Sarah Busfield: Soprano

Sarah Busfield has studied at both the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Recently she has appeared in Peter Grimes in Salzburg and Berlin, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and directed by Sir Trevor Nunn. Sarah works regularly as a vocalist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has recently appeared in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Novello Theatre, Covent Garden. She has also performed scenes from Turandot, Faust and Aida with Mid-Wales Opera, and last summer she performed with Garsington Opera.

As a recitalist Sarah has toured to Belgium, Holland, Northern Ireland and the Edinburgh Fringe, and she has appeared on numerous occasions as a soloist at Symphony Hall, Birmingham with the C.B.S.O. Prizes include the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal and All Card Award, and Sir Anthony Lewis Memorial Prize. Later this year Sarah will be working with Garsington Opera and the National Chamber Choir of Ireland.

Simone Curley: Recorder

Simone is a professional recorder player having completed her studies on the Early Music programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she gained a MMus in performance taking recorder lessons with Pamela Thorby and Robert Ehrlich, currently continuing to develop her skills and knowledge with Anneke Boeke. In July 2006 she completed her FTCL performance diploma on recorders.

Simone also studied the recorder at the Birmingham Conservatoire where she took lessons with Ross Winters and Annabel Knight, receiving regular coaching from Louise Bradbury, graduating with a BMus (Hons) in the summer of 2002.. In the September of 2000 Simone spent five months studying at the Franz Liszt Hochschule fur Musik in Weimar.

During her studies Simone has taken part in a number of master classes including those with Markus Zahnhausen and Dan Laurin. She has performed in a number of concerts of both chamber and solo works, including the Telemann A minor Suite, Brandenburg 4 and the Sammartini Concerto in F major. Simone has also performed as the lead recorder in Eccles ‘The Judgement of Paris’ and Charpentier ‘La malade imaginaire’ directed by Christian Curnyn as well as a Biber and Schmelzer orchestral project directed by Rachel Podger. Currently Simone Performs regularly with her ensembles and as a free-lance soloist.

Simone also plays with the 'Aurelia Baroque Trio', 'Polyphonica Recorder Trio' and has performed in concerts with the popular Midlands folk singer Paul Edwards. She teaches recorder at Spratton Hall School and is a tutor on the annual Knuston Hall recorder course and musical advisor for the Northampton Society of Recorder Players.. 

Anna Kucharska: Harpsichord

Anna Urszula Kucharska graduated with a MA in June 2003 from the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw where she studies harpsichord with Leszek Kędracki and Early Music with Agata Sapiecha.

In 2001 Anna commenced her studies of early keyboard instruments with Nicholas Parle at the Akademie für Alte Music Oberlausitz (Germany) which she continued on the post-graduate Early Music programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she gained a MMus in Early Music perfomance.

Anna's passion of Early music was inspired by her participation in numerous ancient music courses including: Summer Academy of Ancient Music in Wilanów (1999, 2001, 2002), EU Baroque Orchestra Course (Unhost 2004), Young Handel at the keyboard (London 2004). Anna also participated in a number of solo and continuo master classes with Wladyslaw Klosiewicz, Christopher Hogwood, Peter Holman, Simon Standage and Lars Ulirk Mortensen in addition to performing in various countries both as a soloist and with ensembles including England, Poland, The Netherlands and Germany.

Main recitals that Anna has given include complete performances of Bach's Goldberg Variations and participation in events organised by the British Harpsichord Society: Titles include "Transcriptions for keyboard by old masters", artistic directorship in projects such as "Tambeau abd Lamentation" (London), "Concert for Vigil of Epiphany" (Bialystok), "A Look Back at Christmas - Presentation in the Temple" (London) and "Music in the Court of Louis XV" (Warsaw).

As a continuo player Anna has performed in Eccles 'The Judgement of Paris' directed by Christopher Curnyn, Handel's 'Sosarme' directed by Agata Sapiecha and Bach's b minor Mass directed by Paul Goodwyn.

Anna is a harpsichord tutor in ZPOSM im. G. Bacewcz (Warsaw) and teaches in Bialystok Branch of AMFC harpsichord as a second study.