When Belinda Sykes was diagnosed with terminal cancer, there was no question what was going to happen next: she started booking dates for her next tour.
Sykes is the director, singer and double-reeds player for the band Joglaresa. The band formed in 1992 and quickly became the UK’s premier early music ensemble for their open-minded interpretations of the genre: instead of sticking to the medieval sounds of Western Europe, Joglaresa expanded horizons by exploring the musical viewpoints of Sephardi and Ladino Jews of Iberia and the Maghreb and the early Muslims of the Levant, the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Sykes herself is also an ethnomusicologist, and has conducted fieldwork in Morocco, Bulgaria, Spain, Jordan, Israel, Syria and India.
After a series of misdiagnoses that led to operations preventing her from performing during the summer of 2018, Sykes was eventually diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma and embraced palliative care to enable her to play again. She plans to spend her remaining time performing as much as possible with Joglaresa, with dates confirmed in the UK from November until April. From this point forward, 100% of sales from Joglaresa’s back catalogue will be donated directly to the charity Sarcoma UK – as well as raising money for a very important cause, Sykes doesn’t want to leave her family with thousands of spare CDs!
Sykes’ cheerful and humorous outlook on life has not been stifled by her circumstances – her JustGiving page is dedicated in memory of ‘Belinda (not dead yet!!!!) Sykes’ – and the music into which she has suffused her passion and joy has created a living legacy that will help people in similar situations for a long time to come.
Photo: Joglaresa with Belinda Sykes (centre), by Graham Wood.