. BBC Music Magazine tweets “The plot of The Dragon of Wantley is utterly potty, by the way, consisting of a beast who hares around Yorkshire munching everything, plus a hero who has to be dragged out of a pub to tackle it. Lampe, a colleague of Handel, was having a little fun at the great man’s expense…” The disc is available on Resonus Classics and available from all the usual places. The project was funded by several generous donors including the Continuo Foundation, who we’ve been lucky enough to receive funding from three times now.
Ilkley Concert Club
What a treat, to finally get to perform for Ilkley Concert Club and wrap up their 21/22 season with a sparkling programme of solo and instrumental concertos. This was the Band’s long-delayed, Covid-postponed concert from 2020 and as group founder Tatty Theo mentioned, the Band had decided to give the Ilkley audience “all the notes”, fitting in as much joyous music as possible! Bach and Handel featured prominently with the 2nd Orchestral Suite and Brandenburg 4, and the Concerto Grosso op 3 no 3 and the Sonata a Cinque, alongside Geminiani’s whirlwind interpretation of the ‘Follia’ theme, and some rather lush Muffat, his Armonico Tributo no 5, with the luxury of two viola parts. How lovely to look out on a capacity audience, numbering around 500, such a large gathering not seen in recent years for obvious reasons. We had some lovely feedback too: “Bach’s fourth Brandenburg concerto brought the concert to a rousing conclusion. Lisete da Silva Bull and Rachel Harris, joined by Emily Bannister, were the outstanding soloists in a thrilling performance and the players were treated to a rousing ovation by a delighted and well-satisfied audience.” Thank you for having us Ilkley and we look forward to performing for you again!