BANCHIERI SINGERS MASTERCOURSE

SALLY DUNKLEY

Ensemble singing has always been a source of enjoyment to Sally Dunkley ever since she had the good fortune to be introduced to it at school.
Her particular interest in singing and in preparing performing editions of 16th-century polyphony was subsequently nurtured as a student at Oxford, especially through the experience of singing with the Clerkes of Oxenford (director David Wulstan).
As a professional singer she has had a long association with groups such as the Tallis Scholars (more than 800 concerts and about 35 recordings) and the Sixteen (of which she is a founder member).
Over the years she has come to value most of all the importance of making music with friends - and, of course, of making friends through music.
It is a privilege for us to have the opportunity to develop our relationship with Banchieri Singers through making music together.

FRANCIS STEELE

Francis was born in Liverpool, home of the Beatles, and, in past times, a great sea port on the West coast of England: indeed, his father worked in the docks, and later, as a sailor in the Merchant Navy.
Although his was not a musical family, Francis was encouraged to develop musical interests at school, and later at Oxford University, where he was taught by two pioneers of the polyphonic repertory, Dr. Bernard Rose and David Wulstan.
They imbued him with a love to polyphony, and they also stressed the importance of the need to reconcile academic research to modern performance.
For the past 20 years Francis has worked with many exciting English groups - particularly The Tallis Scholars, with whom he has given more than one thousand concerts.
Whilst making his Hungarian début in Budapest last December, he made contact with members of the Banchieri Singers; deeply impressed by the quality of their singing, Francis is coming to Nyíregyháza to explore and learn; to offer, in return, the fruits of his own experience; and to promote Anglo-Hungarian friendship in a universal language - Music.