Current Events

Catherine Hodgson, director of the prestigious London Handel Festival, happens to live in Ilminster and now also organises Concerts In The West – in Devon, Dorset and Somerset. Thus it was that on a sunny Friday in October 2011 we encountered Ensemble Amaranthos at a coffee concert at Bridport Arts Centre. Always scouting for new talent to introduce to Frome, it was a real pleasure to come across this five piece band with both cello and gamba in the mix, as well as the extraordinary theorbo (essentially a bass lute with incredibly long neck – requiring an estate car for its transportation). In the six years since these five graduates of the Royal College of Music formed their Ensemble they have performed at major early music festivals, notably Brighton and York, and have toured widely both in the UK and abroad as well as appearing on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Early Music Show’. Led by Portuguese flautist, Marta Goncalves this international ensemble enjoy successful careers performing together and in other chamber groups and early music outfits such as the OAE, Florilegium and La serenissima.