Great Witley Church Music
Concerts 2006
Saturday 3rd
June 2006 Castleford Male Voice Choir: conducted by Geoff Cox
Sunday 11th
June 2006 The Cecilian Singers: directed by Jeremy Jackman
Sunday 25th
June 2006 Wyre Forest Young Voices: directed by Geoffrey Weaver
Sunday 9th July
2006 Corelli Orchestra: a chamber orchestra led by Warwick Cole
Sunday 23rd
July 2006 Serenata Winds: a dynamic wind quintet led by Neil Aston
Sunday 30th
July 2006 Holborne Brass Ensemble: led by Trevor Jones
Sunday 6th
August 2006 Volante Strings: a chamber orchestra led by Angela Richey
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DETAILS OF OUR MUSIC PROGRAMME 2006 cooooooooooooooo
Saturday
3 June at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
Castleford Male Voice Choir
Conductor: Geoff Cox
Accompanist: Claire Idle
The
choir will present a varied programme providing an evening of music
consisting of songs from operas and musical shows, together with more sacred items, spirituals,
traditional and modern songs.
Castleford Male Voice Choir, founded
in 1926, was formed by male choristers from
several church choirs within the town.
The Choir has sung in many prestigious venues, including
Leeds Town Hall, Wakefield and Ripon Cathedrals, York Minster, Selby Abbey, Sheffield Arena and the Royal Albert Hall.
The Choir prides itself on its fundraising activities and has raised
thousands of pounds for various charities. The Choir members' love of
singing and their desire to share this joy with their
audiences lends an atmosphere of infectious enthusiasm.
Sunday
11 June at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
The
Cecilian Singers
Music Director:
Jeremy Jackman
Organist:
Dr David Ponsford
An
exciting range of sacred & secular music, including
Handel:
The King shall rejoice
Bryan Kelly:
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in C
John Ireland: Greater
Love Hath No Man
Gerald Finzi:
Four Poems of Robert
Bridges
Thomas Tallis:
O Nata Lux
together with other lighter
pieces and organ solos
The
Cecilian Singers, a chamber
choir of about 30 mixed voices, is
based in Leicester. Their broad repertoire includes music
from the Renaissance to the present day, including new works written especially
for them by contemporary composers. They
owe much of their success to the quality of past and present
Music Directors - Malcolm Goldring, Brian Kay and currently
Jeremy Jackman. The choir was formed in 1982 from a
group of highly committed singers, all having wide experience
of choral singing and many with a reputation as soloists.
Regarded as one of the leading
choirs in the UK, they have performed with international stars Emma Kirkby and
Anthony Rooley, also with celebrities such as The Cambridge Buskers, Peter
Skellern and The Temperance Seven. Last year they appeared in the Leicester
Early Music Festival, receiving high acclaim
for their performance of Purcell's Dido & Aeneas accompanied
by the Cecilian Academy. They have made successful
tours of Northern Germany, Northern Italy, Belgium & Austria.
Jeremy Jackman began
his musical education as a chorister
at St Paul's Cathedral and then progressed to the Royal College of Music. His
career started as a member of groups such as the Tallis Scholars and the
celebrated King's Singers, and for 10 years
he shared their demanding international
schedule, performing in the world's most prestigious
concert halls, and making countless broadcasts and recordings.
In 1990 Jeremy resumed work as a choral conductor,
directing choirs, courses and workshops all over the world. As Chorus Master to
the London Philharmonic Choir and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir he worked with
the world's most renowned conductors
in the preparation of a wide variety of music.
He has gained an international reputation as one of Britain's
finest choral directors and has conducted at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal
Festival Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and St
John's, Smith Square, London, also at concert halls throughout
the world.
Sunday
25 June at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
Wyre
Forest Young Voices
Director:
Geoffrey Weaver
Accompanist: Mike Elden
The
programme will offer an exciting range of music, including folk songs from
different parts of the world, and well known songs from the masters; also including
works by Britten and Pergolesi, and other contemporary
works by Kodaly and Andrew Carter. Instrumental and vocal soloists will
be drawn from the outstanding young musicians
in the choir, and listeners can be
assured of a dynamic, varied and colourful
programme of music.
Wyre
Forest Young
Voices, the
youth choir of the Kidderminster
Choral Society, consists of talented young people
up to the age of 18 years. It has
gained a reputation both locally and internationally, giving recitals in Bath
Abbey and Wells Cathedral, and touring Poland and Cyprus; it will tour
Estonia this summer.
In
2002 the choir was named Choir of the Day in the Midlands area
of the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year competition. Adjudicators
have commented on the choir's "lovely blended tone
quality and rhythmic vitality", its "glorious harmony" and the polish
and discipline which enable the choir to sing softly and to
create "a magical peace". Members
of the choir have recently
gone on to study at university and music college, evidence
of the important educational bias of the choir's work.
Geoffrey
Weaver has
been Director of Music for the Kidderminster
Choral Society since 1987, and is renowned nationally
and internationally as a conductor and musical arranger.
The choir enjoys the services of a professional vocal coach,
Susie Vango, and a professional accompanist, Mike Elden.
Sunday
9 July at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
Corelli
Orchestra
Programme
includes:
J
S Bach:
Violin
Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041
Telemann:
Concerto
for Flute and Strings in D
Handel:
Sonata
in G, Op 5 / iv
J
S Bach:
Brandenburg
Concerto No 5, BWV 1050
Corelli
Orchestra, directed
from the harpsichord by its founder
Warwick Cole, is the resident orchestra at the Pittville
Pump Room in Cheltenham and as such features prominently
in the prestigious Cheltenham Festival. It is one of the
country's few regionally-based period-instrument orchestras,
modelled in its style and composition on court orchestras of the 18th
century. It was recently described by The
Independent as
"top-notch" and as having "impeccable instrumental
ensemble". Central to Corelli's ethos is a commitment
to vibrant, engaging performances - "the players have
their own individual
charisma
which visibly communicates" (Classical
Music) - and
a desire to explore the still untapped riches
of 18th century music.
Warwick
Cole has
pursued a multi-faceted career. As a harpsichordist,
cellist, organist and fortepianist, he has appeared with numerous period
and modern instrument orchestras
at home and abroad and has performed concertos on
all four instruments. He writes regularly for International Record
Review, contributes
articles and reviews to other prestigious
music publications and was formerly editor of the Harpsichord
and Fortepiano Magazine
Sunday
23 July at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
Serenata Winds
Natasha
Wilson: Oboe Neil
Chapman: Bassoon
Neil
Aston: Clarinet Cath Cordey: Horn
Clare-Louise
Appleby: Flute
Haydn:
Divertimento
Hindemith:
Kleine
Kammermusik
Nielsen:
Wind
Quintet
Mozart:
Overture,
The Magic Flute
Frangaix:
Quartet
Hallam:
Dance
Suite
Poulenc:
Novelette
Arnold:
hree
Shanties
Serenata
Winds are
a young and dynamic wind quintet, formed
in 1998 from professional freelance musicians and post graduate
music students of the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Individually,
each of them lead busy lives as professional musicians in numerous orchestras,
as well as being solo performers
in their own right.
Serenata
Winds made
their Birmingham Symphony Hall recital
debut in 2000. Their first concert at Great Witley last year
was one of the highlights and was highly acclaimed by all. The
programme they have chosen to perform for us this year closely
resembles their debut concert at the London Purcell Room
in 2002 which received very good reviews. The
programme promises to be very lively and entertaining, and features some lesser known but interesting composers. The
music of Jean Frangaix, for instance, is renowned for its wit and
jollity, whilst Paul Hindemith was regarded as creatively rich
and one of the outstanding young composers of his day; in this
concert the five short pieces by him are energetic and colourful.
Carl Nielsen's music was for many years little known outside
Denmark, but after 1945 the power and originality of his works
spread to other countries; his Wind Quintet has long been a classic in this type of repertoire. The lively Dance Suite by
Hallam is always certain to please any audience. Malcolm Arnold,
the twentieth century English composer, is noted for his melodic
invention, colour, exuberance and craftsmanship. His film
scores include 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', and many will
recognise his 'Three Shanties' written especially for wind quintet.
Sunday
30 July at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
The
Holborne Brass Ensemble
Leader:
Trevor Jones
The
varied programme embraces classical to modern and
ragtime to cabaret, including:
Bach:
Fugue
in G minor
Gabrieli:
Canzona
Pachelbel:
Canon
Praetorius:
Suite of Renaissance Dances
together
with a blend of other favourites, including
'Just
a closer walk with Thee',
the rousing Tuba Tiger Rag'
and
Twelfth Street Rag', Fats Waller's 'Handful
of
Keys'
and works by Samuel Scheldt.
The
Holborne Brass Ensemble, making
a welcome return
to Great Witley, is an exciting brass quintet consisting of freelance
players, all based in the Midlands. Originally formed in 1985, the members of
the Ensemble have performed with many notable orchestras such as the English
Philharmonic, CBSO,
Philharmonia, ESO, and others such as the Black Dyke Band
and the Desford Band. The group's distinctive style combines
first-rate musicianship with infectious enthusiasm and versatility,
ensuring a most entertaining evening.
Sunday
6 August at 7.30 pm
tickets £10.00
Volante
Strings
with
Michael Campbell
(flute)
Programme
features:
J
S Bach:
Italian
Concerto, arr by Roger Nichols
Telemann:
Suite
in A minor for Flute and Strings
Vaughan
Williams: Dives
and Lazarus (with harp)
Mozart:
Flute
Quartet in D
Vaughan
Williams: Greensleeves
(with flute & harp)
Grieg:
Holberg
Suite
Volante
Strings, a
group of players led by Angela Richey,
was
established seven years ago, inspired after a service at Great Witley Church.
Attracting some of the best strings
players in Worcestershire, it has since then gone on from
strength to strength, adding to its repertoire and expertise. Last
autumn, three highly successful concerts performed in Corfu
were very well received; a return visit is being planned. This
year Michael Campbell joins the group again, as he did in 2004, this time to
play Mozart's Flute Quartet in D, as a fitting celebration
of the composer's 250th anniversary. Last year's concert was highly acclaimed and most entertaining so we are delighted
to welcome Volante Strings back again this year, to draw
our concert season to a captivating and memorable close.
Michael
Campbell was
Head of Music at RNIB New College,
Worcester for many years and is himself blind. A pupil of
Gareth Morris at the Royal Academy of Music, he subsequently
gave broadcast recitals on the BBC Home Service.
He has played many times with Volante Strings; playing on a wooden flute, his performance has a very special
quality
which is truly memorable to all who hear him.......................
"This was musicianship of high
calibre, played on a wonderfully mellow-toned wooden flute", Malvern
Gazette.
Whilst
every effort is made to ensure that the information in
this leaflet is correct,
we apologise if any change to the published
programme has to be made due to circumstances beyond
our control.
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