sonic threads
“…But the remedy, which of all others bids fairest to relieve the patient is musick: As it awakes the attention in the most agreeable manner, and relieves the anxious mind…”
Reflections on ancient and modern musick with the application to the cure of diseases (Richard Brocklesby, 1749)
A patient is seized with fever and delirium – will they make it through the night?
Join us in the candlelit Great Hall of the historic North Wing for an evening of eighteen century music and readings. Featuring music by Handel, Purcell and their contemporaries, readings from historic medical treatises and texts created in workshops at Barts Hospital.
With mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries (“emotional force” – The Times) and Ensemble Augelletti (“elegant pathos and rip-roaring technical dexterity” – The Arts Desk).
Monday 12 January 2026, 7pm
St Bartholomew’s Hospital, North Wing – London
£10 / £8
programme
Purcell – Music for a while
Purcell – I attempt from love’s sickness to fly
Handel – Süße Stille (Neun Deutsche Arien)
Handel – Pensieri notturne di Fille
Handel – Oh sleep, why dost thou leave me? (Semele)
Handel – As with rosy steps (Theodora)
Anon attr. Pergolesi – Nina
Purcell – Two in One Upon a Ground (Dioclesian)
Purcell – music from The Fairy Queen
sound installation
Inspired by the historic eighteenth century North Wing at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, this new sound installation weaves together eighteenth century music and spoken word from historical medical treatises and texts created in workshops at Barts Hospital.
Led by mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries and members of Ensemble Augelletti, this new sonic tapestry brings together past and present to explore the hospital experience.
Listen online or at Barts Hospital from January 2026.
the team
Joanna Harries - mezzo-soprano
Praised for her “stylish” singing (Opera Magazine) and the “emotional force” (The Times) of her performances, mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries was a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio. Recent performances include Puccini’s La Rondine with Opera Rara and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican, Mozart’s Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall and Wonderland with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican.
She is a City Music Foundation artist and a previous Britten-Pears Artist and Handel House Artist. Her debut song album Letters from Scandinavia with pianist Sholto Kynoch was released in 2025 and described as “Vivid storytelling…meticulously researched and brilliantly executed.” (BBC Radio 3 Record Review) and “an unusual and enchanting thing” (Gramophone).
Ensemble Augelletti
Ensemble Augelletti are known for their innovative and engaging programmes, and performances that demonstrate an ‘equal capacity for elegant pathos and rip-roaring technical dexterity.’ (The Arts Desk, 2024).
Ensemble Augelletti are BBC New Generation Baroque Ensemble (2023-25) and City Music Foundation Artists (2024-26). Performing regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in arts festivals across the UK, they were finalists of the York International Young Artist Competition and released their debut CD in 2022.
Ellen Bundy - violin
Violinist Ellen Bundy has worked as a chamber musician, orchestral player, leader, and soloist with some of the finest ensembles in the UK and EU, including Ensemble Augelletti, Dunedin Consort, La Serenissima and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Ellen was introduced to the baroque violin early in her teenage years, and graduated from Royal College of Music in 2015 with distinction and the McKenna Prize for Historical Performance. Her versatile approach to her playing ranges from the medieval Vielle to an upcoming performance of Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto.
Toby Carr - lute & theorbo
Lutenist and guitarist Toby Carr is known as a versatile and engaging artist, with his playing described as ‘sensuous and vivid’ (The Guardian), ‘Eloquent’ (BBC Music Magazine) and ‘Mesmerising’ (Opera Today).
He has performed with most of the principal period instrument ensembles in the UK and beyond, and notable recordings include De Pasión Mortal with Nicholas Mulroy and Elizabeth Kenny (Linn), Drop not, mine eyes with Alexander Chance (Linn) and Battle Cry with Helen Charlston (Delphian), winner of both BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone Awards in 2023.
Toby is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and is delighted to share his passion with the next generation of musicians.
Carina Drury - cello
Carina enjoys a busy career as a chamber musician and continuo player and her playing has been described by BBC Radio 3 as ‘singing across the centuries’.
She was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London where she studied with Philip Sheppard and Jonathan Manson. She toured as principal cello with the European Union Baroque Orchestra in 2010, and has since performed as guest principal with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Dunedin Consort, La Serenissima, Gabrieli Players, Oxford Bach Soloists, Camerata Ireland and Australian Baroque.
As a soloist she has performed a C.P.E. Bach Cello Concerto at the National Concert Hall in Dublin with the Orchestra of St. Cecilia and Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto with Vlad Waltham and La Serenissima at St Martin in the Fields.
Olwen Foulkes - recorder
Olwen Foulkes is a recorder player, curator and educator with a love of eighteenth-century chamber music and narrative programming. Olwen has released multiple solo CDs and she performs with ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, London Handel Players and Dunedin Consort.
Olwen is Co-Artistic Director of Brighton Early Music Festival alongside her colleague Hannah Ely. She was selected to join the European REMArkable network of early-career professionals in Early Music in 2025 and chosen as one of Britten Pears Arts’ eight ‘Future Leaders’ in 2024. Olwen has a research focus on the early eighteenth-century London music scene and she is a Curator at Handel Hendrix House and an Academic Lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music.
