The Ministers of Pastime are a group of musicians specialized in historically informed practice and focused on the performance of 17th and 18th century repertoire. They owe its name to an expression with which the French ambassador at the court of Henry VIII of England describes the search for musicians in Europe.
The formation seeks to reflect the richness of cultural influences throughout the continent. Its proposal has music for violin consort and its evolution as its main axis, as well as the importance of these instruments in other later musical genres. Parallel to their training in the main European centres of reference for early music, the musicians regularly collaborate with some of the most relevant groups on the scene such as Le Concert des Nations, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Montis Regalis Academy, Cappella Mediterranea, Ensemble Pulcinella, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Royal Chamber and Orchestra des Champs-Elyesées.
The band was chosen as a group of the EEEMERGING+ program, which supports and promotes young emerging early music groups, and won, in 2020, the call for emerging early music groups NEWTRACKS@FBAS 2020, within the framework of the Barocco Alessandro Stradella Festival. They have also been selected by the Jordi Savall Festival as EFFEA Springboard artists in residence to receive support and participate in various festivals of European prestige throughout the year 2023.
