USA (September 2019)
The choir, under the direction of Gareth Wilson, had a great time on tour. Despite the busy schedule, they found time for plenty of sight-seeing including Niagara Falls, Philadelphia's historic centre and even a behind the scenes tour of the Tennessee Aquarium!
Tuesday 10 September
7.30pm Concert at Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Wednesday 11 September
7pm Concert at St Anne Parish, Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania
Friday 13 September
7.30pm Concert in Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall, Buffalo, New York
Sunday 15 September
5pm Concert at Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Monday 16 September
7.30pm Concert at Princeton University Chapel, Princeton, New Jersey
Thursday 19 September
7.30pm Concert at Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
Friday 20 September
7pm Concert at The Church of St Michael and All Angels, Anniston, Alabama
Sunday 22 September
11.15am Service at All Saints Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia
7.30pm Concert at All Saints
The concert programmes included:
A portrait of William Byrd
This programme presents contrasting facets of Byrd’s musical output including music for the English church as well as music in Latin for private Catholic households (Gradualia), plus secular music such as madrigals and solo songs, and some of his most virtuosic music for keyboard.
a blue true dream of sky – modern sacred music by women composers
This programme takes its title from one of Judith Weir’s choral masterpieces, which is setting of a text by e e cummings, and includes works dating from over a century, beginning with music by Ethyl Smyth, one of the first British female composers to gain wide recognition, and culminating in the music of the rapidly expanding younger generation of women composers in the UK.
A Treasury of English Church Music – choral masterpieces from across the ages
Taking its inspiration from the classic historical publication of the same name, this programme contains music by many of the greatest English composers across the ages, and extends the concept into our own time, including Tallis, Gibbons, Purcell, Wesley, Elgar, Howells and Anderson.
Choral sounds, choral textures – a miscellany of sacred and secular choral music from different traditions
This programme covers several different choral traditions from both Europe and the Americas and includes partsongs by the Italian-American composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, well known for his Hollywood scores, folksong arrangements from Brazil and Britain, and Spirituals.