She is a multi-instrumentalist including violinst, lutist, violist, singer and radio and television broadcaster born in England and nicknamed “The Voice of Early Music” and “the bawdy babe of Radio 3”.
She studied violin at the Royal College of Music in London and went on to branch out into the world of musical theatre in her professional career. She became a dancer for Ken Dodd, assisted “Ivan Ivanovitch the Smallest Strongman in the World” and a children’s presenter for the BBC but carried on her interest in medieval, renaissance and other early music which culminated in her forming The City Waites ensemble in 1980.
Aside from this group she has also been heard working with the Michael Nyman Band, The Martin best Ensemble, the Consort of Musick, the English Concert of Viols, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Sadista Sisters. BBC Radio commissioned her to present documentaries on the Jews of Spain and the success of her initial Music Restored became The Early Music Show, which is presented twice a week on BBC Radio.
She founded the klezmer band The Burning Bush where she explored her own musical heritage and they have become Britain’s leading group in that style of music.
Her appearances in film and television have seen her featuring in the movies The Pianist by Roman Polanski and 1980’s The Falls and in the BBC’s History of Britain, Early Music, Charles Dickens and The Heaven and Earth Show. Touring internationally and appearing in many concerts she has also made many recordings that include Music of the Jewish World, Forgotten Provence with the Martin Best Consort, The English Tradition, Lusty Songs and Country Dances, Bawdy Ballads of Old England and The Musitians of Grope Lane with The City Waites and Folk Songs of Israel and Raisins and Almonds with the Burning Bush. As an author she writes regular columns for the BBC Music Magazine has published books that include the TES Award winning Let’s Make Tudor Music and the Best Classical Music Publication winning Broadside Ballads.
Martin Best Consort recordings
Alle Psallite
Nimbus NI5445 (CD: Forgotten Provence)
Here she is performing with The Burning Bush…
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