Where folk, traditional and early music meet

- the common grounds

We will shortly be updating the information across the website for HISS 2025

We achieved more than 80 participants in 2024, bringing us (finally!) back up to numbers we welcomed pre-COVID - thank you!

Booking for HISS 2025 will be open soon

We look forward to welcoming you all at HISS 2025 18 - 22 August with

more new friends for next year’s exciting course!

We were delighted and privileged in 2024 to have as our Guest Tutor Robert Hollingworth, who led a workshop day on the sumptuous polychoral Missa Tu Es Petrus by Orazio Benevoli

Robert will be returning for 2025 with another workshop day. Our team of tutors will also be returning, with one change for this year - Claire McIntyre will join us as our sackbut tutor. She is professor of trombone and sackbut at the Versailles Conservatoire of Paris, and other European summer schools.

We are delighted to welcome Beth Toulson as our Administrator. Following her time with us last year as Bursary Student, she worked with HISS tutors, Ali Kinder, Lynda Sayce and Mary Tyers on the launch of the new Banbury Early Music Festival in September. As HISS bulds back to full recovery after the difficult tims of recent years, we are looking forward to a full action packed and exciting summer school this coming August.

HISS 2025 18 - 22 August

Please note: the website will be transformed in the coming weeks as we prepare for HISS 2025.

Of course, 2025 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Palestrina. We are again looking for plenty of singers, to undertake some of the double choir works. Also, the music of Mikolaj Zielenski, born 50 years later in 1575, with a 12 part (3 choirs) Magnificat with voices and instruments. He was born in Płock, in modern day Poland, about 100km west of Warsaw. Like many composers of the period his music was published in Venice. Two volumes of his sacred works, totalling 122 pieces, were published by Vincentius in Venice in 1611.

Watch out for updates to our plans here in the next couple of months!

“HISS successfully embraces & celebrates the links between early and folk music. A wonderful range of material is explored. It is a very inclusive course and as a participant you are both supported and challenged to learn new things!”