Philip Thorby will speak on the history and influence of the Dolmetsch family on early music and will then lead a Q&A session with Marguerite Dolmetsch and Brian Blood.

This talk is part of a weekend of recorder workshops and recitals celebrating the centenary and legacy of the Dolmetsch Early Music Festival, founded in Haslemere in 1925 by Arnold Dolmetsch.

Philip Thorby is a conductor and is the founder and Director of the Renaissance ensemble Musica Antiqua of London. Philip is well known as one of the country’s leading performers and teachers in the field of Renaissance and Baroque music. He was Professor of Recorder and Senior Fellow in Early Music at Trinity College of Music and is sought after as a teacher on courses nationally and internationally. Philip has previously performed in Haslemere at the Dolmetsch Early Music Festival.

Marguerite Dolmetsch is the granddaughter of Arnold and daughter of Carl Dolmetsch. She received her earliest training on the recorder, viol and harpsichord from her father Carl, before studying viola and piano at the Royal Academy of Music.

Brian Blood is a recorder player, teacher and designer. He has played as a member of the Dolmetsch Consort since the late 1960s and continues to play as a member of the London Recorder Orchestra. He has been married to Marguerite Dolmetsch since 1971 and has been instrumental in helping preserve the Dolmetsch legacy.