Soloists' Biographies

Sarah Richards

Sarah's roots lie on both sides of the Channel. As a child she always had a tune to her lips, and her first performances were for her school friends during breaks. She completed her Voice Studies diploma at the Versailles Conservatoire with Gaël de Kerret.

While studying Musicology at the Sorbonne, she discovered the world of medieval music, which deeply captured her attention and imagination. She enrolled in the newly-created medieval music performance Masters programme, studying with Benjamin Bagby and Katarina Livljanić, and was the Masters' first graduate. She simultaneously took medieval counterpoint and facsimile reading classes with Raphaël Picazos, and later completed a Master of Research degree.

For six years Sarah co-directed the Ensemble Providencia, with which she won an award from the Fondation de France to develop a project on the music of Northern France medieval monasteries. The ensemble also recorded the well acclaimed CD Crossing the Channel (Tacet), focusing on musical exchanges between France and England. As a singer, she mostly works as a soloist with ensembles dedicated to the interpretation of early music. She also teaches singing, which she greatly enjoys, and holds a Vocal Teaching diploma.

Upcoming Concerts

22 August 2024
Brauweiler, Germany (Abteikirche St. Nikolaus Brauweiler), 7.30 pm
Musen der Sphären (World Premiere)

24 October 2024
Prague, University of Prague (Boethius 150th anniversary)
Boethius - Songs of Consolation (Quartet)

14 February 2025
Kulturzentrum Peterskirche, Kempen
Musen der Sphären

See full concert schedule

News

Benjamin Bagby's teaching activities in 2019

In March 2019, Benjamin will give two weekend courses on the solo songs of Philippe le Chancelier (d. 1236). The courses are being hosted by the Centre de Musique Médiévale de Paris. Dates: 9-10 and 30-31 March.
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After retiring from his teaching position at the University of Paris - Sorbonne, where he taught between 2005 and 2018 in the professional masters program, Benjamin Bagby continues to travel widely in 2019 to teach practical workshops for young professionals:

Folkwang Universität der Künste (Essen-Werden, Germany).
Benjamin has joined the faculty of this renowned masters program for liturgical chant performance and medieval music. The dates of his courses in 2019: 5-7 April; 26-28 April; 17-19 May; 30 May–01 June.
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For the second year in a row, Benjamin will teach an intensive course in the 8th International Course on Medieval Music Performance (Besalú, Spain): Songs of the troubadours (for singers and instrumentalists).
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Amherst Early Music Festival (Connecticut College, New London CT) 21-28 July:
An intensive course on the solo cansos of the Occitan troubadours, with a focus on songs from the great Milan songbook Bibl. Ambr. R71 sup. (for singers and instrumentalists).
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