EARLY VOICES WALES
2026 FESTIVAL,
'SONGS AND STORIES'
The 2026 Early Voices Wales festival, with the theme ‘Songs and Stories’ has been an unforgettable experience that brought to Llantwit Major and Cowbridge an exciting mixture of artists and repertoires. Thanks to the organization of the production team and trustees, the support of sponsors, associations and the Friends scheme, and the involvement of the local community, the festival was able to offer a rich programme that featured not only known or local forces (e.g., the Fountain Singers and the newly established Vale
Consort, made of Cardiff- or South-Wales-based musicians), but also prestigious guests on a national and international scale. From the Linarol Consort of Viols with French-Scottish soprano Heloïse Bernard to the Cambridge-based Bruegel Consort and the Finnish Ensemble Gamut!. The festival also catered for families, with a dedicated afternoon concert offered free of charge, and was preceded by a so called ‘Early Voices Connections’ event that established its theme and showcased its cross-cultural and cross-repertoire character.
Here are some of our wonderful guest artists:
The Linarol consort of Viols
with soprano Héloïse Bernard
We were thrilled to welcome this wonderful ensemble presenting their most recent project, ‘Epitaph for a Green Lover’, centred around the figure of Margaret of Austria – one of the sixteenth century’s most prolific music patrons – and her seldom studied court in the Netherlands.
Drawing on original manuscripts found inthe National Library of Brussels and beautifully blending the sounds of viols, recorders and voice, theensemble offered offer a colourful and engaging portrait of Margaret’s courtly life and patronage ofthe arts, not forgetting her beloved green parrot to which she dedicated the Epitaphe de l’Amant vert(hence the programme’s title) with a text appositely commissioned to her court poet the Jean Lemaire.
The Bruegel Consort
Drawing on their scholarly and performing expertise, the ensemble brought the audience an enchanting musical rendition of the life of the Holy Virgin Mary, telling key events such as the annunciation, nativity, andvisitation through a collection of seldom-heard gems of early-Renaissance English Marian pieces.
These included so-called ‘votive antiphons’ (elaborate polyphonic pieces in dedication to the Virgin)and plainsongs, the alternation between intricate counterpoint and seemingly plain, yet incrediblyintense plainchant offering a breathtaking experience that the audience immensely enjoyed.
Cath Little
Renowned Welsh storyteller Cath Little featured in two events, one, 'Ave Eva Durga' opening the festival by celebrating the sacred feminine in its many incarnations (Eve, Mary, Durga, Eygen...) through cross-cultural vocal and instrumental practice. She was joined by fellow storyteller Angharad Wynne, Wales-based Indian classical artist Amruta Garud and Early Voices Wales Artistic Director Anna Cristoni-Apel.
The other was our family event, ‘The Lady of Ogmore Down’, wheresinging, dancing, storytelling and chanting came together to tell many beautiful stories,from the familiar one of Mary/Maryan to that of young Norman heiress Lady Hawies de Londres (based down the road at Ogmore), and celebrating their courage, fairness and empathy.
Ensemble Gamut!
The boundary-breaking Finnish ensemble Gamut!, celebrated for its genre-defining experimentalism across early and folk music, improvisation, visual art and electronics, gave our festival a perfect gran-finale. With a rich array of instruments including bells, drums (played with both hands and leafy branches), recorders and nyckelharpa, and making use of spoken and sung voice on an impressive range of registers, the three incredible musicians gripped the audience transporting them to faraway places, times and stories suspended between dream, legend and reality.