Sir Billi

In 1993 the late Sam Wanamaker asked Philip Pickett to form an associate ensemble to carry the name and ethos of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre around the world through concerts, recordings and broadcasts.Determined to achieve the highest possible standards of musical performance, Pickett immediately formed the Musicians of the Globe from among the very best of England’s early music instrumentalists. Together with distinguished vocal soloists they explore a colourful and varied repertoire of Elizabethan and Jacobean music, much of it inspired by Shakespeare. The nucleus of the group – a 6-part English consort of violin, recorder, cittern, lute, bandora and bass viol – can be expanded to perform large-scale programmes of 17th-century music, and the Musicians often collaborate with John Ballanger, director of Fools Paradise and England’s leading juggling jester.