She held a clear vision of what the band should be and how medieval music should sound and be performed for contemporary audiences.
Performing as a soloist on a global stage took her across Europe and to America and beyond to perform in a variety of other groups and situations. Her voice is also to be found on a whole range of film and TV soundtracks.
Today, with her blessing, Joglaresa aim to remain the guardians of her musical heritage, performing many of her brilliant and groundbreaking arrangements in the styles and ways she taught us.
The biography below is intended as a brief introduction to her life and work: more tributes and articles will follow here in the future, so do tune in again for updates and insights on her life and work.
Meanwhile you can also listen here to the BBC’s fitting tribute to her work on the special edition of The Early Music Show that was made in her honour and broadcast in 2022.
Belinda Sykes Biography
Belinda Sykes – director of Joglaresa – was raised on a pure diet of English folk song, and was an international concert and recording soloist – she sang solo at The Royal Albert Hall and The Carnegie Hall.
Belinda studied voice and improvisation in Morocco, Bulgaria, Syria, Spain and India; oboe and recorder at the Guildhall School of Music. She recorded and sang solo with early music ensembles Red Byrd, New London Consort, Tragicomedia, Harp Consort, Paul O’Dette, Ensemble Unicorn, Oni Wytars, and as a soloist with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
As an oboist she played for the Gabrieli Consort, English Concert, King’s Consort, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Age of Enlightenment, and The Hanover Band, and won the 1990 Reichenberg Award for Baroque Oboe. She also collaborated as both singer and player with many composers including Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Orlando Gough, Dominic Muldowney, Trevor Jones, Howard Shore, Adrian Johnston and Jocelyn Pook.
Belinda was awarded a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology (Arabic music) from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies and was Professor of Medieval Music at Trinity College of Music. She also taught at The Guildhall School of Music, The Royal Academy of Music and The Royal College of Music.