Beautiful sunny summer evening in St Michaeliskirche, Hildesheim
Lovely building and excellent acoustic. (Do look at above link...)
Entitled O Sing Joyfully! - we sang early music for the most part for the first half... Arcadelt, Henry VIII, Hildegard of Bingen, Byrd, Mozart & Batten (whose anthem provided the title).... as well as Bist Du bei mir (Stölzel, of course) and Thoinot Arbeau, with some Peter Warlock touches (two movements from Capriol).
Our more conventional fare in the second half from Johann Strauss to Billy Joel via Ellington and Frank Sinatra.
Our delightful German audience were happy to join us in our journey from the middle of the 12th century to today! ...and seemed gloriously happy about it.
Thanks so much for Sven for looking after us...
Another sojourn to Germany next weekend (Fritzlar (with Voxnorth from Denmark) and Friedrichshafen)... more fun in the sun!
btw.... two brushes with fame... I walked past Andy Flower at Heathrow before this trip (he's the England Cricket Coach - doing quite a good job at the mo!) & also, when I went to see Maria Freidman's wonderful production of my favourite musical ever - Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along - A certain Lord Lloyd Webber was in the audience... small world, eh!?
Friday, 26 July 2013
Monday, 15 July 2013
Wonderful evening with St Edmund's - Madrigal to McCartney
We had a terrific time listening to, and performing with the young people from St Edmund's Canterbury on their UK tour - Cambridge, London, Windsor... we were the London quotient!
We sang in that fantastic London church - Grosvenor Chapel, just south of the US Embassy.
The first half was from the school chamber choir - we sat in awe with everybody else as Will Bersey conducted them singing fabulously.... some of our favourite pieces... beginning with exquisite Faire is the Heaven by William Harris - sung with great assurance... and from memory! Much excellence followed, music by Gershwin, Whitacre, Rodney Bennett, Hamlisch and Lennon & McCartney... an excellent Edition Peters moment too - Ola Gjeilo - a splendid Norwegian composer... his Second Eve was especially beautiful... (all enquiries to Edition Peters!)
Also heard were the five young gentlemen of the Ex-Choristers - lovely ensemble... They sang Palestrina, Sullivan and Lennon & McCartney - all very finely done.
We sang a couple of songs with them too - both of which are heard on our albums, but which need more voices to be performed live....
With the Chamber Choir: Noel Gay's Love Makes the World Go Round (in 22 parts)
&
With the Ex-Choristers: Over the Rainbow (in 8 parts)
Both were great to be involved with; splendid to unleash David Cullen's huge orchestral/vocal arrangement, but the latter was especially great (and is a particularly moving arrangement anyway by Andrew Pryce Jackman) as it was apparently the Ex-Choristers swansong as they all disappear off to University. Spine-tingling and wonderful it felt to us & the audience seemed as moved...
We finished off the evening with 45 more minutes of Madrigal to McCartney - and of course ending with a rendition of The Lambeth Walk - OY!
Carole was there to greet friends old & new - splendid; and we even had a visit from Gertie - all the way from The Netherlands... fabulous!
Great to share a concert with these excellent young people, they were wonderfully professional and more poised than I ever remember being at that age!
We sang in that fantastic London church - Grosvenor Chapel, just south of the US Embassy.
The first half was from the school chamber choir - we sat in awe with everybody else as Will Bersey conducted them singing fabulously.... some of our favourite pieces... beginning with exquisite Faire is the Heaven by William Harris - sung with great assurance... and from memory! Much excellence followed, music by Gershwin, Whitacre, Rodney Bennett, Hamlisch and Lennon & McCartney... an excellent Edition Peters moment too - Ola Gjeilo - a splendid Norwegian composer... his Second Eve was especially beautiful... (all enquiries to Edition Peters!)
Also heard were the five young gentlemen of the Ex-Choristers - lovely ensemble... They sang Palestrina, Sullivan and Lennon & McCartney - all very finely done.
We sang a couple of songs with them too - both of which are heard on our albums, but which need more voices to be performed live....
With the Chamber Choir: Noel Gay's Love Makes the World Go Round (in 22 parts)
&
With the Ex-Choristers: Over the Rainbow (in 8 parts)
Both were great to be involved with; splendid to unleash David Cullen's huge orchestral/vocal arrangement, but the latter was especially great (and is a particularly moving arrangement anyway by Andrew Pryce Jackman) as it was apparently the Ex-Choristers swansong as they all disappear off to University. Spine-tingling and wonderful it felt to us & the audience seemed as moved...
We finished off the evening with 45 more minutes of Madrigal to McCartney - and of course ending with a rendition of The Lambeth Walk - OY!
Carole was there to greet friends old & new - splendid; and we even had a visit from Gertie - all the way from The Netherlands... fabulous!
Great to share a concert with these excellent young people, they were wonderfully professional and more poised than I ever remember being at that age!
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Upcoming London Concert - July 9th
Come and see us in central London:
Grosvenor Chapel, Tuesday July 9th at 7.30....
A joint concert with St Edmund's School, Canterbury...
Get your tickets here
You can see two songs which can only be heard on CD - Love Makes the World Go Round (from Music of the Night - which requires 22 parts) & Over the Rainbow (from A Tribute to Hollywood - which requires 8 parts)... a must for all!
See you there!
Grosvenor Chapel, Tuesday July 9th at 7.30....
A joint concert with St Edmund's School, Canterbury...
Get your tickets here
You can see two songs which can only be heard on CD - Love Makes the World Go Round (from Music of the Night - which requires 22 parts) & Over the Rainbow (from A Tribute to Hollywood - which requires 8 parts)... a must for all!
See you there!
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Romanian trip
Our annual trip to Alba Iulia in Romania was splendid once more!
Our old friend Mihai Coser invited us once more to host an evening of vocal harmony - this year our guests were the excellent Berliner quartet - Delta Q.
They were terrific:- as ever, wonderful to meet another vocal band & to share in their excellence; they are indeed a teensy weensy bit younger than us! - nonetheless very very accomplished.... especially enjoyed their funky In einem kühlen Grunde & their countdown medley... great ending too... I feel good!
Steve was good enough to sing Skyfall - this time accompanied by us and Chris Hatt, who flew out to join us on piano - and Delta Q also sang an Adele number - clearly she is well-loved in Romania as the songs went down good!
Now we look forward to our gig with St Edmund's School, Canterbury - we had a rehearsal with them tonight, and the pieces we are doing with them already sound great - and they are still rehearsing all next week... should be cool at Grosvenor Chapel on July 9th....7.30 (It's in central London!)
Get your tickets here!
Our old friend Mihai Coser invited us once more to host an evening of vocal harmony - this year our guests were the excellent Berliner quartet - Delta Q.
They were terrific:- as ever, wonderful to meet another vocal band & to share in their excellence; they are indeed a teensy weensy bit younger than us! - nonetheless very very accomplished.... especially enjoyed their funky In einem kühlen Grunde & their countdown medley... great ending too... I feel good!
Steve was good enough to sing Skyfall - this time accompanied by us and Chris Hatt, who flew out to join us on piano - and Delta Q also sang an Adele number - clearly she is well-loved in Romania as the songs went down good!
Now we look forward to our gig with St Edmund's School, Canterbury - we had a rehearsal with them tonight, and the pieces we are doing with them already sound great - and they are still rehearsing all next week... should be cool at Grosvenor Chapel on July 9th....7.30 (It's in central London!)
Get your tickets here!
Friday, 14 June 2013
London in the summer
London in the Summer - What could be better!
First port of call, The Oval, naturally... the only disappointment being that England were beaten by Sri Lanka! However, the match was excellent; we batted well & they batted better!
Also in the crowd near us, was tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson - too far away for me to bellow over the crowd, & they were so very careful about everyone being in the correct section of the ground... but belatedly hello, Richard, should you read this!
...and what else might one do? Go to a summer concert of course.
July 9th we are very much looking forward to... we will get to perform two things that need greater forces to occur... Brilliantly we are joined by St Edmund's Canterbury's choirs...
Love Makes the World Go Round - David Cullen's sparkling arrangement of the jolly Noel Gay song, in 22 parts!
&
Over the Rainbow - Andrew Pryce Jackman's excellent arrangement from A Tribute to Hollywood for 2 of each of the group, so we can do it with the school's vocal group...
Come to the Grosvenor Chapel on July 9th - not to be missed!
First port of call, The Oval, naturally... the only disappointment being that England were beaten by Sri Lanka! However, the match was excellent; we batted well & they batted better!
Also in the crowd near us, was tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson - too far away for me to bellow over the crowd, & they were so very careful about everyone being in the correct section of the ground... but belatedly hello, Richard, should you read this!
...and what else might one do? Go to a summer concert of course.
July 9th we are very much looking forward to... we will get to perform two things that need greater forces to occur... Brilliantly we are joined by St Edmund's Canterbury's choirs...
Love Makes the World Go Round - David Cullen's sparkling arrangement of the jolly Noel Gay song, in 22 parts!
&
Over the Rainbow - Andrew Pryce Jackman's excellent arrangement from A Tribute to Hollywood for 2 of each of the group, so we can do it with the school's vocal group...
Come to the Grosvenor Chapel on July 9th - not to be missed!
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Yorkshire idyll
Beautiful weather greeted us at Ilkley station, where we performed at the excellent Ilkley Playhouse...
Delightful, as ever, to work in the UK, and also for me to meet again my English teacher (from when we were both very much younger!) Walter Swan, who is in charge of the Playhouse.
We were looked after tremendously & despite all the railway companies best efforts, our journeys were excellent.
Lots of old friends who have escaped up north were in the audience - hooray; and of course many local people too.
Ilkley is clearly a place with a great deal going on, lots of choirs, venues & arts are in evidence as you wander the town...
Our audience showed the northern warmth we would expect, and a glorious time was had by all...
Off back to Romania next, but don't forget our London outing with St Edmund's School...
...July 9th, btw...
Delightful, as ever, to work in the UK, and also for me to meet again my English teacher (from when we were both very much younger!) Walter Swan, who is in charge of the Playhouse.
We were looked after tremendously & despite all the railway companies best efforts, our journeys were excellent.
Lots of old friends who have escaped up north were in the audience - hooray; and of course many local people too.
Ilkley is clearly a place with a great deal going on, lots of choirs, venues & arts are in evidence as you wander the town...
Our audience showed the northern warmth we would expect, and a glorious time was had by all...
Off back to Romania next, but don't forget our London outing with St Edmund's School...
...July 9th, btw...
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Ilkley and Central London concerts
8th June - Ilkley Playhouse - a great trip to God's own county in early June (hopefully the rain might have stopped by then... Luckily it is as yet not raining today at Headingley, as we try to finish off the New Zealanders!)
9th July - Grosvenor Chapel, central London - an excellent joint concert with the wonderful school:- St Edmund's, Canterbury... some great pieces from our large-scale repertoire will get an outing, as we are joined by the school choir, & vocal group.... marvellous...
Love Makes the World Go Round in 20 parts, anyone?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)