The Ruffians (Hestor Dart, Amy Kearsley and Miranda Ostler) are a new music collective with a taste for the experimental and the absurd. They specialise in unaccompanied vocal repertoire and work with composers, as well as devising their own work. Since their debut in 2022, they have been busy growing an audience in a variety of performance platforms across London, and were Highly Commended at the 2023 Gladys Puttick Memorial Prize for Improvisation. The Ruffians met at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and have received coaching from Linda Hirst, Douglas Finch, Gregory Rose and Mary Wiegold. 

This November they will present the world premiere of a commission by Amber Priestley, paired with works by CN Lester (tickets here). Recent credits include A Woman's War by Kornélia Nemcová and Natália Štojková (Bath Abbey, 2026); Bitter Visions: By Order of Hildegard with Ololyga (Tête-à-Tête Opera Festival, 2025); Acoustic Ruminations (Nozstock Festival, 2024; Queen’s House, Greenwich, 2023); Requiem Moderna (world premiere) by Barbs Dudek (Blackheath Halls, 2024); A Woman's War (world premiere) by Kornélia Nemcová and Natália Štojková (Blackheath Halls, June 2024); Dreams and Variations (New Lights Festival, 2023); FILTH (June 2023); In Good (Unac)Company (2023); and the premiere recording of Georgia Barnes’ Songs for Oppressed Voice and Prepared Piano (2022).

​

Photo credit @beadyfilms