Our first workshop back after the summer break took place at All Saints Church in Hoole, Chester. We were delighted to welcome back Stephanie Dyer for her third workshop for NWEMF under the title “Renaissance Back to School”. Nearly 60 people attended from far and wide, and as well as over 40 singers, we also had instrumentalists playing violins, viola, cello, bassoon, recorders, curtals, sackbuts, cornetts, keyboard and a rackett. Over the course of the day, Stephanie took us through five pieces by Palestrina, Josquin, Calvisius, Alonso Lobo and Hassler, rehearsing each work in a way that helped us understand the various devices and structures employed by the composers. A full review of the workshop will follow in our next Newsletter.
This workshop also saw the launch of our new Charity Bake Sale, a new initiative which builds on the kind generosity of those who bring such delicious home-baking to our workshops. Donations are invited to raise money for the Joan Wess Educational Fund, which was set up by one of our founding members to help young people discover early music. The amazing sum of £80 was raised for the fund, which has helped many young people attend early music courses and other events they would not otherwise have been able to. Many thanks to all those who brought cakes and biscuits on Saturday, and to those who donated so generously. The Charity Bake Sale will run at all our workshops.
Sights and sounds from the day…
More information about the day
The inspiration for this workshop comes from the historical engine rooms of Renaissance music: the university towns, collegiate chapels and elite choir schools across Europe where the great masters first learned – and later taught – the intricate art of polyphony. In the 16th and 17th centuries, music was part of the Quadrivium, studied alongside arithmetic, geometry and astronomy.
This workshop brings a diverse European repertoire to Chester, focusing specifically on substantial works that double as masterclasses in compositional design, and exploring how major figures used structural devices, imitative canons and acoustic layouts to challenge and delight singers and players alike. The day will be balanced between technical problem-solving and the immediate satisfaction of putting the music together; rather than saving everything for a massive sing-through at the end of the day, we will work through each piece sequentially, building to a satisfying, full run-through of each work as we go.
In the morning, we will warm up our ears, voices and instruments with Palestrina’s definitive textbook model of clean eight-part line management, before moving into a fascinating side-by-side study of Josquin’s iconic six-part ‘Praeter rerum seriem’ and Sethus Calvisius’s clever 1603 Protestant text adaptation, focusing on structural rhythmic security and a seamless ensemble blend. In the afternoon, we will tackle Alonso Lobo’s brilliant double-choir ‘Ave Maria’ – where four of the eight voices are derived from the other four – and Hassler’s magnificent twelve-voice triple-choir texture, shifting our focus to multi-choir spatial awareness, antiphonal echoing and sensitive dynamics. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the brilliant minds behind these structurally stimulating works.
Repertoire list
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Surge, illuminare, Jerusalem (Italy, 1575) – 8 voices (Double Choir)
Josquin des Prez & Sethus Calvisius: Praeter rerum seriem (Flanders / Germany, c. 1505 & 1603) – 6 voices
Alonso Lobo: Ave Maria (Spain, 1602) – 8 voices (Double Choir)
Hans Leo Hassler: Duo Seraphim clamabant (Germany/Venice, 1615) – 12 voices (Triple Choir)
The Tutor
Trombonist Stéphanie Dyer enjoys a multifaceted career as a historical performance specialist, modern musician and educator. Born and raised in South Wales, Stephanie studied at King’s College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland. She performs with the internationally renowned historic brass group His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, of which she has been a member since 2016; and is principal trombone of the Orkest van de Achttiende Eeuw (Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century) in the Netherlands, one of the most distinguished period-instrument orchestras in the world.
Stéphanie’s performance activities are exceptionally diverse: equally at home on the concert platform, in theatres and in commercial studios, she featured in the BBC One Songs of Praise Christmas Special 2024, ‘Candlelit Christmas’. In theatre, she can be heard in the West End (Wicked, The Book of Mormon) and in major touring productions (Miss Saigon, Mary Poppins, Mean Girls). She holds the trombone chair for the highly anticipated 2026 UK premiere production of the Broadway hit Something Rotten! at the Manchester Opera House, and recently served as trombonist and cover conductor for Disney’s Aladdin (UK/Ireland Tour, 2023–25). Her extensive discography spans historical performance projects to video game soundtracks.
A devoted teacher, Stéphanie is Baroque Trombone professor at the Royal Academy of Music and teaches trombone at the University of Cambridge. She is also a passionate workshop leader across the UK and internationally, including for the regional Early Music Fora (2021–), Beauchamp Adult Early Music Course (2024–) and Colchester Early Music (2026), the International Early Music Summer School in Ścinawka Górna, Poland (2017–), the Warsaw Sackbut & Cornett Festival (2021–) and for Alta Capella Vianensis in the Netherlands (2022–).
