Medieval minstrels
Biographies
STEVE TYLER
Hurdy gurdy, gothic harp, percussion, citole, cittern, lute
In 1993 Steve Tyler began playing the hurdy gurdy, adding this instrument to the sound of the recently formed medieval music ensemble Misericordia, which he founded with Anne Marie Summers. In 1996 they joined with melodeon player Julian Sutton to form The Wendigo, playing their own compositions inspired by the traditional dance music of central France. It was with two such pieces that Steve, with Anne Marie, won first place in the competition for duets at the prestigious Saint Chartier festival in 1999, playing hurdy gurdy and bagpipes.
In 2001 he joined medieval music and dance theatre group Daughters of Elvin for their spectacular medieval circus show "Garden of Earthly Delights", commissioned by the National Trust, and continues to play with them.
With these bands he has travelled and performed throughout Europe and recorded numerous CDs, most recently "Passion, Pestilence and Polyphony" comprising music and song from the fourteenth century, with Misericordia, many tracks of which have been played on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction.
In 2006 he was featured on Radio 3's Early Music Show on the hurdy gurdy, along with Nigel Eaton, and played at Anost Fete de la Vielle with Jon Swayne and Becky Price.
He has run hurdy gurdy workshops at various events including the Lancaster Hurdy Gurdy Festival, Aust Festival of Medieval Music, Kinnersley Castle, the Bagpipe Society Blowout and festivals in Holland and Germany.
In 2008/9 he toured with puppet company Puppetcraft for the show The Tin Forest and performed at festivals, theatres, arts centres and schools around England. Each performance was preceded by children's workshops.
KATY MARCHANT
Bagpipes, recorders, pipe and salterio, pipe and tabor, gemshorn, shawm
Katy Marchant comes from an early music background and began playing the recorder at the age of seven, this has led to her lifelong passion for all things blown, particularly bagpipes. She also trained as a sculptor and specialises in mask making with a strong interest in medieval iconography and church art.
In 1998 she set up and directed the medieval music and masked dance company Daughters of Elvin with the aim of presenting early music to as wide and diverse an audience as possible. With Daughters of Elvin and as part of the Steve Tyler/Katy Marchant duo she has toured extensively throughout the British Isles, Norway, France, Germany and Holland appearing at a wide range of venues including rock festivals, arts centres, early music festivals, churches and historical events.
In 2001 the National Trust commissioned her to develop a series of site specific shows entitled “Garden of Earthly Delights” directed by Barbara Houseman former RSC. The show featured a cast of 11 musicians, actors, acrobats, aerialists and dancers in a medieval circus of masked beasts with live music played on authentic early instruments.
In 2003 she was awarded a bursary by the Arts Council to travel to
America to research her other passion of mask making with
Beckie Kravetz from the Los Angeles Opera Company.
In 2009 she set up the trio Caliban's Dream with Steve Tyler and Ricardo Barros with the aim of sharing their enthusiasm for early music and dance by encouraging people of all ages from 5 to 90 to participate in workshops in schools, village halls, arts centres and at historical events.
RICARDO BARROS
Dance, castenets, percussion, voice
Dr Ricardo Barros is one of the few specialists to conciliate an exuberant and passionate performance with an in-depth understanding of Early Dance from the 16th to 18th centuries.
Brazilian-Portuguese Ricardo was born in São Paulo and graduated with a BMus at UNICAMP. In 1993 Ricardo was awarded a scholarship from The British Council to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London. In 1996, he received a postgraduate scholarship from CAPES (Brazilian Ministry of Education at the Royal Academy of Music), where he graduated
in 1998.
He directs and performs with the innovative Mercurius Dance Company in fully- and semi-staged concerts involving dancers, singers and instrumentalists, and also performs with flutist Lisete da Silva and cellist Nick Stringfellow in Spirituoso. He is in high demand for his directing, playing and dancing in concerts around Britain. Ricardo has performed for HRH Princess Alexandra and also in Festivals in Europe and South America. Ricardo has concluded his PhD research at the University of Hull into the passions of French Baroque dance. Ricardo regularly gives master-classes, summer courses, and lectures in Baroque dance.
Ricardo has performed with some of Europes leading Early music ensembles including Dança Amorosa, Les Haulz et les Bas, Ensemble Florilegium and Daughters of Elvin. He was movement coach for Handel’s opera “Rinaldo” in Latvia (July 2008), and choreographted and performed at ‘Nox Illuminata Festival’ in Basel. His trio Spirituoso has recently been appointed the ensemble-in-residence at Handel House Museum. Spirituoso recently performed on a tour including concerts in Tomar (Portugal) and Edinburgh Festival (August 2009). Spirituoso also featured in a documentary for Deutsche-Welle television on Handel’s 250th anniversary.
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