Soprano Jeni Melia and lutenist Chris Goodwin are members of the English Ayres, a small circle of musicians dedicated to performing early music in an engaging way.

Jeni Melia has studied with Mary Bainbridge and Ruth Holton, and has participated in masterclasses with Emma Kirkby. She sings with the Concord Singers and has recently performed solos in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Faure's Requiem, Pergolesi's Salve Regina, Mozart's Laudate Dominum, Vivaldi's Gloria, Arne's Shakespeare Songs, Handel's Messiah, and a song cycle, Love's Bitter-Sweet, specially composed for her by Paul Edwards.

Recently discovering that she possesses an unusual natural gift for lute song, Melia gave her first full-length recital of lute songs in 2002. She has been recorded performing the music of Paul Edwards, on the CD No Small Wonder (Lammas Records), and has recently released her first full solo CD, The Last of Old England, a thoughtful exploration of the overlap between Elizabethan era lute song and folk song.

Chris Goodwin took up the lute at the age of 19, and for the last eight years has served as secretary of the Lute Society, as well as editor of both Lute News and The Lute. Goodwin has also edited and published collections of lute songs from their original manuscript sources. He has sung in numerous choirs since childhood and has played lute in a number of ensembles, including the progressive acoustic rock/folk/early music fusion band Andwella, and The Giltspur Singers.

The Last of Old England

Sister Awake - music only

Sister Awake

The Lost Art of Wooing