The Fund for Decay’d Musicians

In 1738, the violinist and composer Michael Christian Festing saw two poverty-stricken young boys dragging donkeys along a busy London street, and recognised them as the sons of a fellow oboe player who had recently died. Inspired to help, Festing and 227 of his musical colleagues established a ‘Fund for Decay’d Musicians’, now the Royal Society of Musicians, which still supports musicians and their families today. The music in this programme celebrates the founding and the eighteenth-century history of this remarkable organisation, featuring works by subscribing composers, all of whom worked in London’s thriving theatres and pleasure gardens. Handel himself directed the first benefit concert for the new fund in 1739, which featured music from ‘Alexander’s Feast’, including the bewitching aria, “Softly Sweet in Lydian measures”. Our soprano Claire will perform this alongside Handel’s famous aria “Nel’ dolce”, popular songs by Thomas Arne, a rarely-heard Italian cantata by Maurice Greene, and Scots songs by the London-based composer Robert Bremner.

They will also showcase the virtuosity of instrumental writing in the high Baroque, with trio sonatas by Handel, the harmonically adventurous Michael Festing, and William Boyce, as well as a sparkling sonata for harpsichord by the blind organist John Stanley, himself a subscriber to the fund.

Weaved amongst the music itself will be fascinating stories from the Royal Society’s archives about the men, women and children who received support from the fund in its early years.

About the Performers

Mary-Jannet Leith (Recorders)
Magdalena Loth-Hill (Baroque Violin)
Florence Petit (Baroque Cello)
Thomas Allery (Harpsichord)
Claire Ward (Soprano)

Ensemble Hesperi is a dynamic and innovative London-based period ensemble, with a passion for showcasing Early Music through intelligent, distinctive programming. The members of Ensemble Hesperi, Mary-Jannet Leith (Recorders), Magdalena Loth-Hill (Baroque Violin), Florence Petit (Baroque Cello) and Thomas Allery (Harpsichord), met during their studies at the Royal College of Music in London, and the varied talents of each member of the Hesperi constellation combine to produce an infectious energy, leading to joyful collaborations with singers, dancers, and actors. Whether performing as the core ensemble, or with friends for larger projects, Hesperi’s performances embody the spontaneity of true chamber music.

Since 2019, the ensemble has gained a strong reputation for championing rarely-heard music, bringing forgotten stories to life through original historical research. Funded by a Lottery grant from Arts Council England, its debut project, “The Pheasant’s Eye”, celebrated Scottish eighteenth-century music, featuring special choreography from Highland dancer Kathleen Gilbert. More recently, the ensemble embarked upon a new project, supported by the Continuo Foundation, “From Caledonia to the Capital”, which told the stories of Scottish composers who settled in eighteenth-century London. In early 2022, the ensemble received a second grant from the Continuo Foundation for its latest project, “Then I play’d upon the Harpsichord”, an immersive concert exploring the musical tastes and talents of Queen Charlotte, consort to George III.

In 2020, Hesperi was selected as Britten Pears Young Artists on the Chamber Music Residence scheme, and in November 2020, won first prize at the London International Festival of Early Music Young Ensemble Competition. In September 2021, the ensemble was delighted to win third prize at the prestigious International Van Wassenaer Competition in Utrecht, and released its debut album with EM Records, “Full of the Highland Humours”, later that year. In December, the ensemble was selected as City Music Foundation artists 2021. In late 2023, Hesperi launched its vocal ensemble, the “Hesperi Voices”, in a performance of Purcell and Blow, supported again by a grant from the Continuo Foundation.

Hesperi has appeared regularly on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show, recorded in studio for Classic FM, and has performed at leading festivals and venues across the United Kingdom and Europe, including St Magnus International Festival, Buxton International Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival, LIFEM, Petworth Festival, Lichfield Festival, King’s Lynn Festival, St Martinin-the-Fields, Snape Maltings, Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden, and Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht Fringe.

A creative collaborator, in January 2023, Claire Ward devised Handel’s Europe, a programme of Handel Cantatas and German Arias presented in a chamber format. Through this project, the trio The Portrait Players was formed. The ensemble brings 17th and 18th century music to modern audiences with engaging programmes informed by historical characters. The group continues to grow in popularity, recently making its debut at St. Martin-in-the-fields and is a member of a number of emerging ensemble programmes including the Stoller Hall Emerging Artist programme, Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists and Brighton Early Music Festival Live. It You can find out more about The Portrait Players here. https://theportraitplayers.co.uk

An instinctive linguist, Claire made her Oxford Song Festival debut with pianist Guy Murgatroyd in 2019, returning in 2021 and 2024. She has a growing interest in translation, both of song and opera, since her studies at the Conservatoire de Toulouse and regularly creates her own translations of songs and arias for concert programmes.

As an ensemble singer, Claire was a 2023-2024 Monteverdi apprentice, joining The Monteverdi Choir in tours across Europe. She has since worked on projects with John Eliot Gardiner, Dinis Sousa, Peter Whelan and David Bates. Further ensemble work includes projects with The Choir of the OAE (John Wilson), The Gabrieli Consort (Paul McCreesh), Britten Sinfonia Voices (Eamon Dougan) and Figure Ensemble (Freddie Waxman).

On the concert platform, Claire made her solo debut at Queen Elizabeth Hall with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by John Wilson in April 2023 and at Cadogan Hall in Bach’s B Minor Mass with Thames Philharmonic Choir. She performed Bach Cantatas as part of the Snape Maltings Proms 2019, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe and as a student, regularly performed in the Kohn Foundation/RAM Bach Cantata series with solo highlights of Bach’s Wedding Cantata BVW 202 in June 2017 and Mass in F major in October 2018, as well as Bach’s Matthew Passion with Trevor Pinnock. Further concert highlights include Poulenc Gloria, Brahms Requiem, Smyth Mass in D, Macdowall Magnificat, Haydn Nelson Mass as well as Mozart Exultate Jubilate and Mass in C Minor in De Montfort Hall, Leicester.

In the world of opera Claire has worked with companies including the National Gilbert and Sullivan Company, Opera Holland Park, The Grange Festival and Nevill Holt Opera. Recent roles include The Plaintiff (Trial by Jury), Frantik (The Cunning Little Vixen) Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Venus (Venus and Adonis) and Belinda (Dido and Aenaes).

Claire is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music (MA Vocal Studies, DipRAM, LRAM), Durham University (BA French and Music), and the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse (singing and piano accompaniment). In March 2024 Claire was a semi-finalist in the International Handel Singing Competition at St. George’s Hanover Square and in November 2023 she was a semi-finalist in the Concours Corneille International Baroque Competition in Rouen, France. She was a Britten Pears Young Artist for 2019, a semi-finalist in the Somerset Song Prize 2017 and a finalist in the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform 2017.