Welcome

Welcome to Historically Informed Summer School 2025

18 - 22 August at Bishop Burton College nr Beverley, East Yorkshire, UK

HISS 2025 will offer our usual wide range of opportunities for players and singers of early, folk and traditional music.

An explanation: We gave HISS a big push last year, and Robert offered a whole day, obviously promoting his Benevoli recordings, etc. Whether this was the reason people came, or that we had contacted a lot of people who had not been recently, as well as putting out more targeted publicity to choral, instrumental and other groups,  I don't  know, but it helped put HISS in a slightly less precarious financial situation. 

He was quite keen to do another, so we programmed it in. However, the general feedback, and the follow up from last year was less positive about the idea. This has resulted in quite a lot of correspondence, especially in recent weeks, with several of our regulars saying that the loss of the usual variety of sessions for a whole day in favour of one workshop, was not what they expect from HISS. This feeling has been expressed by the tutors too. 

In the event bookings for this year have been slower than usual. We looked at the possibility of running much of the usual programme alongside a one off workshop day, but the numbers do not really stack up to make that viable, either musically or financially. In the past month we have been following up correspondence, and it has become clear a number of regulars would not come if they lost a whole day to what is effectively one all day session on one piece. So we bowed to the majority, and have reluctantly decided that the Hollingworth day will not go ahead this year.

HISS 2024 all together!

Singers! We need you again!

Last year we had a much more viable group of sinegrs to make up our choir. We need you all again - plus more for bigger works! Those of you who may have been put off by feeling exposed in the smaller groups - now is the time to return.

I know many returnees to HISS come back playing instruments, or have taken up yet another instrument, and wish to take advantage of the opportunities HISS offers to play in such a variety of groups and ensembles!

This is really a year for singers at HISS. We want to look at double choir works in the progressives and other classes, plus a 12 part Magnificat, in 3 choirs, with instruments by Mikołaj Zieleński, a Polish composer active in the early years of the 17th century, working mainly in the Venetian style.

We are pleased numbers have grown since COVID, especially last year - please do help us to keep that trend going so we can get back up to the increased numbers we had prior to the pandemic.

Please explore the pages here to see what’s on offer.

Whether you have been before, or are new to HISS, you are assured of a warm welcome to HISS, which this year is running from Mon 18 - Fri 22 August 2025.

Graham Coatman
Director

Check out our reviews and comments from past participants here.

Have a look at our Gallery pages to see what we got up to in previous years!