Passamezzo Eleanor Cramer - soprano Christopher Goodwin - lute, theorbo, guitar, voice Alison Kinder - viols, recorders Tamsin Lewis - Renaissance violin, viols, voice Michael Palmer - actor, baritone Passamezzo specialise in English Elizabethan and Jacobean repertoire. Originally founded to explore the Jacobean Masque, this remains an important part of their programming with concerts having a distinct theatrical air created by costume, readings and presentation. The ensemble delights in all aspects of musical life; from the intimacy of the lute song, to the brash raucousness of the broadside ballad; from the sacred part-song, to the profane insanity of bedlamite mad songs. The programmes are carefully researched with music frequently taken from manuscript sources, unearthing pieces that have lain hidden for centuries. It is this range of material and overall spectacle, combined with the informative and accessible manner of their presentation, that makes Passamezzo such an engaging ensemble. Christmas Music in Shakespeare's England follows the festive calendar from Advent to Candlemas, and includes the sombre music of fasting and contemplation as well as plenty of Christmas revelry and celebration! The programme includes music by Byrd, Holborne, Campion and Lawes, a number of anonymous broadside ballads, and readings by Nicholas Breton, Robert Herrick and extracts from Ben Jonson's 'Christmas, His Masque', performed on viols, recorders, violin, lute, gittern and voices. Musicians and actor are costumed, and will guide the audience through the programme, setting the scene for the pieces, giving their context and explaining their sources