Consortium Viols

A sneak peek at Sunday's recording/video project amongst the painted panels of the bijoux Clunes Town Hall. Using viols that are scaled copies of a locally-owned original mid-17th century consort bass by William Turner, all made by Melbourne luthier Ian Watchorn, Consortium recorded works by Tomkins and Purcell, plus some lyra viol duos. What a treat to play such beautifully matched instruments, thanks Ian! Thanks also to Geoff for the generous loan of his instruments. Poppea the Tibetan Spaniel puppy totally melted hearts all day 😍 Big shout out to the absolute legends at Albert Comper Photography - love your work 🥰📹📷 Full videos coming soon!

Some photos from the opening concert of the @ballaratfestival , with @theconsortofmelbourne , @consortiumviols and @8bitharpsichord , captured by @albertcomper . . We are exceedingly proud of this performance of music rarely heard in Australia, on even rarer instruments, programmed by our @simon_rickard . . . . #curtal #dulcian #violadagamba #earlymusic #baroquemusic

Headphones on for this post! 🎧 . Can you hear where the octavebass curtal comes in in this snippet from Heinrich Schütz’s ‘Warum toben die Heiden’ SWV 23? Hint: it sounds more like an Act of God than a musical instrument. . This was the final rehearsal for Gloria! , along with @theconsortofmelbourne and @consortiumviols for the @ballaratfestival last Friday night. . . . #curtal #dulcian #renaissanceinstruments #historicalinstruments #earlymusic

The festival is officially underway 🎶✨ A thrilling opening concert filled St Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday night — even with some challenging weather outside. With an uplifting program of rarely heard works by Hassler, Schütz and Praetorius, curated by Simon Rickard, The Consort of Melbourne and soloists sang beautifully, with stylish playing from Unholy Rackett 🌬️, Consortium Viols 🎻 and a superb continuo team. Our thoughts are with everyone who couldn’t be there because of the fires ❤️‍🩹🔥 So much more music to come over the next four days 🎼💛 ballaratfestival.com

Ready for our first gig of the year! Excited to be at the Ballarat Organs and Fine Music Festival performing beautiful music with @unholyrackett and @consortiumviols 🎶

Looking forward to performing Schütz with Unholy Rackett, Consortium Viols, and the Consort of Melbourne for the Ballarat Organs and Fine Music Festival gala opening ‘Gloria!’ on 9 January 2026. . Tickets at /ballaratfestivalgloria , link in our bio, or @ballaratfestival . . . #baroquemusic #ballaratorgansandfinemusicfestival #dulcian #curtal #violadagamba

It’s time to get the big toys out for the gala opening concert, entitled ‘Gloria!’, at the upcoming Ballarat Organs and Fine Music Festival 2026. These instruments are copies of the quartbass and octavebass curtals which form part of a 16’ curtal consort comprising two basses, quartbass, and octavebass, purchased by the Augsburg Stadtpfeifer in around 1600, now in the collection of @museen_augsburg . Please enjoy swimming in the rich overtone soup generated by these behemoths. Better still, come and hear us live in Ballarat at 7.00pm on 9 January 2026! . Gloria! Tickets via @ballaratfestival or the link in our bio. . . . #fritzheller #curtal #dulcian #bajon #fagotto #bassoon #baroquebassoon #renaissanceinstruments #renaissancewoodwinds #unholyrackett #brownriceandsandals #earlymusic #octavebasscurtal #octavebassdulcian #contrabassoon #contrabasscurtal #contrabassdulcian #baroquecontrabassoon #quartbasscurtal #quartbassdulcian #ballaratfestival #ballaratorgansandfinemusicfestival

Preparations are underway for our first two concerts of 2026. We are proud to have programmed the @ballaratfestival opening gala concert, entitled Gloria!, together with @theconsortofmelbourne and @consortiumviols , on Friday 9th January 2026 , at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Ballarat. This will be followed by our programme Reeds & Resonance, together with @ensemble642 and @lauraplaystheviol , on Monday 12th January in the beautiful Gold Rush town of Clunes. Come along and hear us live! . Link in our bio above, or visit @ballaratfestival . . . #curtal #dulcian #bajon #fagotto #bassoon #baroquebassoon #renaissanceinstruments #renaissancewoodwinds #unholyrackett #brownriceandsandals #earlymusic #descantcurtal #sopranodulcian #altocurtal #altodulcian #tenorcurtal #tenordulcian #treblecurtal #sopranocurtal #baroquetripleharp #violadagamba #theorbo #baroquemusic #renaissancemusic #baroque #bassocontinuo #ballaratorgansandfinemusicfestival #ballaratfestival #ballarat

Rehearsing this super cute Tango In Nomine by Martha Bishop today with Consortium, prepping for some concerts on the Sapphire Coast in beautiful Bodalla and Wolumla on Nov 15 & 16. Thanks for being my gamba buddies ladies! /events/landing/1478071 /events/landing/1461258 #viol #consortmusic #earlymusic #violconsort

🎶 The festival begins in a blaze of joyful sound… ✨ Gloria! opens the Ballarat Organs & Fine Music Festival with a radiant celebration of Baroque splendour in the soaring space of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Hassler, Schütz, Handl and Praetorius shine in this feast of polychoral music, performed by The Consort of Melbourne, Consortium Viols, and Unholy Rackett, with organ, theorbo and harpsichord. 📅 Friday 9 January, 7pm 🎟️ Tickets: ballaratfestival.com #BallaratFestival #EarlyMusicFestival #Polychoral #Hassler #Schutz #BaroqueMusic #HistoricOrgans #VisitBallarat

✨ The sound of summer in the Goldfields… The Ballarat Organs & Fine Music Festival returns 9–13 January 2026, filling heritage churches with glorious music performed by world-class artists from near and far. 🎟️ Tickets now on sale — explore the program at ballaratfestival.com #BallaratFestival #EarlyMusic #Goldfields #OrgansAndFineMusic #ClassicalMusic #SummerFestival

@consortiumviols warm-up with this beautiful Weelkes Pavan in the lovely Hobart Town Hall. Perfect acoustic for viols! Thanks @vandiemensband for hosting us today ❤️