Nathan James Dearden chats with fellow composers whose works are being performed at this year’s festival. Get to know the faces behind the music and learn more about what it’s like to be a composer from the people themselves.
To find out more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded)
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Three Choirs Festival Voices; Philharmonia Orchestra; Geraint Bowen (cond.)
Exotic romantic fantasy infuses The Cloud Messenger, a rich sung epic inspired by Indian stories and beliefs, performed by the Three Choirs Festival Voices. Holst sets a Sanskrit poem describing how a nature spirit persuades a passing cloud to send a love message to his wife in the distant Himalayas; a remote and colourful paradise is brought to life by the music. In response, Nathan James Dearden’s exciting festival commission creates a series of choral landscapes that respond to, and set, messages from throughout history to future generations. Alongside these works, fluttering wings and scratching feet are heard in Respighi’s The Birds as the composer paints a picture of bird movements and birdsong in lively and extraordinary music.
Nathan James Dearden’s commission supported by the Colwinston Charitable Trust and the Three Choirs Festival Commissioning Circle
This concert will be presented as part of Three Choirs Festival 2024.
To find out more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded)
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
The 2024 Presteigne Festival programme offers an opportunity to hear some of Benjamin Britten’s less familiar work, contrasted with music from his contemporaries, his influences and those who, in turn, were influenced by him.
The Festival’s advocacy for new music is greatly in evidence – we will welcome award-winning British composer Richard Blackford as composer-in-residence and include a mini-feature of music by William Mathias.
The music programme includes 12 premieres of new work from an exceptionally diverse cohort of composers – Michael Berkeley, Richard Blackford, Nathan James Dearden, Michael Zev Gordon, James Albany Hoyle, Sarah Frances Jenkins, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Joseph Phibbs, Julian Philips, Lynne Plowman, Lara Poe and James B Wilson.
Extant music from other living composers – Sally Beamish, Matthew Coleridge, Mared Emlyn, Ola Gjeilo, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Gabriel Jackson, David Matthews, Cecilia McDowall, Adrian Sutton, Huw Watkins, Judith Weir and Raymond Yiu – is programmed alongside pieces by J S Bach, Beethoven, Lennox Berkeley, Nadia Boulanger, Lili Boulanger, Bridge, Debussy, Dowland, Martinů, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Sibelius and Walton.
Apart from concert performances, the programme will also include a variety of other events – exhibitions, film, talks and poetry and, in partnership with many local artists and makers, the popular Presteigne ‘Open Studios’ weekend.
The Festival will feature a truly outstanding artist line-up, with performances from the Piatti Quartet, pianists Huw Watkins, Annie Yim and Joseph Tong, Alice Neary (cello), Anne Denholm (harp), Rebecca Bottone (soprano), Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (mezzo-soprano), Sarah Gabriel (narrator), Daniel Shao (flute), Paul Galbraith (guitar), the Choir of Royal Holloway under Rupert Gough and the Presteigne Festival Orchestra and Ensemble conducted by artistic director, George Vass.
Full information coming soon
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Andrej Ivanovitch (organ); Rupert Gough (cond.)
Join the Choir of Royal Holloway for this special Choral Evensong in the wonderful setting of our Chapel, celebrating contemporary service settings including Nathan James Dearden's First Service. Please note that this is a liturgical service.
For further event information and to watch online, please visit the choir's dedicated page: www.chapelchoir.co.uk
For full information, please check out this webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): Cardiff Polyphonic Choir; Philip Aspden (organ); Thomas Blunt (cond.)
To find out more about the perforemrs and the event itself, please visit their website (link embedded)
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): CBSO Children’s Chorus; Julian Wilkins (cond.)
GLITZ, GLAMOUR, AND A CHANCE TO CELEBRATE YOUR SUPPORT!
Our Annual Circles' Dinner sees Circle Members, staff and players getting dressed up for a spectacular evening at Birmingham's beautiful Hyatt Regency. For more information, please visit this website (link embedded)
For full information about this new work, please visit this dedicated webpage. (lInk embedded)
Performer(s): Cape Town Camerata; Leon Starker (cond.)
The Artistic Director of the World New Music Days 2023, composer and percussionist Lukas Ligeti, says: “The festival’s program will have three areas of focus. First, there will be the aforementioned contributions from the network’s member organizations. Second will be a look back at 100 years of history of the ISCM and, specifically, the WNMD, presenting some of the most important works of concert-music composed during the last century. Finally, and most importantly, we will provide a multifaceted survey of the lively creative activity in experimental and innovative music in Africa.”
The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is the premier forum for the advancement, dissemination and interchange of new music from around the world. Through ISCM, members promote contemporary music in all its varied forms, strengthening musical life in their local contexts and making their music and its creators known to world.
To find our more about i breathe or to hear it online, visit this webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): Hemiola Octet; Harvey Lok (cond.)
For more information and how to join them, please visit this social media post (link embedded)
Performer(s): Helen Charlston (mezzo soprano), Joseph Middleton piano)
BBC New Generation Artist, Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano) and pianist Joseph Middleton perform a programme of music by Fanny Hensel, John Ireland and Mahler in this lunchtime recital at the Wesley Centre in Harrogate.
Book your ticket now through Leeds Lieder Festival HERE (link embedded)
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Harvey Lok (cond.)
Join our Welcome Week Chorus for a concert showcasing the very best vocal and choral music Royal Holloway has on offer. We will be joined by the Choir of Royal Holloway, new and returning students, alumni, and our Director of Choral Music, Rupert Gough, for an afternoon of beautiful music to kickstart our year including Jake Runestad's The Hope of Loving.
For further event information and to book your ticket, please visit the dedicated page: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/music/events/wild-forces-welcome-week-choral-showcase-2023/
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
The Choir of Royal Holloway's popular lunchtime concert series returns and runs all term both in-person and online here. Hear one of the finest university choirs in the UK perform varied programmes, with music from the 12th to the 21st centuries in the surroundings of the college’s gilded chapel.
This week's Midweek Music sees the return of our singers and audiences alike for a new academic year. This concert will share some musical postcards from our summer vacation: music from the four corners of Great Britain and Ireland.
For further event information and to watch live, please visit the choir's dedicated page: www.chapelchoir.co.uk
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Whiddon Festival String Quartet
Join us to celebrate the timeless influence of J. S. Bach, one of classical music's most renowned figures, as we juxtapose his own vocal mastery with some of the finest contemporary reimaginings of his music.
Experience a glimpse of how Bach's exquisite music looks through other musicians' eyes, from Knut Nystedt's stunningly simple take on a Bach chorale in Immortal Bachand Harry Baker's chorale-inspired I Call To You, through to Caroline Shaw's Punctum, which takes a mere seed of an idea from Bach and stretches it out into a wonderful tapestry for string quartet.
In a programme punctuated with Bach-inspired music from our Come&Sing choir, Harry Baker also presents an improvised piano sequence based on the sixth Cello Suite, and Corvus Consort performs one of the composer's most towering vocal works in its original untouched form.
To join us for this services, please visit this webpage (link embedded).
Performer(s): Corvus Consort; Freddie Crowley (cond.)
Festival Director Freddie Crowley conducts Ensemble-in-Residence the Corvus Consort in a fascinating exploration of composers' responses to the poetry of 17th-century English metaphysical poet George Herbert (1593-1633).
Through a sumptuous selection of choral music by Judith Weir, Alec Roth, Roxanna Panufnik and James MacMillan, the musicians reveal how George Herbert's words have provided inspiration to a whole generation of composers.
Finally, the Corvus Consort is joined by baritone soloist George Clark, Harry Baker (piano), Louise Thomson (harp) and the Festival String Quartet, to perform perhaps the most famous setting of Herbert's poetry: Ralph Vaughan Williams's magnificent Five Mystical Songs.
Please click here (link embedded) to book your ticket or to find out more information.
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Whiddon Autumn Festival Children’s Choir; Corvus Consort; Harry Baker (piano); Freddie Crowley (cond.)
Rising star vocalists Ellie Stamp and George Clark are joined by pianist Harry Baker and the Festival String Quartet to perform lyrical songs celebrating flora, fauna and landscape, centred around the hauntingly-beautiful Tree Carols by Sally Beamish. Punctuated with a selection of gorgeous partsongs sung by members of the Corvus Consort, the programme also features a very special guest appearance...
In the middle of the programme we welcome the very special WAF Children's Choir, made up of pupils from four local primary schools who have participated in our schools singing programme. The Children's Choir will sing reimagined versions of local folksongs, created specially for this performance by our 2023 Composer-in-Residence Nathan James Dearden.
Please click here (link embedded) to book your ticket or to find out more information.
Performer(s): Nicky Spence (tenor); Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano)
Robert Schumann’s iconic song cycle on a woman’s life and love, Frauenliebe und-Leben, sung by Claire Booth (“an epoch-making performance – a real tour de force." Guardian) is interwoven with Nathan James Dearden’s specially commissioned responses of a beloved friend, Nicky Spence (“one of the most engaging and communicative singers around” Guardian). The concert, curated by pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen (“an immaculate accompanist” BBC Music magazine), also features songs by LGBTQ+ composers and poets, including Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, Jonathan Dove, Nikita Gill, Jennifer Higdon, Francis Poulenc, and Ned Rorem.
Please click here (link embedded) to book your ticket or to find out more information.
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Nicky Spence (tenor); Andrew Matthews-Owen (piano)
Robert Schumann’s iconic song cycle on a woman’s life and love, Frauenliebe und-Leben, sung by Lucy Crowe (“soprano artistry beyond compare” Independent) is interwoven with Nathan James Dearden’s specially commissioned responses of a beloved friend, Nicky Spence (“one of the most engaging and communicative singers around” Guardian). The concert, curated by pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen (“an immaculate accompanist” BBC Music magazine), also features songs by LGBTQ+ composers and poets, including Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, Jonathan Dove, Nikita Gill, Jennifer Higdon, Francis Poulenc, and Ned Rorem.
Life, love and loss are explored and celebrated through a special friendship and some of the greatest songs ever written.
Please click here (link embedded) to book your ticket or to find out more information.
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
For the second concert of our European Tour, the choir is joined by our composer-in-residence, Nathan James Dearden, to perform his setting of 'Let all the world', alongside music by Elgar, Miškinis, Locklair and Bach.
Please click here (link embedded) to book your ticket or to find out more information.
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
For the second concert of our European Tour, the choir is joined by our composer-in-residence, Nathan James Dearden, to perform his setting of 'Let all the world', alongside music by Elgar, Miškinis, Locklair and Bach.
Please click here (link embedded) to book your ticket or to find out more information.
Performer(s): Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone); George Ireland (piano)
K. J. Nakao: He Wishes His Beloved Were Dead (W.B. Yeats)
Delyth Naya: Blossoms and Shadows (Hisajo Sugita & Hilary Tann)
Hilary Tann: Light from the Cliffs
Nathan James Dearden: I sleep alone (Kakinomoto no Hitomaro)
Shinji Inagi: Journey Through the Heart of Hitomaro (Kakinomoto no Hitomaro)
Fascinating songs by composers from Japan and Wales. For full information, please visit the festival webpage: https://www.beaumarisfestival.org
For more information about this work, please visit this dedicated webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone); Paula Fan (piano)
For more information about this work, please visit this dedicated webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone); Paula Fan (piano)
For more information about this work, please visit this dedicated webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): Cardiff Contemporary Music Group; Rob Fokkens (cond.)
The Contemporary Music Group continues their project - started in 2021 - exploring music by young composers who studied at Cardiff University's School of Music and are now making their mark on the contemporary music scene in the UK and internationally.
For more information about this event or to book your ticket, please visit this webpage (link embedded).
To find out more information about I breathe, or for a sneak peek at previous performances and recordings, please visit this dedicated webpage (link embedded).
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
For more information about this event or to book your ticket, please visit this webpage (link embedded).
WORLD PREMIERE
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway; Rupert Gough (cond.)
For more information about this event or to book your ticket, please visit this webpage (link embedded).
Performer(s): National Youth Choir of Wales; Tim Rhys-Evans (cond.)
For the first time since NYCW was established in 1984, Wales's most extraordinarily talented young singers have been unable to perform together under one roof due to COVID. This is going to be a spectacular performance as the restrictions of the pandemic lift on the voices of 80 of the best young singers from the Land of Song, conducted by Tim Rhys-Evans MBE.
To book your ticket or to find out more, please click here (link embedded)
Performer(s): National Youth Choir of Wales; Tim Rhys-Evans (cond.)
For the first time since NYCW was established in 1984, Wales's most extraordinarily talented young singers have been unable to perform together under one roof due to COVID. This is going to be a spectacular performance as the restrictions of the pandemic lift on the voices of 80 of the best young singers from the Land of Song, conducted by Tim Rhys-Evans MBE.
To book your ticket or to find out more, please click here (link embedded)
Performer(s): National Youth Choir of Wales; Tim Rhys-Evans (cond.)
For the first time since NYCW was established in 1984, Wales's most extraordinarily talented young singers have been unable to perform together under one roof due to COVID. This is going to be a spectacular performance as the restrictions of the pandemic lift on the voices of 80 of the best young singers from the Land of Song, conducted by Tim Rhys-Evans MBE.
To book your ticket or to find out more, please click here (link embedded)
Performer(s): Eleanor Bray – Soprano 1; Loren Kell – Soprano 2; Ella Rainbird – Alto 1; Milette Gillow – Alto 2; James Botcher – Tenor 1; Colin Danskin – Tenor 2 (standing in for regular member, David Woods); Laurence Padfield – Bass 1; Freddie Crowley – Bass 2
‘Britain: Old and New’ with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain Fellowship Octet
This programme is a wonderful celebration of British composers ‘old and new’; and of the next generation of talent. The first half spans the sixteenth to the nineteenth century: from Taverner, Tallis, Byrd, Tomkins and Purcell all the way to Parry, Stainer and Harris. The second half is a delightful mix of British household names alongside works written for NYCGB through their own Young Composers Scheme. The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain Fellowship is a development programme for emerging young professional choral leaders. This group is the 2019-20 cohort.
For more information and to book your ticket, please visit this website (link embedded).
For more information about this work and to hear an existing recording, please visit this webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): The University of Houston Concert Chorale; Betsy Cook Weber (cond.)
The University of Houston Concert Chorale is the university’s premiere large choral ensemble. Under the direction of Betsy Cook Weber since 2002, the ensemble has performed for four TMEA conventions and two national ACDA conventions (Miami, 2007 and Minneapolis, 2017). The ensemble has also been active internationally, placing in and/or winning the following prestigious competitions: 47th Eisteddfod, Langollen, Wales, UK, (1st place, Chamber Choir; 2009); Florilège Vocal, Tours, France (2nd place Mixed Choir; 2011); International Chamber Choir Competition, Marktoberdorf, Germany (1st place ex acqueo; 2013); Grand Prix of Nations, Magdeburg, Germany (1st place Youth Choir; 2015); Bela Bartok International Choral Competition (first place; 2018), Debrecen, Hungary; European Grand Prix in Arezzo, Italy (one of five participants; 2019). Chorale’s location in Houston presents many opportunities, including performances with/for Houston Symphony, Ars Lyrica among others.
For more infroatmion about the competition and entrants, please visit this website (link embedded)
For more information about this work and to hear an existing recording, please visit this webpage (link embedded)
Performer(s): Choir of Royal Holloway: George Nicholls (organ); Rupert Gough (cond.)
Performer(s): Helen Charlston (mezzo soprano), Ilan Kurtser (piano)
Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston triumphed in the most recent Kathleen Ferrier Awards, walking away with the Song Prize, while alumnus of the Leeds Lieder Young Artist scheme pianist Ilan Kurtser won the coveted Accompanist’s Prize.
The Ferrier Award joins others on Helen’s mantelpiece – she is a current BBC New Generation Artist, winner of the 2018 Handel Singing Competition and Rising Star of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In addition to her growing reputation as a fine early music singer, she received widespread praise for her recent Isolation Songbook. A creative response to a time of chaos and change, it was originally conceived as an open call-for-scores to composers and lyricists to respond creatively to lockdown, the resulting 15 new songs are by turns witty and melancholic, brash and joyful. Helen intersperses these songs with songs about nature by Brahms, Clara Schumann, Vaughan Williams and Tchaikovsky.
This event will be streamed live and available to watch on demand until Sunday 31 July 2022. Buy tickets for the in-person event or for livestream/on demand access.
Book your ticket now through Opera North now: https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/kathleen-ferrier-award/
Performer(s): University of Houston Concert Chorale; Prof Betsy Cook Weber (cond.)
‘Full of sweet days’ will be performed as part of University of Houstons’s Moores School Concert Season and their Red Carnation Concert (featuring Concert Chorale, ManCorps, Soundscape, University Chorus, and Small Groups).
Full information and how to buy your tickets can be found here (link embedded).
Performer(s): Helen Charlston (mezzo soprano); Sholto Kynoch (piano)
For more information about the way we go, commissioned as part of The Isolation Songbook, please CLICK HERE
