Philippa Hyde
Philippa Hyde commenced her singing studies with Ann Lampard MBE and continued under the tuition of the late tenor David Johnston and Yvonne Minton CBE at the Royal Academy of Music. She graduated with the coveted Dip. RAM in 1993. In 2001 she was awarded the ARAM, an honour granted to past students of the Academy who have achieved distinction in their profession.
Philippa’s busy and varied concert, oratorio and operatic career has taken her all over the world, from Helsinki to Beijing, as well as to many of the major concert venues and festivals of Europe. She has performed regularly with The Academy of Ancient Music, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Parley of Instruments, The Musicke Companye, Canzona, The Hanover Band, the Harmonious Society of Tickle Fiddle Gentlemen, as well as with her own Period Instrument ensemble, Bloomsbury Baroque.
Memorable moments of Philippa’s career to date include performing Dido and Aeneas whilst operating a sizeable puppet at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall; performing the same work (without puppets) in the Roman amphitheatre at Sabratha in Libya and attempting a song recital during a thunderstorm in New Delhi, India, as well as performing in such extraordinary venues such as the chapel of Versailles and the throne room in the Rosenborg Palace in Copenhagen.
She loves the personal and musical interactions that her career enables her to experience, whether it is singing alongside choirs throughout the UK, or collaborating with Baroque ensembles in other countries, most notably in Poland.
Philippa is an experienced recording artist. Most recently, she performed the role of Adonis in the first recording of Pepusch’s Venus and Adonis with the Harmonious Society of Tickle Fiddle Gentlemen, which won the 2016 Opera Award in the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik in Germany. It is released on the Ramee label.
Philippa is married to Richard Tanner, Director of Music at Rugby School and has two sons. In her spare time she enjoys reading, walking, travel and enjoying the buzz of London. She is currently studying for an MSc in psychology.
[BIOGRAPHY REPRODECED UNDER PERMISSION]
Crispian Steele-Perkins
Crispian Steele-Perkins began playing the trumpet at the age of 10 and, after training at the Guildhall School of Music in London, he became a member of the English National Opera, the Royal Philharmonic, and the English Chamber Orchestra.
As a soloist Crispian’s purity of tone and artistic subtlety have received widespread critical acclaim for more than four decades. On October 10th 2015 the BBC's 'CD Review' concluded that of all worldwide available recordings of Haydn's famous Trumpet Concerto his was 'the one to have'.
Crispian collects and restores antique trumpets upon which he has performed and recorded with The Academy of Ancient Music, The Kings Consort and The English Baroque Soloists. Appropriately, he plays the theme tune to one of the BBC’s longest-running and most popular TV programmes, the Antiques Roadshow.
Described by Virtuoso magazine as ‘the world's leading exponent of the Baroque Trumpet’, particularly when heard in duet with some of the world's greatest singers such as Kiri te Kanawa, Emma Kirkby, John Tomlinson and Bryn Terfel, he has also recorded with popular artists including Led Zeppelin, Kate Bush, Lulu, Cliff Richard, Bob Geldof and Harry Secombe. In addition, he has played on numerous TV scores for shows including, amongst many others, Dr Who, Oliver Twist, The World at War, Inspector Morse and Tales of the Unexpected.
In the world of cinema Crispian participated in more than 80 classic film scores such as Jaws, Gandhi, Zulu Dawn, Star Wars, Rambo, Robocop, Batman, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers and no less than six films from the James Bond series.
Whilst his numerous solo recordings extend from Handel to Glenn Miller, he has featured regularly as a concert soloist in London at the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, the Sydney Opera House and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. His largest 'live' audience was 133,000 at the Edinburgh International Festival.
In June 2023 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Centre for Early Music.
In his own words: "My friend and colleague Peter Holman invited me to participate in Leeds Baroque Orchestra’s inaugural season and diaries from subsequent seasons record many return visits including the 10th anniversary and 20th just before Covid devastated all forms of ‘live’ entertainment.
I withdrew from the 2022 Bach concert due a motorcycle accident but major surgery has restored mobility and reinvigorated me to champion the cause of local choirs and Music Societies who form the backbone of British music making. Predominant among them with greatly treasured memories, Leeds Baroque Orchestra and their choir will hopefully flourish and prosper."
[BIOGRAPHY REPRODECED UNDER PERMISSION]