FREE: CONSTRUCTION PLANS FOR CLAVICHORD
The technical drawings are for the construction of a Christian Gottlob Hubert clavichord, Ansbach 1784. Fretted. Range C to g3. Scale 1:1. Bought from State Institute for Music Research Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin. The drawings are clean and unmarked.
The plans are FREE to anyone who can make good use of them, but the cost of postage would be much appreciated. As the box containing the drawings is 0.91 metres long, the cost of this via Parcelforce is around £14. The drawings could also be collected directly from an address in Christchurch, Dorset. Contact Alison Killen on 07928 355779.
To all Harpsichordists and concert Promoters
Please note, the BHS Concert Diary is up and running again to promote your performances, so please send all notices of concerts and recitals with harpsichord interest, to our new diary secretary, Andrew Watson, at: diary@harpsichord.org.uk. Thank you.
The GIANNI BERGAMO CLASSIC MUSIC AWARD
For 2026 there will be a CHAMBER MUSIC competition
Prizes: Euro 25’000.-
Each group admitted to the second stage will receive a token amount to partially
cover travel and accommodation expenses.
Deadline for application: 15 June 2026
Competition: 9-11 September 2026 in Lugano (Switzerland)
For detailed information about the terms of participation, visit the website
https://www.giannibergamoaward.ch/competition
or contact us directly info@giannibergamoaward.ch
CAN YOU HELP? A NEW RESEARCH PROJECT
Call for Participants: Musicians & Instrument Makers
Are you a musician or instrument maker working with historical instruments (originals or copies)? We are running an online research study exploring
how performers and makers engage with these instruments in different yet complementary ways. To participate please use the following link:
https://york.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1TjgECSPWiUEmSG
Please feel free to share this invitation with others who may be interested!
The research team:Andrea Schiavio (York), Emily Worthington (York), Noah Henry (York),Joel Speerstra (Gothenburg) & Massimiliano Guido (Pavia)
APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR A KEYBOARD PLAYER
The South West Baroque Orchestra is looking for new Harpsichord Players. At a residential weekend course 23-25 January at the Shrubbery Hotel Ilminster, there will be an opportunity to have some training and support from Satoko Doi-Luck. Cost: £395 (full board single occupancy & tuition)
Please get in touch if you are interested and would like to put your name down. Membership of the orchestra is on a subscription basis and monthly rehearsals are held in Mid Devon, near the border with Somerset; EX15 3JW.
Southwestbaroqueorchestra.com Michaelwilliamson.swbaroque@gmail.com 07514 284311
INTERNATIONAL HARPSICHORD COMPETITION Gianni Gambi
The Rossini Conservatoire of Music organizes the XX edition of the International Harpsichord Competition Gianni Gambi. The competition is open to all students of harpsichord and early keyboard instruments who are duly enrolled in courses of all levels during the academic year 2025-2026, as well as graduates of the academic year 2024-2025 from Italian conservatories and international higher music education institutions, without age restrictions. The Competition will be held at the Conservatoire of Music “G.Rossini” in Pesaro, Italy from the 19th to the 21th of March 2026. Application deadline is the 28th of February 2026.Applications for participation will be accepted up to a maximum of 25 .
The complete program of the competition is avalaible at this link https://www.conservatoriorossini.it/concorsi/
SOUNDING BOARD 23
The latest edition of Sounding Board is now published.
Guest Editors – BARRY IFE & JASPER VAN DER KLIS
It includes important news of their latest research into the music of Scarlatti
To access the file see the ‘Sounding Board’page of this website.
FREE – CLAVICHORD
Suitable for parts or complete renovation. Disposal urgently needed, for details see ‘For Sale’ page.
Contact: Charlotte Beaumont charlottebeau@yahoo.co.uk
ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON MUSIC IN 18TH-CENTURY BRITAIN
The 41st Annual Conference on Music in 18th-Century Britain will take place on Friday 28th November 2025 at the Foundling Museum, London. Offers of contributions to the programme are invited, focusing on all aspects of music in 18th-century Britain. Formal papers as well as other formats invited. For all details see handel@foundlingmuseum.org.uk Closing date for submissions is Thursday 25 September 2025
THE YORK INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION
Hosted by the National Centre for Early Music (UK), provides a significant boost to young professional careers, offering opportunities for performances, recording and broadcasting. Prestigious prizes include a professional CD recording produced by Linn Records; a paid concert as part of the 2026 York Early Music Festival, 8-11 July 2026; £1,000 prize; and prizes offered by Cambridge Early Music and the EUBO Development Trust.
Applications are now open for details Closing date: Monday 8 December 2025, 23:59 GMT
Alan Cuckston (July 2nd 1940 – March 24th 2025)
We are sad to report the death of distinguished harpsichordist Alan Cuckston, at the age of 84.
Cuckston studied at Kings’ College Cambridge under the tutelage of Thurston Dart before pursuing,
from the 1960s onwards, an illustrious and international career as a harpsichordist.
He toured with The Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and Pro Cantione Antiqua and made many
BBC broadcasts as soloist and ensemble player. He formed the Alan Cuckston Singers and the
Cuckston Trio. He recorded on early keyboard instruments for the BBC archives and made numerous
recordings of Baroque keyboard works for Naxos, and for RCA and several other labels. Cuckston also
championed the music of contemporary composers including Elizabeth Maconchy, giving the first
performance of her Sonatina for harpsichord in 1965. He was also in demand as organist and pianist
throughout his career and is well known for having recorded the complete piano works of Alan
Rawsthorne. His harpsichord was a 1638 Ruckers copy by John Rooks
A NEW BOOK ABOUT THE CONTEMPORARY HARPSICHORD
‘Harpsichord Reimagined – Resonances in Contemporary Music
Edited by Jane Chapman and John Palmer
1st Edition, 2025, ISBN: 978-1-0687122-1-0
Far beyond its traditional perception, the harpsichord now contributes to contemporary music through electroacoustic experimentation, multimedia performance, and other avant-garde practices. The contributors to this book bring a diverse range of backgrounds and approaches, offering a wealth of perspectives that together create a vibrant dialogue. This exchange fosters the harpsichord’s continuing evolution across different eras. Rather than attempting an exhaustive survey of composers and harpsichordists, the book highlights the artistic and thematic pathways shaping this project, offering an insightful exploration of the harpsichord’s evolving presence in contemporary music.
Contributors: Richard Barrett, Jane Chapman, Simon Emmerson, James Erber, Mahan Esfahani, Gośka Isphording, Hope Lee, Junghae Lee, Sonja Leipold, Andrew Lewis, Graham Lynch, Kevin Malone, Maja Mijatović, Stephen Montague, Pamela Nash, Kristian Nyquist, John Palmer, Vivienne Spiteri, Mike Vaughan, Paul Whitty and Marc Yeats.
£29.99 to purchase Buy Here
FREE – HARPSICHORD NEEDING SOME TLC
Made from a Zuckermann kit in the mid 1970s, single manual harpsichord needs a new home and some tlc. See ‘For Sale’ page for details.
FREE – SINGLE MANUEL HARPSICHORD
For details see ‘For Sale’ page
A NEW WEBSITE PROMOTING THE EARLY MUSIC COMMUNITY
‘CONTINUO CONNECT’- https://www.continuoconnect.com is a new website aimed at growing the audience for this wonderful artform. It features searchable concert listings, profiles of performers, and editorial content to further engage the community. It features as many professional ensembles and musicians as possible, not only those that have been funded through the Continuo Foundation’s grants. It has recently published an article about Andrew Wooderson, harpsichord builder. The link is: https://www.continuoconnect.com/features/in-conversation-with-andrew-wooderson
BOALCH, ON-LINE VERSION.
Due to be launched very soon is the on-line version of Donald Boalch’s ‘Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440 – 1840’. The timeline is being extended to 1925, to allow the inclusion of the pioneering ‘revival’ instruments of Dolmetsch and others. Updating and editing is well under way but the success of the venture will depend upon all those with knowledge of new discoveries, or instruments that have changed hands since the 1995 Third Edition, to share the information. Please contact www.boalch.org
THE FUTURE – MAKERS AND TECHNICIANS
Recruiting and training the next generation of harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano technicians and makers, is now reaching crisis point. A document has been compiled to encourage and help anyone who might be considering a future career in this field. It is a pdf file which also includes links to a number of relevant websites. To open please click on ‘Guide to Training Resources’
DISCOUNT FOR MEMBERS
Founded in 2020, Lyrebird Music, is a publisher of scholarly editions of early music, specialising in keyboard works by under-represented composers and early collections of music. They are kindly offering a special discount of 15% , to all BHS members, (sales and special offers excluded).See https://lyrebirdmusic.com/
NEW CHARITY RAISES £100,000 TO BOLSTER PERIOD-INSTRUMENT ENSEMBLES
A new charity, Continuo Foundation will give grants which create work for freelance musicians and aims to draw upon innovative thinking and technology to help period-instrument ensembles improve long-term sustainability post-Covid-19. Under the enthusiastic patronage of Dame Emma Kirkby, Sir Roger Norrington and Rachel Podger and a team of professionals from music, business and media, Continuo has recently reached the first of many fundraising milestones, having raised £100,000 in just three months. It is now open for grant applications from professional UK-based period-instrument ensembles.
Full details on how to apply are available on the Continuo website: www.continuofoundation.co.uk/grants
READ ABOUT THE BHS’s CD
‘SHADOW JOURNEY’ the BHS recording of 21st Century Music for Harpsichord which includes the prize-winning pieces from our 10th Birthday Composition Competition. Full report in the ninth edition of SOUNDING BOARD. The CD has been released and can be purchased from Prima Facie via the following link: …..