The Sharp Family: Early Modern Vocal Ensemble & CEMPR

• Birmingham Festival of Early Music

Introductions from students in the University's Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies. Music from students in the Department of Music's Centre for Early Music Performance and Research.

Take a musical tour of the Barber Institute's galleries as student musicians and art historians present works in the Barber collection. Vocal consorts perform Renaissance and Baroque music alongside the works of Thomas Gainsborough, Frans Hals, Anthony Van Dyck and Nicolas Poussin - while an instrumental performance focuses on The Sharp Family  by Johan Joseph Zoffany.

Owned by a private collection and on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, Zoffany's painting of the remarkable family commemorates the concerts they gave on board their sailing barge, Apollo, at Fulham. The Sharps gave fortnightly concerts as an orchestra from the 1750s onwards and are shown with horns, serpent, cello, theorbo, flageolets, harpsichord and clarinet. On the penultimate day of the picture's display in Birmingham, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience music and art together.

Venue: Barber Galleries, Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Admission: Free