Biography

The following biographical summary is suitable for promoters to download for inclusion in programmes, festival brochures, etc. For a more detailed biography please scroll down the page.

 

Lynda Sayce is one of the UK's leading lutenists, and is noted both as a performer and as a musical scholar with a strong interest in history, literature and the visual arts. She studied at St. Hugh's College, Oxford, where she matriculated in History and graduated in Music. She then studied lute with Jakob Lindberg at the Royal College of Music, and also took continuo classes with Nigel North. She holds a Ph.D for her research on the history of the theorbo, which is to be published shortly. Lynda has contributed articles to Early Music, the Revised New Grove Dictionary of Music, and the art journal Apollo, and has edited many music publications. She is principal lutenist with Ex Cathedra, The King's Consort and the Musicians of the Globe, and performs regularly with many other leading period instrument ensembles. She also directs the lute ensemble Chordophony. Lynda appears on more than 100 CD recordings, and has broadcast on radio and TV stations worldwide.

 

Photography by Ian Baldwin.

Theorbo by David Van Edwards after Magno Tieffenbrucker III.

Detailed Biography

Lynda Sayce is one of the UK's leading lutenists, and is noted both as a performer and as a musical scholar with a strong interest in history, literature and the visual arts. She studied at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, matriculating in History and graduating in Music. There she heard a lute for the first time and was immediately entranced by its sound and its music. With the aid of a borrowed lute and a hand-copied version of a 1603 lute tutor, she began to explore that repertory at first hand, and has never stopped. After completing her degree she spent two years at the Royal College of Music studying lute with Jakob Lindberg. She also received guidance in continuo playing from Nigel North. Whilst at college she acquired her first theorbo, a copy by David Van Edwards of a 1608 Venetian instrument by Magno Tieffenbrucker III, coincidentally housed in the instrument museum at the RCM. Finding herself the keeper of the largest, loudest theorbo on the London continuo circuit, (see the photo above!) she set about learning to play it, to take advantage of the notoriety which the instrument was rapidly acquiring. Becoming increasingly fascinated by the theorbo's possibilities, she began to research its history, examining many surviving examples in museums around the world, and commissioning copies or reconstructions of different types. The research led to a doctoral thesis on the history of the archlute and theorbo, completed in 2001, which is shortly to be published by Scarecrow Press. Lynda has also written articles for Early Music, the art journal Apollo, and has contributed several lute-related articles to the revised Grove Dictionary of Music.

Lynda appears on more than 100 CD recordings, and has broadcast on radio and TV stations throughout Europe, in the USA, South America and Japan. She is principal lutenist with Ex Cathedra, The King's Consort and the Musicians of the Globe, as well as a regular performer with many other leading period instrument ensembles. She is also director of the lute ensemble Chordophony, which plays on the only matched renaissance lute family in the world, and whose repertory is based on Lynda's research.

Lynda’s solo repertory ranges from the 12th to the 21st centuries, on lutes and early guitars of all shapes and sizes. In 2006 she recorded a CD of guitar music using two period guitars, to accompany an exhibition of Goya's works in the Frick Collection in New York. She is particularly interested in modern lute music, and actively encourages composers to write for the lute. An experienced and enthusiastic lecturer, Lynda also combines performances with entertaining lecture recitals and educational work on a variety of topics, often drawing on her large instrument collection which includes many unique reconstructions of unusual lute types.

In her spare time Lynda plays early flutes for fun, and enjoys exploring Britain’s waterways in a sea kayak.