The CONVENTional Project
Upcoming events
Tickets available here
Music in Secret
The CONVENTional Project are joined by Sheffield's own Steel City Choristers for an evening of secrets and hidden music from the Renaissance and Baroque era, featuring Byrd, Cozzolani, Assandra and Aleotti.
Because of the religious persecution of Catholics in England at the time, Byrd's masses would have been sang in secret, and you could have been arrested if you were found in possession of the scores. The part books for each mass contained no date and no title page so that they were easier to conceal.
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani's brilliantly vibrant and virtuosic Mass for Four Voices was composed while she lived in the Santa Radegonda convent in Milan. Cozzolani and her contemporaries lived and worked through the rules of ‘Clausura’, meaning hidden - the nuns had to be hidden from view, living a cloistered life, and continuing to compose music despite heavy restrictions placed on them. Expect ferocious Baroque rhythms and soaring polyphony from this ensemble of singers and historical instruments.
St John’s Ranmoor, Sheffield
Friday 16th October, 7pm
The CONVENTional Project
The CONVENTional Project was founded in 2021 by conductor Olivia Shotton, and is a collective of professional singers and instrumentalists committed to performing and recording works by women of the Italian convents from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Assandra ‘Salve Regina’, The CONVENTional Project, March 2026
The Project began at the Royal Academy of Music as part of Olivia’s position as a Fellow. The group originally comprised of students from the Academy, and has since expanded to include many of London’s leading young early music performers.
Audio clip from The CONVENTional Project performing Cozzolani’s ‘Vespers of 1650’, Royal Academy of Music, 2022
Cozzolani ‘Agnus Dei’ from Mass for Four Voices, The CONVENTional Project, March 2026
Past events
‘Messa Paschale’
St Mary’s Church, Horsham, June 2026
Music by Cozzolani, Assandra, Aleotti and Cesis
Singers: Daisy Livesey, Maddy Morris, Ellie Stamp, Charlotte Sleet, Dom Wallis, Joeseph Hancock, David Le Prevost, Jimmy Holliday
Chamber Organ: Tammas Slater
Viola da gamba: Nathan Giorgetti
‘Messa Paschale’
St Michael’s and All Angels Church, Chiswick, March 2026
Music by Cozzolani, Assandra, Aleotti and Cesis
Singers: Daisy Livesey, Ailsa Campbell, Anna Semple, Charlotte Sleet, Dom Wallis, Carlos Rodríguez Otero, Henry Saywell, Jimmy Holliday
Chamber Organ: Tammas Slater
Theorbo: Daniel Murphy
Viola da gamba: Nathan Giorgetti
The CONVENTional Project
The CONVENTional Project was founded in 2021 by conductor Olivia Shotton, and is a collective of professional singers and instrumentalists committed to performing and recording works by women of the Italian convents from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Assandra ‘Salve Regina’, The CONVENTional Project, March 2026
The Project began at the Royal Academy of Music as part of Olivia’s position as a Fellow. The group originally comprised of students from the Academy, and has since expanded to include many of London’s leading young early music performers.
Audio clip from The CONVENTional Project performing Cozzolani’s ‘Vespers of 1650’, Royal Academy of Music, 2022
Cozzolani ‘Agnus Dei’ from Mass for Four Voices, The CONVENTional Project, March 2026
Past events
‘Messa Paschale’
St Michael’s and All Angels Church, Chiswick, 2026
Music by Cozzolani, Assandra, Aleotti and Cesis
Singers: Daisy Livesey, Ailsa Campbell, Anna Semple, Charlotte Sleet, Dom Wallis, Carlos Rodríguez Otero, Henry Saywell, Jimmy Holliday
Chamber Organ: Tammas Slater
Theorbo: Daniel Murphy
Viola da gamba: Nathan Giorgetti
The CONVENTional Project
The CONVENTional Project was founded in 2021 by conductor Olivia Shotton, and is a collective of professional singers and instrumentalists committed to performing and recording works by women of the Italian convents from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Assandra ‘Salve Regina’, The CONVENTional Project, March 2026
The Project began at the Royal Academy of Music as part of Olivia’s position as a Fellow. The group originally comprised of students from the Academy, and has since expanded to include many of London’s leading young early music performers.
Audio clip from The CONVENTional Project performing Cozzolani’s ‘Vespers of 1650’, Royal Academy of Music, 2022
Cozzolani ‘Agnus Dei’ from Mass for Four Voices, The CONVENTional Project, March 2026
Past events
‘Messa Paschale’
St Michael’s and All Angels Church, Chiswick, 2026
Music by Cozzolani, Assandra, Aleotti and Cesis
Singers: Daisy Livesey, Ailsa Campbell, Anna Semple, Charlotte Sleet, Dom Wallis, Carlos Rodríguez Otero, Henry Saywell, Jimmy Holliday
Chamber Organ: Tammas Slater
Theorbo: Daniel Murphy
Viola da gamba: Nathan Giorgetti
Recording session
St Cuthbert’s Church, Earls Court, 2024
The ensemble recorded music by Assandra, Bach and Elgar
Wimbledon International Music Festival 2023
Cozzolani’s Vespers of 1650 at St John’s Church, Wimbledon
Singers: Ailsa Campbell, Daisy Livesey, Izzi Blain, Helena Cooke, Timothy Peters, James Micklethwaite, Henry Saywell, Thomas Lowen
Organ: Max Barley
Cello: Camilla Morse-Glover
Theorbo: Emanuele Addis
Recording session
July 2022 saw the group record works by Aleotti, Rusca and Assandra as the final part of Olivia’s Meaker Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music
Cozzolani Vespers
In January 2022, the group performed music from Cozzolani’s Vespers in the Duke’s Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, accompanied by theorbo, organ and cello.
O Sister
The group performed their inaugural concert at St Matthew’s Church, Westminster in November 2021. The programme included works by Aleotti, Assandra, Leonarda, Perucona and Rusca.
Artwork by Sapphire Illustrations