BELLOT ENSEMBLE: Grounds for Exchange
St Mary's Church, Surrey, KT11 3PX
Tuesday 14th July 2026
Grounds for Exchange
A programme tracing musical dialogue across seventeenth-century Europe, where ideas travel between Italy and England and take on new forms in the process. The emerging Italian style, shaped by basso continuo, expressive melody, and bold instrumental writing, finds echoes in England, where it is absorbed into older traditions of consort music, ayres, and dance. Shared foundations such as grounds and variation forms reveal both a common language and distinct approaches to structure, character, and expression. Moving between contrast and connection, the programme reflects a period of exchange in which styles are not simply adopted, but reimagined in new cultural settings.
Artist Biography
Bellot Ensemble is a vibrant period instrument group celebrated for energetic performances and a distinctive approach to 17th-century repertoire. Rooted in historical performance practice, the ensemble blends detailed research with spontaneity, particularly through written divisions and the expressive interpretation of early texts. Their work often brings together instrumental and vocal forces, with regular collaborations involving consorts, choirs, and opera companies.
From October 2025, the group began a two-year term as the New Generation Baroque Ensemble, a prestigious development scheme led by BBC Radio 3, The Royal College of Music, and the National Centre for Early Music. The programme supports emerging UK-based Baroque groups through expert coaching, recording and broadcast opportunities, and a regular performance platform.
Bellot Ensemble has also been selected for the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme 2025-26, where they will take part in the Chamber Music Residency at Snape Maltings supported by the Keith Coventry Bursary.
The ensemble is especially grateful for the continued support of the Continuo Foundation, whose grants have supported national touring and the release of their debut album Cupid’s Ground Bass, released in November 2025, featuring 17th-century love arias with soloists Lucine Musaelian and Kieran White, along with newly composed instrumental divisions. A companion video project, filmed at the VOCES8 Centre with director Thomas Guthrie and videographer Bobby Williams, accompanies the album.
They were part of the Brighton Early Music Festival Live Scheme 2023-24, and maintain close ties with choral and opera groups across the UK. In 2024 they toured John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley with New Sussex Opera conducted by Toby Purser, and appeared as Featured Artists at the Overstrand Early Music Festival in a semi-staged Dido and Aeneas with Norwich Baroque. They are also recipients of the Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artist Award for 2024-25.
Upcoming highlights include performances at the Oxford Festival of the Arts, new appearances through the NGBE scheme, and a residency in 2026 with Les Arts Florissants’ Odyssée programme.
A programme tracing musical dialogue across seventeenth-century Europe, where ideas travel between Italy and England and take on new forms in the process. The emerging Italian style, shaped by basso continuo, expressive melody, and bold instrumental writing, finds echoes in England, where it is absorbed into older traditions of consort music, ayres, and dance. Shared foundations such as grounds and variation forms reveal both a common language and distinct approaches to structure, character, and expression. Moving between contrast and connection, the programme reflects a period of exchange in which styles are not simply adopted, but reimagined in new cultural settings.
Artist Biography
Bellot Ensemble is a vibrant period instrument group celebrated for energetic performances and a distinctive approach to 17th-century repertoire. Rooted in historical performance practice, the ensemble blends detailed research with spontaneity, particularly through written divisions and the expressive interpretation of early texts. Their work often brings together instrumental and vocal forces, with regular collaborations involving consorts, choirs, and opera companies.
From October 2025, the group began a two-year term as the New Generation Baroque Ensemble, a prestigious development scheme led by BBC Radio 3, The Royal College of Music, and the National Centre for Early Music. The programme supports emerging UK-based Baroque groups through expert coaching, recording and broadcast opportunities, and a regular performance platform.
Bellot Ensemble has also been selected for the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme 2025-26, where they will take part in the Chamber Music Residency at Snape Maltings supported by the Keith Coventry Bursary.
The ensemble is especially grateful for the continued support of the Continuo Foundation, whose grants have supported national touring and the release of their debut album Cupid’s Ground Bass, released in November 2025, featuring 17th-century love arias with soloists Lucine Musaelian and Kieran White, along with newly composed instrumental divisions. A companion video project, filmed at the VOCES8 Centre with director Thomas Guthrie and videographer Bobby Williams, accompanies the album.
They were part of the Brighton Early Music Festival Live Scheme 2023-24, and maintain close ties with choral and opera groups across the UK. In 2024 they toured John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley with New Sussex Opera conducted by Toby Purser, and appeared as Featured Artists at the Overstrand Early Music Festival in a semi-staged Dido and Aeneas with Norwich Baroque. They are also recipients of the Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artist Award for 2024-25.
Upcoming highlights include performances at the Oxford Festival of the Arts, new appearances through the NGBE scheme, and a residency in 2026 with Les Arts Florissants’ Odyssée programme.
