Build a Song!: Practical Singing Workshop

When: Monday 06 July, 19.00-20.30
Where: Michael Sadler Building: LG.10
Open to: All Welcome (IMC Delegates and the Public)
Price: £10.00
How to Book: Advance Booking Required via IMC Registration and OpenUp Leeds

A part of a medieval manuscript which is sheet music and has latin writing. There is a medieval figure sat in the middle of the big and embellished letter 'a'.

Directed by members of Siglo de Oro (Director Patrick Allies) and the Musical Lives Project (Principal Investigator, Emma Dillon)

A practical workshop with professional singers from Siglo de Oro and scholars from the UKRI-funded Musical Lives (MUSLIVE) project. Participants will be taken behind the scenes of the creative journey of songs and poetry from a medieval songbook to modern performance.

This workshop introduces a new collaborative and accessible approach to preparing medieval songs and poetry for performance. 'Song packs' will be sent to participants ahead of time, with materials relating to little-known and rarely performed songs from the tradition of medieval French chanson. During the workshop, the Siglo/MUSLIVE team will first demonstrate the process of building a song. They will then invite participants to work with the singers to develop a new song performance from scratch. Participants will hear some of their songs come to life in the public concert by Siglo de Oro on Wednesday 08 July.

No prior experience needed! Active participation (including singing!) welcome but not required!

About the performers and collaboration

Described by Gramophone as 'confident, sonorous, and full of character', Siglo de Oro is an adventurous vocal ensemble based in London. Led by its director, Patrick Allies, the group is known for its golden tone, fresh interpretations, and innovative programming. In recent seasons, highlights have included a three-concert residency at Wigmore Hall, a collaboration with composer Caroline Shaw, concert tours of the US and Canada, and appearances at festivals across the UK and in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Since 2024, members of Siglo have enjoyed a partnership with the UKRI-funded project, Musical Lives: Towards an Historical Anthropology of French Song, 1100-1300 (MUSLIVE) to develop new models for co-created performances of medieval French songs (trouvère song). The approach combines research and practical expertise from singers and scholars (of literature, history, and music) to learn more about the historical practices of trouvère songs and the people and communities who first made and encountered them. The approach also extends to recitation of texts without music, with the MUSLIVE team trialling performances of Arabic poetry and Latin charters, areas of equal interest in the project's research. The Siglo-MUSLIVE collaboration now comprises a collective of 20 scholars and performers committed to developing accessible performances and methods for learning and teaching medieval songs and poetry.

The workshop is made possible by support from 'Musical Lives: Towards an Historical Anthropology of French Song, 1100-1300' (EP/X022501/1) UKRI Frontier Research Grant and the International Medieval Congress.