Anthony Rooley (born 10 June 1944 in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

) is a British

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can refe ...

Career

In 1969, Rooley founded and directed the

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...

The Consort of Musicke The Consort of Musicke is a British early-music group, founded in 1969 by lutenist Anthony Rooley, the ensemble's Artistic Director. Members of the group have included such well-known artists as sopranos Emma Kirkby and Evelyn Tubb, alto Mary Nich ...

, which continues to be one of the chief vehicles for his inspiration, among many other activities and interests. He has recorded extensively and continues to perform solo and duo repertoire with

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Evelyn Tubb Evelyn Tubb is an English soprano, and long-time member of The Consort of Musicke and one of the world's greatest early music specialists, known for her innovative and original performances. Life She originally comes from the Isle of Wight and s ...

and former partner

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dors ...

. Anthony was appointed

York Early Music Festival The York Early Music Festival is an England, English arts festival devoted mainly to European classical music, classical music from the 18th century and earlier. It was established in 1977, and takes place in York each July, organised by the Nati ...

vice president in 2008. He continues regular work as a visiting professor at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

, where he is director of AVES - ''Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies''. Most recently he has been appointed a visiting professor at the Orpheus Institute, Ghent, under the heading "Developing a Practical Philosophy of Performance." In 2003, 2005 and 2007 he undertook four-month residencies at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

, holding graduate seminars and directing productions. In 2003 this included a fully staged version of ''Semele'' by John Eccles; in 2005 a ‘first’ Conference on John Eccles; 2007 focused on ''The Passions'' of William Hayes. Writing and research are of great importance, to develop and extend the repertoire; plans for the future include more time for writing. Recently, Anthony has turned to the 18th and 19th centuries, as part of his continuing project to search out the best of forgotten English music. In 2004 he directed performances, live and on CD, of the

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

s and

part-song A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non-Liturgy, liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several voice type, vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but ...

s of

Robert Lucas Pearsall Robert Lucas Pearsall (14 March 1795 – 5 August 1856) was an English composer mainly of vocal music, including an elaborate setting of "In dulci jubilo" and the richly harmonic part song '' Lay a garland'' of 1840, both still often performed to ...

, and in 2005 ''The Passions'' by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

’s contemporary and champion, William Hayes, which was revived for the Weimar Festival in 2006.

Works

;Discography * ''Renaissance Duets'' (L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1972) with James Tyler * ''My Lute Awake!'' (L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 336, 1974) with James Tyler * ''Greensleeves - Lautenmusik der Renaissance'' (Decca 6.48183 DM, 1981) with James Tyler ;Books written * ''Performance: Revealing the Orpheus Within'' (1990) ;Books transcribed and edited * ''Renaissance Lute Fantasias'' (1980) * ''XII Wonders of the World: 1611 / John Maynard'' (1985) * ''Ayres, c. 1609 / George Handford'' with Francis Steele (1988)

References

External links

Interview (1989)
by Paul Magnussen
Hyperion Records; artist's page for Anthony Rooley

* ttp://www.classicstoday.com/digest/pdigest.asp?perfidx=25801 CD Review Digest for Anthony Rooley
Gesualdo CD and soundclip of madrigal

Shakespeare resource with soundclip of solo lute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooley, Anthony Living people 1944 births British performers of early music British lutenists Schola Cantorum Basiliensis faculty Musicians from Leeds

Career

Works

See also

References

External links