Pastance
Pastance came together in 1993 to perform mediaeval and Renaissance music. Based in Sydney, the ensemble has reached the early-music fraternity and a wide public, from folk festivals and formal concerts to schools, corporate feasts and open-air markets.
Their repertoire and performance style have been shaped by diverse musical interests and by a wish to reach that broader audience.
The Sydney-based group draws on a striking mix of instruments and colours. Harp, lute, recorders, fiddle, gittern, bagpipes, percussion and vocals underpin arrangements of Anglo/Celtic folk, early European music and original writing, yielding a sound that is both distinctive and approachable.
Alongside their folk-song arrangements they range widely: from the mediaeval period through the Renaissance and Baroque to compositions by Alex Cronin.
Pastance has appeared at some of Australia’s largest folk festivals, including The National (1994–2000), Port Fairy (1996), Woodford (1996), Jamberoo (2003) and Cobargo (2004). Over twelve years the ensemble performed for more than 200,000 school children in over a thousand schools across Australia and New Zealand.
Pastance consists of:
Alexander Cronin: harp, lute, fiddle, gittern, bagpipes, voice
Megan Cronin: voice, recorder, shawm, percussion
Myfanwy Dibben: voice, recorder, percussion
Matthew Ridley: recorders, Renaissance flute, voice
Chris Wheeler: voice, baroque guitar, acoustic guitar
James Gastineau-Hills: fiddle
Artist's website: pastance.com.au
Pastance is featured on the following titles
Sit Down Beside Me
In its inimitable style, Pastance again brings together music from the folk traditions and the early music world.
A Valley Fair
Pastance's then most recent offering is a delightful collection of traditional, original and early music for Celtic harp, recorders and voices.
Joy
Joy names the intent behind much of this music: carols of piety, the longing of Landini and Machaut, and Hildegard von Bingen’s soaring beauty. The collection shows how song shaped everyday life in the Middle Ages.
Falling Through Time
All the colour and mystique of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance come alive in a presentation rich in music and drama, spanning troubadour song, Machaut, courtly dance and English lute song.
Members of Pastance
Alex Cronin
Multi-instrumentalist Alex Cronin trained as a lutenist in Australia and Holland. As a lutenist and guitarist he has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Brandenburg Orchestra, Opera Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Megan Cronin
Megan Cronin was born and educated in Canberra and received her earliest musical training singing with Judith Clingan’s Canberra Children’s Choir, playing oboe in the Canberra Youth Orchestra and at the Canberra School of Music.
Myfanwy Dibben
Myfanwy joined Pastance in 2000. She began her Bachelor of Music at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney in 1996. Majoring in recorder she studied under Howard Oberg and Hans Dieter Michatz and performed with various chamber ensembles including the Conservatorium Baroque Orchestra under Paul Dyer.
Matthew Ridley
In 1993 Matthew joined Pastance and toured extensively with the group (1993-97) throughout Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, SA and New Zealand.