The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble

Continuo Foundation grantee
Supported by Continuo Foundation
ECSE is in demand as a recording ensemble, contributing to Gramophone Award-winning discs such as The Spy's Choirbook (Obsidian) in 2015, and the monumental Striggio mass in 40 parts Missa ecco si beato giorno with I Fagiolini (which scooped the Gramophone Award for Early Music 2011 and also the Diapason d'Or). ECSE celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018 with a solo CD on the Resonus label entitled Music for Windy Instruments: Sounds from the Court of James I.
Upcoming plans for 2023 include concerts and a recording with the Irish vocal ensemble Resurgam, plus ensemble recitals in Edinburgh, York and Manchester. For our 30th anniversary year in 2023 we will once again participate in the NCEM/BBC Radio3 Young Composer Competition, culminating in a broadcast recital on Radio 3 from Manchester's Stoller Hall.
Biography
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble is a virtuoso period instrument group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name. In addition to regular recital work, the ensemble collaborates with leading vocal ensembles such as I Fagiolini, The Tallis Scholars, Alamire, Resurgam, The Marian Consort, Westminster Cathedral Choir, and is a regular at major festivals. As of October 2022 ECSE is also Ensemble in Residence at Holy Sepulchre, London, the National Musicians' Church.
ECSE is in demand as a recording ensemble, contributing to Gramophone Award-winning discs such as The Spy's Choirbook (Obsidian) in 2015, and the monumental Striggio mass in 40 parts Missa ecco si beato giorno with I Fagiolini (which scooped the Gramophone Award for Early Music 2011 and also the Diapason d'Or). ECSE celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018 with a solo CD on the Resonus label entitled Music for Windy Instruments: Sounds from the Court of James I.
Upcoming plans for 2023 include concerts and a recording with the Irish vocal ensemble Resurgam, plus ensemble recitals in Edinburgh, York and Manchester. For our 30th anniversary year in 2023 we will once again participate in the NCEM/BBC Radio3 Young Composer Competition, culminating in a broadcast recital on Radio 3 from Manchester's Stoller Hall.
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Upcoming Concerts

Echoes of Venice
Sun, 19 October 2025
St David's Church, Llanfaes
6:00pm
£12-£27
Brecon Baroque Festival

Monteverdi Vespers 1610
Wed, 22 October 2025
St. Thomas's Church, Salisbury
7:00pm
£28 (conc. available)
Celebrate Voice

Looking Bach to Palestrina
Mon, 8 December 2025
National Centre for Early Music
6:30pm
£35 (conc. available) inc. mince pie
York Early Music Christmas Festival

Monteverdi Vespers
Fri, 18 September 2026
Kings Place, London
6:30pm
£28.00-£70.00
Early Music at Kings Place
Past programmes

A Pageant of Psalms
Fri, 17 October 2025
Brecon Cathedral
6:30pm
£10-£35
Brecon Baroque Festival

Monteverdi Vespers
Fri, 26 September 2025
St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
7:30pm
£10 - £55
St Martin-in-the-Fields

Monteverdi Vespers of 1610
Sun, 7 September 2025
St Mary's Parish Church, Haddington
7:30pm
£18-£33
Lammermuir Festival

La Spagna!
Thu, 9 November 2023
The Stoller Hall, Manchester
7:30pm
STANDARD £16. FTE/U18 £5.50