'From Sorrow to Peace' marking 400th anniversary of John Dowland’s death

Soprano Ana Torbica, lutenist Michael Fields, and narrator & harpsichord Predrag Gosta present ‘From Sorrow to Peace’, an intimate programme for voice, lute and theorbo, conceived as a continuous poetic and musical journey.

Centred on works by John Dowland, Henry Purcell, and Thomas Campion, the programme traces a path through love, longing, sorrow, and reconciliation, combining song with spoken text in a unified dramatic arc. Marking the 400th anniversary year of Dowland, his music – together with that of Purcell – forms the core of this reflective journey.

Developed in London in July 2025 and first performed with Sam Brown, the project has since received strong audience and critical response. A review by Smiljka Isaković praised Torbica’s ‘excellent intonation and beautiful, vibrato-free tone’, noting that she ‘breathed soul and character into each song’, while describing the programme as ‘thematically coherent’ and deeply engaging.

At its centre lies a personal narrative: following nearly a decade of artistic development in the United Kingdom and her acquisition of British citizenship, Torbica’s journey informs the programme’s exploration of identity, belonging, and transformation. This is reflected in the recurring motif of Purcell’s ‘Fairest Isle’, which symbolically anchors the programme’s central theme – the movement from sorrow towards inner peace.

The project has been presented internationally, including performances in London and at Sofia Baroque Arts Festival, as well as at the Belgrade Early Music Festival and the Baroque Early Days festival in Novi Sad and the duo studied lute songs with Dame Emma Kirkby. Upcoming appearances include the Kensington Olympia Festival of Music and the Arts on 16th May at 7pm and a lunchtime recital of highlights from the story at St George’s Hanover Square on 27th May.

Together, the artists offer a refined and immersive interpretation of early English repertoire, connecting historical performance with a direct and contemporary emotional resonance, and inviting the audience on a sacred journey reflection and renewal, where they can enter into a dialogue with themselves, with the composer and artist - in the light of the eternal.

New Trinity Baroque is a London-based period-instrument ensemble dedicated to historically informed performance. Founded and directed by Predrag Gosta, the ensemble brings together leading specialists in early music to create performances that combine stylistic insight with expressive immediacy.

Appearing in concert halls, churches, and festivals across Europe, New Trinity Baroque presents a wide-ranging repertoire from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with a particular focus on English and continental baroque traditions. Its projects often integrate music with narrative and dramaturgy, offering audiences an immersive and thoughtfully curated experience. Upcoming engagements include a new production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Grimeborn Opera Festival, presented at the Arcola Theatre in September 2026.

newtrinitybaroque.org

Ana Torbica is a soprano and baroque violist recognised for her ethereal vocal presence and expressive artistry in early music. An alumna of the Royal Academy of Music in London and Faculty of Arts in Niš, she also received the Christopher Hogwood Scholarship and LRAM Diploma, studying singing with Michael Chance and baroque viola with Jane Rogers and Nicolette Moonen. She has also worked with leading early music artists, including Emma Kirkby, Sonia Prina, Evelyn Tubb, Christian Hilz, Roberta Mameli, Marijana Mijanović, Florian Deuter, Ilia Korol, and Predrag Gosta.

Ana has performed the title role in Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo and appeared in lute song recitals, chamber programmes, and with baroque orchestras across the UK, Europe, and the USA. She has collaborated with ensembles such as New Trinity Baroque, Charivari Agréable, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Eboracum Baroque, La Notte, Bellot Ensemble, London Handel Players, Musica Poetica, Musica Antiqua Neoplantensis, Ensemble OrQuesta, and New Belgrade Opera. She has also performed at the Queen’s Birthday celebrations and at special church occasions in both the UK and Serbia.

Based in London, she is a visiting teacher at the Guildhall Young Artists programme and the Junior Academy at RAM, and regularly teaches in several schools and music studios, including of her own. She also has served as a jury member at international competitions. In 2020, she was named Serbia’s Best Young Musician and in 2023 she joined the Royal Society of Musicians and the British Viola Society. Since 2026 Ana is Artistic Director and vocal coach of new founded EX-YU choir 'Djetinjstvo' in London.

More information: anatorbica.com

Michael Fields began his musical journey playing folk, rock and jazz in California and Australia. His interest in early music led him to England to study classical guitar and lute at the Guildhall School of Music and he has since established a world-wide reputation as a performer, director and teacher.

His partnership with soprano Evelyn Tubb found admirers worldwide, with critics praising “the absolute affinity between voice and instrument” achieved by the duo. Their baroque ensemble, Sprezzatura, recorded music by Daniel Purcell (Henry’s younger brother), mounted productions of Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), The Beggar’s Opera (John Gay), and gave the first modern staged performances of Semele (John Eccles - 1707).

Michael directed Vox Animae, whose live performances and recordings of Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum received international acclaim in the years around the turn of the century.

He has been guest conductor and director in Riga, Latvia, Belgrade and Atlanta. For 30 years, Michael was the Musical Director of Sastamala Gregoriana in Finland, hailed as the “king of early music festivals” in that country.

He is currently the musical director of Phoenix Choir in Eastbourne and teaches classical guitar, lute and ukulele at Westminster School in London and Eastbourne College, as well as masterclasses in early music at West Dean College and Jackdaws Music School.

More information: musicalfields.org.uk/Musical_Fields

Renowned for the depth and expressivity of his musical interpretations, Predrag Gosta is equally at home as a conductor, harpsichordist, and baritone. In this programme, he also appears as narrator, adding a further dimension to his artistic voice and guiding the audience through the evening’s emotional landscape.

He pursued his studies at Trinity College of Music in London, before continuing in the United States at Georgia State University, where he was awarded three Master of Music degrees.

As Artistic Director of New Trinity Baroque, Gosta has collaborated with distinguished artists across the international early music scene and beyond, establishing himself as both performer and leader in the field of historically informed performance. After many years in the United States, he is now based in London and is in the final year of his doctoral research at the University of Oxford, focusing on late eighteenth-century English music.

More information: predraggosta.com

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*From the programme notes:

'From Sorrow to Peace' - A Universal and Sacred Musical Journey Through Love, Nature, and the Divine

PRELUDE TO A JOURNEY

OFFERING IN WORD AND SOUND

Music is more than sound - it is a prayer, a meditation, a search for meaning that bridges the human heart with the eternal. From Sorrow to Peace: A Journey Through Love, Nature, and the Divine is a transformative experience, an odyssey through the depths of passion, the trials of loss, the wisdom of reflection, and the serenity of renewal. It is a concert of the soul, uniting music, poetry, and philosophy in a journey that mirrors both the cycles of nature and the spiritual path of the human heart. Each phase mirrors nature’s own rhythms – spring’s promise, summer’s passion, autumn’s melancholy, winter’s stillness, and the inevitable renewal of spring.

Through the sacred and poetic traditions of Renaissance and Baroque music, this programme explores the profound mysteries of love, loss, redemption, and peace. It mirrors the rhythms of existence – the joy of love’s awakening, the sorrow of separation, the depths of despair, the illumination of wisdom, and the triumph of renewal. Like the changing seasons, the soul passes through its own trials, from the warmth of love’s embrace to the chill of sorrow, only to be restored in the light of grace and understanding.

As the music unfolds, it invites reflection on the divine order that weaves through the world. Just as the heavens declare the glory of God and nature sings His praise, so too do these songs remind us of the soul’s longing for peace, for restoration, for return to the sacred and eternal. It is a journey of both human and divine love – a recognition that in suffering, we are refined; in silence, we hear His voice; and in peace, we find our home. It is a journey for those who have loved, grieved, questioned, and emerged stronger – a reminder that music, like life, is an ever-turning cycle of darkness and light, sorrow and serenity, longing and homecoming.

Whether performed in sacred cathedrals, historic theatres, intimate salons, or open-air gardens, this programme resonates with audiences across cultures, creating an experience that is both personal and universal. It is for those who seek not only beauty but truth, for those who have walked through darkness in search of light, and for those who believe that beyond sorrow, there is always peace.

This programme is performed in the spirit of historically informed performance, with deep respect for the sacred, poetic, and artistic traditions of early music. It is offered as a reflection, a prayer, and an invitation to experience the transcendent beauty that has moved hearts for centuries and continues to guide us toward the eternal harmony of love and peace.

Ana Torbica

Photocredit for the main event photo with the feather: Julian Guidera

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road, Holland Road, London, United Kingdom

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