# Tessa Bonner

Tessa Bonner (28 February 1951 - 31 December 2008) was a soprano, specialising in repertoire of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. She sang with The Tallis Scholars for 25 years, with whom she recorded 37 albums and performed in 1,100 concerts. Bonner co-founded Musica Secreta, an ensemble specialising in performing the music of 17th century female composers.

## Early life and education

Bonner was born in Hammersmith, London to Ron Pollard and Margaret née Good. She grew up in Fulham and Hounslow and attended Isleworth Green School for Girls. She was a junior exhibitioner at the London College of Music where she showed promise as a pianist and clarinettist. After leaving school, Bonner worked as a production assistant at the BBC on programmes including Blue Peter and Face the Music. At 25 she attended the University of Leeds, where she studied voice under Honor Sheppard, continuing her studies as a prize-winning student of Margaret Lensky and Ellis Keeler at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1979.

## Singing career

Peter Phillips, director of the Tallis Scholars, described her as "one of the seminal sopranos of the early music movement." Prof. Richard Rastall suggested that Bonner, together with another Tallis Scholars soprano Caroline Trevor "may well approximate to the sound of a good sixteenth-century boy in his late teens."

### Ensembles

In 1979 Bonner was offered her first professional singing engagement by Andrew Parrott with the Taverner Choir. She would go on to sing with The Tallis Scholars, the New London Consort, The Sixteen, the Lute Group, the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Musicum 90, The King's Consort, Academy of Ancient Music, St James' Baroque, Consort of Musicke, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Collegium Vocale Gent and London Mozart Players.

### Soloist

As a soloist she recorded many albums, including:
| Year | Composer/s | Title / Work | Ensemble |
| 1983 | Monteverdi | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610 | Taverner Consort and Players |
| 1986 | Grabbe | Il Primo Libro de Madrigali | The Consort of Musicke |
| 1987 | Anonymous | Carmina Burana | New London Consort |
| 1988 | Purcell | Royal and Ceremonial Odes | The King's Consort |
| 1988 | Caccini etc. | Una "Stravaganza" dei Medici | Taverner Consort and Players |
| 1988 | | Music from the time of Christian IV: Church Music at Court and In Town | The Hilliard Ensemble |
| 1990 | Monteverdi | Vespro Della Beata Vergine 1610 | New London Consort |
| 1990 | Mozart | Die Zauberflöte | Roger Norrington |
| 1991 | Vivaldi, J S Bach | Gloria; Ostro Picta; Magnificat | Collegium Musicum 90 |
| 1991 | J S Bach | Johannes-Passion | Taverner Consort and Players |
| 1992 | Gibbons | Songs and Anthems | Rose Consort of Viols with Red Byrd |
| 1992 | Purcell | Complete Odes and Welcome Song's | The King's Consort |
| 1993 | Monteverdi | L'Orfeo | New London Consort |
| 1994 | Byrd | Songs and Anthems | Rose Consort of Viol with Red Byrd |
| 1994 | Biber | Requiem | New London Consort |
| 1994 | Praetorius | Christmas Mass | Gabrieli Consort and Players |
| 1995 | Purcell | The Indian Queen | The Purcell Simfony |
| 1995 | Tye, Byrd etc. | La Renaissance Anglaise | Red Byrd |
| 1995 | Monteverdi | Ballo delle ingrate | New London Consort |
| 2006 | Monteverdi | Monteverdi Vespers | Gabrieli Consort |

## Musica Secreta

Together with Deborah Roberts, Mary Nichols and John Toll, Bonner co-founded Musica Secreta in 1991. They recorded the music of neglected female composers, including Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi.

## Alternative music

Bonner appeared in the choir on Cradle of Filth's 2004 album Nymphetamine.

## Death

Bonner was diagnosed with oral cancer in January 2008. She returned to work in May of the same year and sang her final concert with the Tallis Scholars on 27 November 2008, dying on New Year's Eve. Her long-term partner Donald Greig dedicated his 2012 book Time Will Tell to Bonner. Penelope Shuttle dedicated a poem Under a sixty-year old crab tree to Bonner in her 2016 poetry collection Heath.