Criteria: Secondary School Choir - Madrigal Octets Class 13209

ORIANA TROPHY

Secondary School Madrigal Ensemble

Garnet MacDonald Brown was a music lover and amateur musician. Mac sang in various choirs, and played alto horn. He became interested in the recorder, and was one of the founding members of the London Recorder Society, in May 1963. Many of the players were also members of choirs, and they added singing to their programs. In keeping with the repertoire of early and Renaissance music, madrigals were popular, and Mac became aware of the intricacies of some of those songs, in small groups.

To encourage small madrigal groups, he decided to donate to the Kiwanis Music Festival of London Inc., a trophy for the best ensemble of no more than eight. Madrigals flourished in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Oriana was a figure in medieval history. Rather than naming the queen directly, poets would refer to her as "Oriana," Her Majesty probably would be pleased to know that the madrigal trophy now bears that name. The trophy was presented for the first time at the 1990 Festival.