The Orlando Consort announces 2023 retirement

Medieval and early Renaissance vocal quartet the Orlando Consort, has announced that it will retire in June 2023. When the group finishes its final 12 months of performing it will have been together for 35 years.

In this final season the consort will be performing in the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg, Canada and the USA as well as completing its 11-disc Hyperion Records recording project: the complete polyphonic songs of Guillaume de Machaut.

The Consort said: ‘In all our long years together, we have never tired of exploring this beautiful and exhilarating medieval and early Renaissance repertoire and we have been enormously privileged to perform it around the world... Our only regret is that there is so much more incredible music still waiting to be brought to life again that we wanted to investigate, but we have simply run out of time!’

Since its formation in 1988 by the Early Music Network of Great Britain (a forerunner of York’s National Centre for Early Music), the Consort has toured worldwide and recorded extensively, twice winning the Gramophone Early Music CD of the Year award. Founding members Angus Smith (tenor) and Donald Greig (baritone) are joined by countertenor Matthew Venner and tenor Mark Dobell.

You can find out more about the Orlando Consort here.