Sestina Music kickstart their ambitious 2019/20 season by placing the spotlight on three of their extraordinarily talented sopranos, Fiona Flynn, Aisling Kenny, and Charlotte Trepess, exploring works inspired by and written for the Concerto delle Donne of Renaissance Ferrara.

The founding of the Concerto delle Donne was the most important event in secular Italian music in the late sixteenth century.

The late Renaissance court of Ferrara saw the development of a series of chamber music concerts, known as Musica Secreta, performed in intimate surroundings for an exclusive audience. In 1580 Duke Alfonso II d’Este formed a consort of female singers entitled the Concerto delle Donne, to amuse his new young wife, Marguerite Gonzaga d’Este. In three short years they became so renowned for their virtuosic artistic and technical capabilities that they dominated the Musica Secreta and no more male performers were hired. Praised for their florid, highly ornamented style of singing, they brought prestige to Ferrara and revolutionised the role of women in professional music.

In “Beyond the Veil” Sestina’s trio of sopranos will explore the Concerto delle Donne along with some of Europe’s finest early music instrumental specialists, including Steven Devine on keyboards, Paula Chateauneuf on theorbo/lute and Aileen Henry on harp, bringing a cornucopia of unheard music to the island of Ireland.