Friday 30 August 2019

Going out singing and dancing: Belinda Sykes, Joglaresa and Sarcoma UK

Belinda Sykes and members of Joglaresa
Belinda Sykes and members of Joglaresa
It does not come to all of us to choose how we spend our final time on earth. But Belinda Sykes, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in March this year, has decided to go out singing and dancing. She will be spending the Autumn gigging with her Early Music group Joglaresa, and donating 100% of the sales of their back catalogue to raise money for Sarcoma UK, the only bone and soft tissue cancer charity in the UK focusing on all types of sarcoma (you can help support the appeal at their JustGiving website).

Belinda founded Joglaresa in 1992, and it is one of the most popular and busiest of British Early Music ensembles, though that tag hardly does justice to the group's remarkable virtuosity and innovative freedom. The ensemble is constituted of remarkable international performers from different musical backgrounds (classical, jazz, world and folk). Joglaresa has a sound that is both traditional and contemporary, incorporating elements of Flamenco and Celtic, Medieval and Middle Eastern music. Belinda's own background is as an oboist, she has played for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Gabrieli Consort, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Hanover Band and The English Concert, and won the Reichenberg Award for Baroque Oboe in 1990.


Belinda said; "Gigging with Joglaresa is what I live for and I want my remaining time to be spent performing and sharing the music I love with as many people as I can. One of Joglaresa's unique features is that it is not a solo singer with backing band, but a team of soloists and we proudly allow our different vocal qualities to shine out (the antithesis of the ‘blended’ English Choral Tradition)."

Concert Dates:
15 November 2019 Enchantress of Seville Benslow
16-17 November 2019 Enchantress of Seville WORKSHOP Benslow
23 November 2019 Enchantress of Seville Lewes
3 December 2019 Sing We Yule London
7 December 2019 Sing We Yule Parbold
10 December 2019 Sing We Yule York
11 December 2019 Sing We Yule Chorley
12 March 2020 Boogie Knights Nottingham Lakeside Arts
18 April 2020 Enchantress of Seville Totnes

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