Free Lunchtime Concert: Leah Stuttard: The Wool Merchant and the Harp
02 Mar 2015
On Thursday 5 March, 1.10pm at the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama
Music alumnus Leah Stuttard has been playing medieval harp for over 15 years. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 1998 with a first class music degree and prizes in musicology and performance
George Cely, an adolescent apprentice in the wool trade, wrote details of his music and dance lessons in an accounting booklet in the late 15th century. By a lucky twist of fate this document is preserved in the National Archive in London.
Three pages detail payments George made to Thomas Rede, 'harpar'. He noted how much he paid to learn 26 dances on the harp and wrote down the names of songs Thomas taught him.
This concert imagines George Cely spending money on the luxury of music lessons, learning and playing dances from England and abroad, wooing women with songs.
This concert is free, no need to book just turn up.