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PRESS RELEASES
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CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT FOR CHARITY
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St George's Singers' traditional 'Carols and Brass by Candlelight' concert takes place on Saturday 9th December 2006 at 7.30 pm in St George's Church, Stockport. The concert is being given by St George's Singers in support of the Stockport & District branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Mince pies, mulled wine and soft drinks will as usual be served at the interval, and the evening promises to be a delightful and entertaining start to the Christmas festivities for all the family.
In addition to the traditional Christmas carols, the Choir will be singing excerpts from Handel's Messiah in a special arrangement for choir and brass band. They will be joined by the award-winning VBS Poynton Brass Band, under the leadership of their Musical Director, Alan Lawton, who was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List this year for services to brass band music.
The Christmas readings will be given by Stephen Shipley, an accomplished broadcaster and regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Daily Service and Sunday Worship, and Senior Producer for Radio 3's Choral Evensong.
For the first time, St George's Singers' carol concert is being conducted by Marcus Farnsworth, the Choir's Assistant Musical Director, who at only 23 is one of the country's most promising young choral conductors. In addition to his work with St George's, Marcus leads the Manchester University Chorus, and his own choirs, Gaudium, the Coupland Consort and the Pilgrim Consort, and performs frequently with the BBC. Most recently he was heard - and seen via special video coverage on the BBC website - leading the Pilgrim Consort in a glorious performance in Montserrat Abbey near Barcelona.
Around 85,000 people in the UK have multiple sclerosis, and the Stockport & District branch is just one of 370 local branches of the MS Society throughout the country which promotes research into finding a cure for MS, and encourages people with MS to come together for mutual support. It is hoped that a big audience for the concert will help to swell the charity's funds.
Tickets for the concert are £12, £10 concessions, and £1 for children/students, available from the SGS Ticket Hotline on 01663 764012, by email sgstickets@supanet.com, or on the door. |
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CHOIR'S DOUBLE CELEBRATION
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St George’s Singers has a double reason to celebrate at their next concert on 28th October in St George’s Church, Stockport. ‘A Musical Celebration’ not only marks the 50th Anniversary of the Choir’s very first rehearsal in Poynton in October 1956, but also ushers in an exciting new era under the baton of new Musical Director, Neil Taylor.
The programme opens with some of the Choir’s favourite pieces from their extensive repertoire of sacred and secular works by Elgar, Fauré, Grieg, Stanford, Brahms and others, many of which will be featured on a forthcoming Golden Jubilee celebration CD. The second half of the programme will be Duruflé’s sublime but infrequently performed Requiem.
Joining the Choir in the Duruflé will be Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Castle, currently with the Royal Opera, and Baritone Marcus Farnsworth. Exciting young cellist Philip Higham, currently in his third year at the Royal Northern College of Music, and a semi-finalist in the 2002 BBC Young Musician of the Year, plays the solo cello in the Pie Jesu.
Neil Taylor is a highly experienced choral conductor, Master of the Music at Sheffield Cathedral, as well as an acclaimed organist. He has directed and assisted at choral courses in Aldeburgh, Austria, Italy and Mexico, and the famous Eton Choral Courses, and is also Artistic Director of the Sheffield Cathedral Arts Festival. Neil has recorded no fewer than eight CDs, including Music for a Millennium (voted the Classic FM Magazine ‘CD of the Year’), tours regularly with his choirs to UK, Europe and the USA, and has made numerous broadcasts.
According to St George’s Singers’ newly appointed Chair, Anne Francis, “This is a very significant concert for us. A Musical Celebration brings to a close a remarkable Golden Jubilee year, which included Bach’s St Matthew Passion at The Bridgewater Hall, and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert in Manchester Cathedral last June. The programme for our first concert with Neil is as far removed from the jazzy exuberance of the Ellington as it’s possible to get - but gives us a marvellous opportunity to show off our versatility and the sheer range of the repertoire we now perform.”
The Duruflé Requiem is often overlooked in favour of the better known Fauré Requiem, but Neil Taylor believes that the Duruflé deserves equal recognition. “The Requiem is a wonderful testament to this most fastidious and self-critical of composers. After writing the work in the 1940s, Duruflé threw the manuscript out with the household garbage. It is only down to his wife, who rescued the score, that we can enjoy this superb and very moving piece today.
“Duruflé emphasises the calmer nature of the text of the Requiem Mass, leaving out the text of the Dies Irae section altogether. The version we will be performing is the most intimate of all, for organ and choir only.”
The concert is on Saturday 28th October 2006, at 7.30 pm in St George’s Church, Stockport. Tickets £10, £9 concessions and £1 students/children available from 01663 764012 or sgstickets@supanet.com
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ST GEORGE'S SINGERS APPOINT NEW MUSICAL DIRECTOR
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St George's Singers are delighted to announce the appointment of Neil Taylor, Master of the Music at Sheffield Cathedral, as their new Musical Director from September 2006.
Neil takes over from Stephen Williams, who leaves St George's Singers after ten years to take up the full-time and prestigious appointment of Director of Music at Uppingham School.
Neil Taylor is a highly experienced choral conductor and musical director as well as an acclaimed organist. In addition to his 'day-to-day' work with Sheffield Cathedral's three choirs, he has directed and assisted at choral courses in Aldeburgh, Austria, Italy and Mexico, as well as the famous Eton Choral Courses. He is also Artistic Director of the Sheffield Cathedral Arts Festival, has recorded no fewer than eight CDs, including Music for a Millennium (voted the Classic FM Magazine 'CD of the Year'), and tours regularly with his choirs to UK, Europe and the USA.
Although Neil is involved in many types of music, choral singing remains his best-loved form of music making. "Singing in a choir is a personal outpouring of an individual's personality and spirit. I love the camaraderie of a choir, and one of the things that struck me about St George's Singers was the tremendous energy they create, and the enormous vision and daring they bring to their performances."
Neil intends to continue the exciting programming that Stephen Williams introduced, building on St George's Singers' reputation for creativity and innovation - an ambition wholly endorsed by St George's Singers' Chairman, Geoff Taylor. "We are very proud to have been able to appoint a Musical Director of such experience and distinction. And it's a happy coincidence that the 50th anniversary of the Choir's founding also sees the beginning of a new era for us. Who knows where we'll be in another 50 years!"
St George's Singers' first concert under Neil's baton on 28 October will be a celebration of choral music, featuring many well known as well as more innovative choral works performed by the Choir over the last 50 years.
Neil Taylor - other biographical details
Neil Taylor's early choral training began at age 8, when he became a Chorister at Bradford Cathedral. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1986, and on graduating was appointed Assistant Organist at Norwich Cathedral. As well as premiering many new works in his time at Norwich, he made numerous broadcasts and highly acclaimed recordings with the Cathedral Choir, and toured with them to Europe and the USA. He also directed the Cathedral Consort, formed the Cathedral Girls' Choir and conducted Hethersett Choral Society.
In 1997 Neil moved back to Yorkshire to take up the appointment of Organist and Master of the Music at Sheffield Cathedral. Since then, he has directed five BBC Radio 3 broadcasts of 'Choral Evensong', and led Choir tours in the UK and to Germany, Holland, France and the United States. He is Artistic Director of the Sheffield Cathedral Arts Festival, an annual week-long celebration of the performing arts, covering instrumental, choral, jazz and brass band music, and featuring internationally renowned artists, Cathedral musicians, as well as local professional and amateur performers.
Neil has performed as an organist at most of the major venues throughout the UK, and with the Manchester Camerata and the Northern Sinfonia.
For further information:
Publicity Officer: Anne Francis Tel: 01663 764012.
Chairman: Geoff Taylor Tel 01663 766991.
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BACH'S GREAT PASSION
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Bach's greatest and most powerful masterpiece, the St Matthew Passion, will be performed by St George's Singers on Sunday 19 March in The Bridgewater Hall, with the Manchester Camerata orchestra, and a world-class line-up of soloists.
This is a great opportunity to hear the St Matthew Passion sung in English, reflecting St George's Singers' commitment to bringing choral music to wider audiences. Musical Director, Stephen Williams, is an ardent believer in 'spreading the gospel' of choral music, and the Singers' 50th Anniversary season offers the ideal opportunity to make Bach's most elaborate and ambitious choral work immediately accessible to everyone, enabling them to understand the dramatic intensity of the story as it unfolds.
The role of the Evangelist will be taken by James Gilchrist, widely recognised internationally for his sensitive and powerful performances of Bach's music, and who has given acclaimed presentations of the Passion both in concert and on CD. In January this year he had a stunning success in The Bridgewater Hall with the Kings Consort in Handel's Messiah.
The role of Christ will be taken by baritone Christopher Purves, who has recently had a critical triumph in Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera. Other soloists include soprano Joanne Lunn, mezzo-soprano Alexandra Gibson, tenor Robert Murray, and bass Andrew Foster-Williams.
The Passion presents the story of Christ's suffering and death as told by St Matthew and was composed for performance in St Thomas Church, Leipzig on Good Friday 1727, as part of the traditional Lutheran service. There is a long British tradition of performing the Passion during Lent, but according to Stephen Williams, “The St Matthew Passion goes far beyond 'church' music. It is an intensely human drama, almost operatic in its scope and complexity, depicting man's frailty, anguish, fear and compassion through a series of dramatic recitatives, sublime arias and stunning choruses.
“The work also held a special significance for Bach himself, both artistically and spiritually. His family called it the 'great Passion', and even the original manuscript was beautifully written and preserved by Bach himself, testifying to the very special position it held in his heart.”
It is said that everyone should hear a live performance of the St Matthew Passion at least once in their lives. Those who heard St George's Singers' magnificent performance of Elijah at The Bridgewater Hall in 2004 will know that this is an opportunity not to be missed!
Tickets are priced from £10 to £25, obtainable from The Bridgewater Hall Box Office, 0161 907 9000.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1) St George's Singers are one of the North West's leading choirs and have established a reputation for innovative and ambitious performances of works by both classical and modern choral composers. Stockport-born broadcaster and media personality Joan Bakewell, recently appointed Chairperson of the National Campaign for the Arts, is the Choir's President. The Choir was formed in 1956, and celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year.
2) In recent years, the Choir has been on tour to Amsterdam, Krakow, Helsinki, and Tallinn, and in 2005 undertook a critically acclaimed tour of Suffolk, where they performed St Nicolas in Aldeburgh Church, and sang Mozart's Requiem to a packed audience at Blythburgh Church. In 2004 they performed Elijah with Sir Willard White, Mark Padmore, Mary Plazas and Sara Fulgoni at The Bridgewater Hall.
3) Musical Director of St George's Singers, Stephen Williams, is one of the most exciting choral trainers in the country, and directs the Chapter House Choir at York Minster, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus in Glasgow. In 2002 he won a prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship to study contemporary choral repertoire in Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden.
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