Quires and places where they sing
Choral concerts, opera and singing events being planned in 2007

2008/09

a day workshop on
Haydn's Paukenmesse  (Mass in Time of War)
directed by Roger Durston - an opportunity for all choral singers to get to know this dramatic work, first heard in the context of the Napoleonic wars.

a day workshop on
Handel's Coronation Anthem "My heart is inditing"
directed by Roger Durston - four contrasting movements make up one of Handel's greatest anthems, with fine choruses.

Fauré      Requiem
Poulenc    Gloria
the concert opens with Elgar's Serenade for Strings.

Britten     Abraham and Isaac
cantata for alto, tenor and piano, performed to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.  There will also be a talk on writers, artists and musicians of the Holocaust and an exhibition of art work.

This way for the gas, Ladies & Gentlemen
a people's opera for Holocaust Memorial Day 2007 based on the words of poets, writers and artists such as Tadeusz Borowski, Arnold Daghani and Micheline Maurel.

Johann Strauss Gala
a programme of Strauss family favourites including the Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus, presented in Viennese style with dancers in period costume.

Concert
hospice fund-raising

John Rutter     Requiem
Gabriel Fauré     Requiem

Verdi     Aïda
Verdi’s best known opera in a concert perfomance, highly recognisable for its wonderful lyricism and grandeur and especially the Grand March.

More melodies for you
a selection from the world of operetta and musicals. The programme includes pieces by Nicolai, Meyerbeer and Linke.

Sandy Wilson      The Boy Friend
a jazzy and romantic burlesque of 1920s musical comedy.

Sonata to Salsa
ever since their debut album Jazz Sebastian Bach in 1963 this world-renowned a capella group has combined vocal virtuosity  blended together with high-level entertainment.

Italian Opera Gala evening
two talented and rising singers from Naples,  singing arias from a variety of great operas. The programme also includes a demanding piano transcription drawing on Bizet's Carmen.

ChaplinOperas
a triple bill of short Chaplin masterpeices - Easy Street, The Adventurer and The Immigrant - newly invented with music by Benedict Mason.

Les Miserables  (school edition)
the popular musical based on Victor Hugo’s classic saga spanning three turbulent decades of 19th Century French history. The score includes such favourites as I dreamed a dream, At the end of the day, and Do you hear the people sing.

Choral workshop
improve your singing and broaden your musical knowledge at this workshop which will include the study of several popular choral masterworks, including Brahms' Requiem, ending with an informal performance.

Workshop - Jerusalem convertere
Elizabethan music of lamentation and tribulation
a workshop with Sally Dunkley, aimed at reasonably experienced singers with moderate or good sight-reading ability (or who are willing to work on the music in advance).  It should appeal particularly to those interested in the a cappella music of Tudor England.

St David's Day concert

Abba
the Swedish group's greatest hits performed live, with on-screen lyrics for everyone to join in.

Mendelssohn     Elijah

the concert is in aid of St Catherine's Hospice, Crawley

American music
including

Sing the musicals
including songs from Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and Starlight Express

Jazz evening

Jane Eyre – the musical
book by John Caird, lyrics and music by Paul Gordon, from the classic romantic novel by Charlotte Brontë.  When first out in 2001 the show was nominated for a number of Tony Awards in 2001 including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book of a Musical.

ticket information: 01273 471851 and tickets from:

Jonathan Dove     Tobias and the Angel
a church opera in one act, with libretto by David Lan

"Dove's hauntingly beautiful score…This is an arresting biblical folk-tale, given a wonderful contemporary resonance." (The Stage)

"One reason Jonathan Dove's opera Flight was such a triumph at Glyndebourne is that he understands the marriage of theatre and music. He knows how to rouse passions and raise smiles. Tunes flow in abundance, and for him, creating a mood, capturing a feeling for an instant, are second nature... His new one-act church opera Tobias and the Angel surpasses all his achievements to date..." (The Observer)

"The effect is like a cross between Britten's Noye's Fludde and Jerry Bock's Fiddler On The Roof -Dove's score is ethereal and earthy with its jaunty klezmer tunes evoking Jewish communal life." (The Guardian)

Bach and the German tradition

Lobet den Herrn
Motets
by Bach, Schütz, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Bruckner
illustrating the development of the German motet from the 17th to the 19th century with some of the finest examples of the genre, including several works for double choir. The programme will include Bach’s joyful Lobet den Herrn and Brahms’ beautiful Geistliches Lied.

Bach cantatas

Spring concert
in aid of St John Ambulance

Leading ladies
Rebecca Caine created the roles of Cosette in the original
production of Les Miserables and went on to rôles such as Christine in Phantom of the Opera and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. She presents an evening paying tribute to leading ladies of the musical theatre, featuring operattas and musicals by Lehar, Sullivan, Coward, Gershwin, Cole Porter and Loewe.

W A Mozart      The Seraglio
Mozart's early comedy overflows with exquisite melodies on the themes of young love and forgiveness.  Sung in English.

Tchaikovsky      Eugene Onegin
Tchaikovsky's opera is a masterpeice of characterisation, as the tragedy of love and friendship works its dramatic course.    Sung in English.

Lerner & Loewe      Gigi
based on a novel by Colette, this musical has.famous songs like I remember it well, Thank heaven for little girls and The night they invented champagne.

Rossini     The Barber of Seville
a live performance of the opera directed by Bartlett Sher is shown here in high-definition direct from one of the world's greatest opera houses.

Carl Orff      Carmina Burana
a choral masterpiece based on the mediæval manuscripts found in Germany's Benedikbeuern Abbey.

Jonathan Dove     Tobias and the Angel
a church opera in one act, with libretto by David Lan

"Dove's hauntingly beautiful score…This is an arresting biblical folk-tale, given a wonderful contemporary resonance." (The Stage)

"One reason Jonathan Dove's opera Flight was such a triumph at Glyndebourne is that he understands the marriage of theatre and music. He knows how to rouse passions and raise smiles. Tunes flow in abundance, and for him, creating a mood, capturing a feeling for an instant, are second nature... His new one-act church opera Tobias and the Angel surpasses all his achievements to date..." (The Observer)

"The effect is like a cross between Britten's Noye's Fludde and Jerry Bock's Fiddler On The Roof -Dove's score is ethereal and earthy with its jaunty klezmer tunes evoking Jewish communal life." (The Guardian)

Rossini     Petit Messe Solennelle

J S Bach        St Matthew Passion

Music for the English Chapel Royal
the concert will include music by Boyce, Blow, Purcell, Tomkins and Tallis.

Essential Classics

the first English performance of Brahms' Requiem took place in July 1871 in London at the house of Sir Henry Thompson, a distinguished surgeon, conducted by Julius Stockhausen and accompanied by two pianos.

Bernstein      Chichester Psalms
Stravinsky     Symphony of Psalms

Verdi      Requiem

Brahms     German Requiem

Oklahoma

Calamity Jane
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, music by Sammy Fain.
She's rough, she's tough, she wears buckskin and she knows how to handle a gun! – Calamity Jane, the warm, robust, tender, larger-than-life heroine from Deadwood City. Follow her adventures on the Deadwood Stage, in the Windy City, and travelling through the Black Hills of Dakota, until she eventually realises her feelings for Wild Bill Hickock.

Music for Passiontide
by candlelight

Jonathan Dove     Tobias and the Angel
a church opera in one act, with libretto by David Lan

"Dove's hauntingly beautiful score…This is an arresting biblical folk-tale, given a wonderful contemporary resonance." (The Stage)

"One reason Jonathan Dove's opera Flight was such a triumph at Glyndebourne is that he understands the marriage of theatre and music. He knows how to rouse passions and raise smiles. Tunes flow in abundance, and for him, creating a mood, capturing a feeling for an instant, are second nature... His new one-act church opera Tobias and the Angel surpasses all his achievements to date..." (The Observer)

"The effect is like a cross between Britten's Noye's Fludde and Jerry Bock's Fiddler On The Roof -Dove's score is ethereal and earthy with its jaunty klezmer tunes evoking Jewish communal life." (The Guardian)

Spanish Heart
exhilarating flamencos and tarantela bring to life the spirit of a gypsy encampment – a one-off performance to raise funds for the 2007 Brighton Early Music Festival, with instrumental group Eclipse, the voice of Clare Norburn (soprano) and dancing by Gabriela Rosa.

Bach      Missa Brevis in G minor
Haydn     Stabat Mater

Rossini      Stabat Mater
Stanley Vann     Billingshurst Mass

Concert
a fund raising concert for St. John's Ambulance

Music for the English Chapel Royal
the concert will include music by Boyce, Blow, Purcell, Tomkins and Tallis.

Stainer      The Crucifixion

Handel      Messiah
a 'chamber' performance with professional singers, chorus and orchestra – many of the performers will be flying in from an earlier performance in Chinon.

Stephen Schwartz      Children of Eden
this musical was first staged in the early 1990s with music and lyrics by the composer of Godspell in the 1970s.  Children of Eden is broadly based on the early part of the book of Genesis, starting with the creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel.  The second act tells the story of Noah's Ark and the flood, when Noah has to face the difficulties of being a father whose children go against his wishes. By the end the family still look forward to one day returning to the Garden of Eden.

and Friday 6 April at 7.30 pm
Chichester Cathedral
tickets: 01243 813599 (Cathedral Cloister shop)

J S Bach      St John Passion
the Hanover Band specialises in a performance with period instruments.

J S Bach     St Matthew Passion

Rehearsal on Monday 2 April 7.15pm-9.15pm
Cradle Hill School, Lexden Road, Seaford

Run-through on 6 April at 5 pm
St Leonard's Church, Church Road, Seaford

An "almost instant"
Fauré     Requiem
         and Cantique de Jean Racine
come and sing, or come and listen
- open to anyone who enjoys singing

Mendelssohn      Elijah

Concert

Gounod     St Cecilia Mass
during the High Mass for Easter Day

Elgar      The Dream of Gerontius

The Dreamer
a performance which is the culmination of 5 days of workshops for young people to produce this innovative contemporary work of music theatre.

Hello Dolly!
a delightful and fun story about the joy of living with a succession of classic songs.  This production celebrates Crawley Operatic Society's 50th anniversary.

Puccini      Tosca
Love, jealousy, murder, betrayal and revenge... all the ingredients for a truly gripping story. A fully staged, traditional production with orchestra. Sung in Italian.

Karl Jenkins    The Armed Man

A Singing Day with
Puccini's Messa di Gloria

Rotary Club concert

Calamity Jane
Deadwood is a man's town, where Calamity Jane is as hard-riding, boastful and handy with a gun as any.  Jane goes to Chicago to recruit an actress for the Golden Garter stage, a more feminine rival for the favours of Jane’s male friends... including Wild Bill Hickock. Packed full of lively musical numbers, Calamity Jane is fun for all the family.

Puccini      Tosca
Puccini's opera is a tense thriller with love and politics forming an agonising triangle.  Rome is under martial law and nobody is safe. Celebrated opera singer Floria Tosca must protect her lover Mario Cavaradossi who has been arrested. She pleads with the evil police chief  Scarpia - but he demands a high price for the release. A fully staged production sung in Italian with orchestra.

Puccini     Il Trittico
a live performance of a triptych set of three one-act operas conducted by James Levine and directed by Jack O'Brien:  Il Tabarro, a tragedy - Suor Angelica, a mystical story - Gianni Schicchi, a comedy.  The performance is relayed here in high-definition direct from one of the world's greatest opera houses.

Josquin and the European heritage
Josquin's Pange Lingua Mass and choral music by Ockeghem, Gombert, Senfl and Lassus.

Concert
a mixed programme of popular songs and a very talented harpist.

Different times, different places - a journey thru' Opera

Mascagni     Cavalleria Rusticana
together with a miscellany of well-known opera solos, ensembles and choruses.

Mainly Mozart
The winner of the Channel 4 series Operatunity returns to the concert platform with some of her favourite moments from The Magic Flute, Così fan Tutti and The Marriage of Figaro. In addition to the genius of Mozart   her musical journey takes in favourites from Puccini, Bizet and Verdi.

A Brighton Festival event

Verdi     La Traviata
this opera, telling the story of a tragic high society love affair, is uniquely set in the opulent rooms of the Royal Pavilion.  The Musica a Palazzo ensemble draws for its cast on singers and players from the Fenice Theatre in Venice.

The orchestra will open the concert with Shostakovich's Festive Overture.

Schubert     Mass in G
during a Festival Sung Eucharist

Showstoppers
golden moments from favourite musicals, including Kiss me Kate, The Student Prince and Oliver.

A Brighton Festival event

A Brighton Festival event

Mozart      Requiem
the concert also includes
choral music from the 16th and 20th centuries

A Brighton Festival event

If you can't live without me
(Why weren't you dead when I met you)
country music icon and "presidential hopeful"
"Tina is utterly captivating ... achingly funny .. faultless" (The Age, Melbourne)

A Brighton Festival event

Paul – strange kind of hero
music and lyrics: Chris Eaton & Susan Pomeroy

a rock opera with a powerful story, professional cast, live band, youth orchestra and choirs. It tells the story of Saul who saw the light on the road to Damascus and became Paul.
"Marvellous theatre from a refreshingly radical company ...." (Sheffield Advertiser)
"... One man's rejection of violence and persecution... music which brings the audience to hand clapping life"  (Nottingham Evening Post)

A Brighton Festival event

Grand concert
of traditional and contemporary gospel music.

J S Bach     Ascension Oratorio
Howard Blake     Songs of Truth and Glory
Gabriel Fauré     Requiem

Berlioz       Songs from Nuits d'Été
Debussy    Air de Lia from L'Enfant Prodigue
the orchestra will be playing Saint-Saëns' Symphony no.2, Debussy's Petite Suite, the Fauré Pavane, and Gounod's Petite Symphonie for Wind.

Mozart     Requiem
Haydn     Missa in Tempore Belli
WCMF brings together several smaller local choirs to give them an annual opportunity to sing great works.

A Brighton Festival event

Paul – strange kind of hero
music and lyrics: Chris Eaton & Susan Pomeroy

a rock opera with a powerful story, professional cast, live band, youth orchestra and choirs. It tells the story of Saul who saw the light on the road to Damascus and became Paul.
"Marvellous theatre from a refreshingly radical company ...." (Sheffield Advertiser)
"... One man's rejection of violence and persecution... music which brings the audience to hand clapping life"  (Nottingham Evening Post)

The King and I
lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, music by Richard Rogers
based on Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, this musical tells the story of Anna, an English widow, her young son, and their life at the Royal Palace in Bangkok. Anna has been engaged by the King to serve as tutor to his many children and wives. Anna and the King grow to understand and respect one another, in this unique and uplifting story of East meets West. A musical for the whole family.

Music for Voice and Clarinet
classical, popular and jazz music - the concert will include Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock.

A Brighton Festival event

A Brighton Festival event

Verdi      La Traviata

A Brighton Festival event

Fauré      Requiem

Verdi       Macbeth
This new production for 2007 will be conducted by Glyndebourne's Music Director, Vladimir Jurowski, and directed by Richard Jones - an artistic collaboration which has created award winning productions including Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Berg's Wozzeck.  (Damian Iorio will conduct on 6, 9 and 15 June.)

Faire is the Heaven
an a capella choral concert of English sacred music from the 16th to 20th centuries.  It will include music by Tomkins, Byrd, Purcell, Harris and Britten's Hymn to St Cecilia.

Music for Maytime

The more things change
community choir with a concert of innovative contemporary choral music.

Puccini     Messa di Gloria
Elgar      From the Bavarian Highlands

WCMF brings together several smaller local choirs to give them an annual opportunity to sing great works.

From Bach to Bruckner ... by the beach
this chamber choir will be performing works by Bach, Bruckner, Rachmaninov and others - from German motets to light classics.

Vocal Explosion
globally inspired a capella music, supported by eastern Europe brass band dance music.

A Brighton Festival event

Painstaking research has re-created Walton's previously lost film score.  Now a cast of 200 under conductor Carl Davis performs the music live as the original film is shown.

Thoroughly Modern Millie
set in New York and based on the movie, this brand new stage version includes a full score of both old and new songs. Filled with frisky flappers and tappers, this show launches a new heroine for all ages.

Mozart       Così fan tutte
a revival of the 2006 production which celebrated the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, directed by Nicholas Hytner; this year's performances are conducted by Robin Ticciati.  Subtitled 'The School for Lovers', the opera includes some of Mozart's most exquisite music to explore the difference between reality and appearance as four young lovers discover the nature of true love.  Sung in Italian with English supertitles.

This way for the gas, Ladies & Gentlemen
a musical about the Holocaust and about Darfur, based on the words of survivors of these and other holocausts.
"A monumental work" (The Argus).

The Von Trapp children
meet the Von Trapp children - Sofia (19), Melanie (17), Amanda (16), and Justin (13). They are the great-grandchildren of Captain Von Trapp, father of the famous singing family whose story captivated the world in the musical The Sound Of Music. With the joyfulness of youth, they perform a variety of vocal music: classical, sacred, folk songs from various European and American traditions, and even some well-loved pieces from The Sound of Music.

Love, lust and loss
unaccompanied songs of love, lust and loss performed with humour, harmony and passion.

Verdi      La Traviata

Choral Workshop on
J S Bach's Sunday Cantata
as part of the Tilford Annual Festival of Music Laurence Cummings, Head of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music, will direct a choral workshop open to all singers.  The Workshop leads to a Choral Evensong which will include the Bach Cantata.

A Brighton Festival event

Grand opera gala
an evening of solos, duets, ensembles and orchestral music from favourite operas.

part of the Steyning Festival
information & tickets: 01903 812062

Music for a summer evening

a concert in aid of the 3Bs Churches Trust.

A Brighton Festival event

Verdi      Aïda
lavish Egyptian scenery and ballet sequences are the setting for Verdi's opera of love, jealousy and revenge.

Concert
of music by Stanford, Bach and Monteverdi

Puccini      Tosca
passion, love and tragic drama realised by international soloists.

Lunchtime concert
of music both classical and jazz

The American Songbook revisited

The Quintessential Peter Thorogood
songs and piano works by some of his favourite composers celebrate the 80th birthday of Peter Thorogood, together with actors Simon Brett and Susan Jameson with some of his writing.

A Steyning Festival event - with tea and birthday cake, in the garden if fine

Concert
including Beatus Vir, the Kerry Dance, Oh Susanna and an eclectic mix of music from around the world

Elgar      The Dream of Gerontius
Sir Edward Elgar, one of England’s foremost composers, was born on 2 June 1857, so this performance celebrates the 150th anniversary of his birth.

Singing Workshop -
The Sea Songs of England
Anna Tabbush is well-known throughout the country for her contributions to community singing. During the workshop participants will learn to sing songs in harmony and will be taught how to improvise harmony by ear. Suitable for those who have never sung before and more experienced singers.

Charity concert

Tommy
this classic musical by rock legends The Who is transformed into a high-energy theatrical event. It's a tale of a deaf, mute and blind pinball player who becomes an international messiah. Songs include Pinball Wizard, See Me, Feel Me and I’m Free.  "One of the greatest collections of songs in the history of rock" The Daily Telegraph

Concert
in aid of the Pestalozzi International Village

War and Peace on a Summer Evening
including excerpts from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins and Bernstein's West Side Story.

Schola Cantorum in concert
Christ's Hospital senior chamber choir joins forces with younger children in the local community to perform together.

Rossini      The Barber of Seville
a delectable comedy of an opera, staged with traditional 18th century costume. It includes the famous arias Largo al factotum and Una voce poco fa. Swansea City Opera has established a reputation for high quality performances with fine singing and striking sets. Many of the company’s singers have worked for the Royal Opera House, ENO, Welsh National Opera, Opera North and Glyndebourne. Sung in English.

Lift up your voice
an open invitation to join the choir for a day of singing and an informal concert. Improve your voice and choir-singing skills with Aanna Colls, Artistic Director of Counterpoint Arts.

Draw on, sweet night
a programme of music both sacred and profane, centred around two works by Ralph Vaughan Williams - his Mass in G minor for double choir and his Three Folk Songs -, along with madrigals by Wilbye and Weelkes, and partsongs by Pearsall, Sullivan and Delius.

Showstoppers
songs from shows such as Oliver, The Student Prince and Kiss me Kate.

A West End Musical Spectacular

Staves and Stripes - a tribute to America
a light concert celebrating music from "across the pond" - solo numbers and choir arrangements of famous songs by Bernstein, Copland and Gershwin.

Bring a picnic for 7 pm before coming to the concert.

Rossini       La Cenerentola
a revival of the 2005 Festival production directed by Peter Hall and conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.  Rossini's version of the Cinderella story is sung in Italian with English supertitles.
(The conductor will be Roberto Polastri on 10, 13, 16 and 19 July.)

The Musical Wesleys
to celebrate the tercentenary of the great hymn-writer, Charles Wesley, a concert of choral, orchestral and organ music by his sons, Samuel and Charles junior, and his grandson, Samuel Sebastian.

Lunchtime recital

Recital

Fauré      Requiem
during the Junior School Chapel Service

Women of love, women of war
love songs of the Italian baroque (Monteverdi, Strozzi, Luzzaschi) alongside contemporary composers, including works by Judith Weir and Michael Finnissey.

Concert

Concert
the concert will include madrigals, Schubert's The Lord is my Shepherd and the Ave Maria in settings by both Bach and Gounod.

Handel      Acis and Galatea

Music for a Summer’s Evening

Light summer concert

English music of all eras
including music by Taverner, Byrd, Purcell, Stainer, Vaughan Williams, Parry and Tavener, and a performance of Elgar's The Musicmakers.

Saturday 23 June at 7.30 pm
Weald Recreation Centre, Billingshurst
tickets: 01243 776922
or reserve on-line

Handel      Messiah
the Billingshurst Choral Society's 21st anniversary concert, celebrating with complimentary Pimms and strawberries at 6.30 pm

Summer supper concert
Highlights from Handel

Mozart     Mass in G
during the Festival Eucharist

Raised Voices - a festival of community singing
Community Arts annual singing festival celebrates the diverse talents of local schools and singing groups in an evening of song.

Music for a Summer's Evening
including music from The Gondoliers and some madrigals