About us

Passamezzo was formed in 2001 and is a group of professional musicians, actors and dancers with a common interest in and love of the Tudor and Jacobean periods. Amongst us are specialists in the music, dance and drama of those times, as well as in historical costume. Our members have performed for The Royal Shakespeare Company, on the archaeological site of the Rose Theatre, at the Globe Theatre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Linbury Studio (Royal Opera House); Hampton Court; The Painted Hall (Greenwich); The Queen’s House (Greenwich); and various Shakespeare Festivals around the world.

A passamezzo was a popular sixteenth century tune and dance. It could be played and danced simply and enjoyed by anyone, but could also become an exhibition piece, with virtuosic and showy divisions played upon it. We chose the name Passamezzo for ourselves because we feel it reflects the character of our work: we provide a wide range of performances from the very simple to the very elaborate, and pride ourselves on creating a piece which suits your occasion perfectly.

Painting by Helena Broome

Our artistic director, Tamsin Lewis, studied violin at the Florence Conservatoire before reading Classics and Italian at Oxford. She has written, arranged, directed and played music for many theatre productions, including: Yours Ever, Jane (Bath Jane Austen Festival); Arraygnment of Paris (Hampton Court Palace); Entertaining Morocco (Theatro Technis); Lilies on the Land (National Tour); Death of an Actress (Southwark Playhouse); The Real Hans Sachs (Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House); The Crystal Den (New End Theatre); Hero and Leander, The Jew of Malta, Dr Faustus and The Roaring Girl (Rose Theatre Site); Spring's Glorie, The Old Wives Tale and Old Summer’s Last Will and Testament (Shakespeare’s Globe). Music for Television and Radio includes BBC Restoration (BBC2), Vic Reeves' Rogues (Discovery Channel); Howard Goodall's How Music Works (Channel 4) In Tune & The Early Music Show (Radio 3). Tamsin performs regularly on violin, lute, viols and harp. She is a member of the Lions part Theatre Company and provides music and costume for many of their productions. Tamsin is also a researcher for the University of Toronto's Records of Early English Drama Project.