Why HISS?
Historically Informed Summer School 2026
HISS is a truly unique course that since 2011 has been bringing together musicians from the worlds of folk, medieval, renaissance and baroque music. (We will be especially welcoming folk singers and instrumentalists in 2026 as we won’t be clashing with the Whitby Folk Week!).
HISS welcomes both singers and instrumentalists – our pitch is A=440 to allow us all to play together.
What instruments? Previous courses have included players of shawms, crumhorns, curtals, bagpipes, portative organs, harps, hurdy-gurdies, recorders, viols, lutes, theorbos, mandolins, medieval, renaissance and baroque flutes and fiddles, cornetts, sackbuts, violins, cellos, double basses, and even an ocarina – take a look at our Tutors page to get an idea of the range of instruments and genres we can accommodate at HISS. Not sure you’ve got a suitable instrument? Just ask! Email hissenquiries@gmail.com.
If you’ve got a modern string instrument, we can teach you to play in period style, and probably lend you a baroque bow.
If you’re a keyboard player, and could bring your own instrument, you’d be very welcome!
For 2026, we are planning some music for a recorder big band and would be very pleased to hear from any great bass and contra bass owners and players.
Mikolai Zielinski’s Magnificat a 12 at HISS 2025
Is HISS for me?
HISS is the place to hone your skills and make new contacts, to play and perform with professionals.
Benefit from the experience of working with our world-class tutors – you can choose to stretch yourself or work in your comfort zone. The HISS experience can be as relaxed or as intense as you want to make it, and is always very sociable. The diversity of our programme means we have something for everyone.
Make new friends – you’ll find the welcome warm and the company inspiring. Mealtimes are very sociable and you’ll quickly find yourself getting to know people on the classes you are doing.
HISS is for singers and players who read from notation. HISS is also for singers and players who do not read, but learn by ear. The information for every class will tell you whether it’s for readers or for learning by ear. Some are equally open to both.
HISS is for all kinds of singer…
Are you a nervous singer who wants to gain confidence? Or a classical or community choir singer who’d love to learn how to sing folk songs? Hazel Askew knows about vocal technique and the wonderful repertoire of traditional music.
Gain in confidence through daily sessions and go home with a set of new songs to sing, ideas about how to make them your own, and a knowledge of good vocal technique. You might even learn some of those haunting Lady Maisery harmonies…
Spread the word!
Please spread the word about HISS! Send them here, or print a few copies of our updated 2026 flyer – showing our extended deadline of Sunday 12th July 2026.
Choral and solo singers needed…
Last year the vocal ensemble enjoyed the music of Barbara Strozzi and Maddalena Casulana amongst others, with plenty of opportunities for solos and one to a part singing in rich and varied textures. In 2026 we will want voices from high soprano to low bass for both solo and choral music of the renaissance and baroque.
Read reviews and comments from past participants
Have a look at our Gallery pages to see what we got up to in previous years!