Glorious and good-natured music for a summer evening: acclaimed London chamber choir Voxcetera have invited the brilliant Edinburgh ensemble Rudsambee to join them for a joint concert of choral musical, ranging from Tudor anthems to the present day.
The programme includes Samuel Barber and Morten Lauridsen‘s spinetingling arrangements of Sure On This Shining Night; anthems by Biebl, Byrd, Tallis and Weelkes; settings of Shakespeare songs by Shearing; James MacMillan‘s haunting and unmistakeably celtic The Galant Weaver; and folk songs by Reger.
Two great choirs, much great music, one lovely evening.
Rudsambee Company of Singers, conductor Ciara Coleman
Voxcetera, conductor Jane Hopkins
with Adam Johnson, piano
The opening concert in our 2016-2017 season has a sombre feel, commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Starting with The Banks of Green Willow by George Butterworth, who was killed in action on 5th August 1916, aged 31, this work is complemented by Ronald Corp’s The Somme – A Lament. The mood lifts with the choral arrangement of Serenade to Music by Butterworth’s contemporary, Vaughan Williams and the programme closes with Brahms’s glorious German Requiem.
Artists
Meduoteran
Taylan Arikan (baglama) and Srdjan Vukasinovic (accordion)
joined by Vlad Maistorovici (violin)
Programme
The unique accordion/baglama duo ‘Meduoteran’ perform a number of original compositions which take inspiration from Balkan and Turkish folk music and are joined by violinist Vlad Maistorovici for some works from the classical repertoire such as Bartok’s Romanian Dances
2018 marks the centenary of the birth of composer, conductor, author, music lecturer and pianist Leonard Bernstein, whose most famous scores include West Side Story, On the Town, Candide and On the Waterfront.
Commissioned from Bernstein by the Dean of Chichester Cathedral for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival, the Chichester Psalms received its UK premiere on 31st July 1965 and has gone on to become a highly popular staple of choral societies to this day. Consisting of three short movements, the Chichester Psalms is sung in Hebrew.
Our programme of 20th- and 21st-century compositions is completed with choral works by Janacek, Morten Lauridsen and Vaughan Williams.
As preparations are underway to commemorate the centenary of what is seen by many as the worst attrocity of the British Raj, historian Dr Zareer Masani separates myth from reality and explains the causes, context and consequences of the massacre and why it’s been so crucial in Indo-British relations.
This Coolhurst Speaker Evening includes dinner. Price £25. Contact Michaeljocallaghan@hotmail.com for tickets.
Dr Masani has a doctorate in history from the university of Oxford. His work may be familiar to readers of the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, the Times Literary Supplement, and to BBC Radio 4 listeners.
Coolhurst Speaker Evening with Penny Chalmers.
As well as chairing the Coolhurst GMC, Penny Chalmers has had two parallel careers:
consultant in Social Services, and professional opera singer.
In October 1996 Penny learned the leading lady had
gone ill after the second act of a Covent Garden opera,
and the understudy was abroad.
There was one chance to avert disaster.
She had minutes to decide if she would accept
their request to go on as Brünnhilde in Die Walküre,
one of the most demanding roles in the repertoire,
but one she had not prepared.
This world class production featured a cast of opera stars.
It was conducted by one of the all-time greats,
Sir Bernard Haintink, and it was being broadcast live.
Come to the speaker evening on October 12th
to hear what happened next.
Tickets are on sale at the bar at £21,or for 18 years and under,£18
Register your interest with Sarah
or Michael O’Callaghan. michaeljocallaghan@hotmail.com 07771593404
Get into the Christmas spirit with an evening of sacred music, popular festive songs and traditional carols from acclaimed choir Voxcetera.
Enjoy beautiful choral works spanning 400 years, from anthems by Byrd and Praetorius to contemporary composers including John Rutter, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen and Cecilia McDowall. And there’ll be dazzling arrangements of popular songs and carols such as Winter Wonderland, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Ding Dong Merrily on High.
It isn’t Christmas without a Christmas concert – so why not start the season in beautiful surroundings with joyous, tranquil and uplifting music.
Voxcetera chamber choir sings Gabriel Fauré’s much-loved, moving masterpiece, with soloists Ellie and Jamie Sperling, accompanied by violin, cello, harp and organ.
The concert will also feature Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine; a selection from Gustav Holst’s Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, a collection of ancient Indian sacred texts; and Henry Balfour Gardiner’s dramatic Evening Hymn.
And you’ll hear beautiful music from contemporary composers: the hypnotic Northern Lights by Ola Gjeilo; and Paul Aryes’ sun-drenched love song Quanto sei bella.
Voxcetera is a north London-based chamber choir, directed by its founding conductor Jane Hopkins. Recent activity includes concerts at St Martin-in-the-fields, East Finchley Arts Festival, overseas tours and recording work.
Voxcetera returns to the beautiful St Michael’s Church with two dazzling works for choir and strings, written nearly 300 years apart.
Vivaldi: Gloria
In a crowded field, little beats this for exuberant Baroque joy. Yet it is full of variety, from the slow and tender “Et in terra pax” to the effervescent “Domine, Fili unigenite”, the choir accompanied throughout by sprightly strings, oboe and trumpet.
Ola Gjeilo: Sunrise Mass
“Most of my favourite composers are film composers working in America today” says the New York-based Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, and this thrilling mass pays tribute to the emotions, adrenaline and sense of wonder of film music. Scored for choir and strings and using traditional Latin texts, the 30-minute piece is strong on melody and rich in harmony, opening with gorgeous shimmering chords that emerge magically out of silence. It’s unmistakably modern, but it’s also in touch with early sacred music including Gregorian chant.
with:
Voxcetera chamber choir
Jane Hopkins, conductor
Ellie Sperling & Bethany Partridge, soloists
String orchestra, oboe, trumpet, organ
Voxcetera is a chamber choir celebrating sacred and secular music from medieval times to the present day under the direction of its founding conductor Jane Hopkins. The choir’s achievements include its popular Christmas concerts; performances with chamber ensembles of Fauré’s Requiem, Saint-Saëns’ Requiem and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, at St Michael’s Highgate; tours to Germany and Ireland; performances at St Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John Smith Square, St. Stephen Walbrook and East Finchley Arts Festival; appearances at the Science Museum, British Library and the Southbank Centre; and a variety of recording work.