Amidst their annual Christmas recordings for BBC Television and Radio and other UK engagements, the Choir made a return visit to the world-renowned Amsterdam Concertgebouw in December, performing a programme of English Choral Classics and Christmas Carols.
15 December 2015
Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
Programme
MENDELSSOHN Ave Maria
DURUFLÉ Requiem
-interval-
POULENC 4 Christmas motets
MESSIAEN La Vierge et l’Enfant from La Nativité
Arr. WILLCOCKS God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
DARKE In the bleak mid-winter
ORD Adam lay ybounden
Arr. DE PEARSALL In dulci jubilo
RUTTER Dormi, Jesu
Arr. WILLCOCKS The Angel Gabriel
GOLDSCHMIDT A tender shoot
Arr. WILLCOCKS Ding, dong, merrily
Arr. WILLCOCKS Hark the Herald Angels Sing
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge performed at four of Germany’s most renowned summer festivals, performing a programme of all British music, from Byrd to Britten.
The programmes designed by Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury, highlight ed interesting links to King’s College and Cambridge. Tye and Gibbons were King’s choristers, and Hacomplaynt a Provost. Byrd's 'O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth' refers to Elizabeth I , who is known to have visited the chapel. Vaughan Williams, Harvey, Britten, Howells and Stanford are also composers with wider Cambridge connections to other Colleges.
9 July 2015
Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
11 July 2015
MDR Musiksommer
12 July 2015
Choriner Musiksommer
15 July 2015
Rheingau Musik Festival
Works included
TYE Omnes gentes plaudite manibus
GIBBONS See, the Word is incarnate
HACOMPLAYNT Salve Regina
BYRD O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth
TYE Gloria from Missa 'Euge bone'
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Credo from Mass in g minor
HARVEY l love the Lord
BRITTEN A Hymn to the Virgin
BRITTEN A Boy was born (theme)
HARVEY Veni Creator
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Valiant-for-Truth
And others by Howells and Stanford
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge returned to the US for a 5-concert tour, conducted by Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury.
The tour visited St Thomas Fifth Avenue, New York; National Cathedral, Washington DC; St Paul Cathedral, Minneapolis; 4th Presbyterian Church, Chicago (as part of the Symphony Center Presents Series) and Church of the Incarnation, Dallas. The Choir performed a mixed programme including works from their recording, English Hymn Anthems and works by Faure, Poulenc and Howells.
20 March 2015
St Thomas Fifth Ave, New York
21 March 2015
National Cathedral, Washington D.C.
23 March 2015
Saint Paul Cathedral, Minneapolis-Saint Paul
24 March 2015
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago
26 March 2015
Church of the Incarnation, Dallas
Following five star reviews of their recording of Fauré Requiem, the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, has released Favourite Carols from King’s as its fifth disc on the King's label. The CD brings together a collection of the most popular carols featured in A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols over the years, recorded by the current Choir. Simultaneously, the Choir released its first DVD on the label, which is a recording of the 2013 Carols from King’s service, as broadcast by the BBC last year.
The Choir’s Christmas season performances begin at Barbican Centre, London on 6 December with a performance of Bach’s Magnificat and Respighi’s Lauda per la Nativita del Signore alongside Britten Sinfonia and soloists including Intermusica singers mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately, soprano Mary Bevan and tenor Ben Johnson.
16 December sees the Choir travel to Edinburgh’s Usher Hall for a performance including a selection of carols in addition to the Poulenc Christmas Motets and Praetorius Magnificat Quinti Toni. The Choir returns to London the following day for their annual appearance as part of Raymond Gubbay’s Christmas Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, performing with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorus.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Carols from King’s, which will be televised on BBC2 on Christmas Eve, preceded by a 60 minute documentary on the history of the service as well as a separate broadcast of a restored version of the first Carols from King’s in 1954, conducted by Boris Ord. Also on Christmas Eve, the Choir will sing in A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King’s College Chapel, broadcast live by BBC Radio 4.
6 December 2014
Barbican Centre, London
16 December 2014
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
17 December 2014
Raymond Gubbay Christmas Festival, Royal Albert Hall, London
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge travels to Marienberg in Germany to perform as part of the Musikfest Erzgebirge on 19 September, where its concert will be broadcast live on Deutschland Radio.
The programme reflects a bridge from England to German Saxony, the region in which the festival takes place, with the first half comprised of English works and the second half German.
Returning to the UK, the Choir performs the following weekend at All Saints Weston Green in Surrey on 28 September. The programme ranges from Renaissance to 21st century, and reprises some works from the Erzgebirge programme as well as Monteverdi’s Adoramus te Christe and Cantate Domino in the madrigal style, a Bach organ solo and Nigel Cassidy’s setting of Psalm 100, Jubilate Deo.
19 September 2014
Musikfest Erzgebirge, Marienberg
28 September 2014
All Saints' Church, Weston
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury tour Australia this summer for eight concerts between 21 July and 2 August. This is the Choir’s first visit to Australia in over a decade, since their last tour in 2001. They perform concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide, including a performance at Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
The Choir are performing two programmes on the tour. The first features Fauré’s Requiem, performed with organ, and baritone and treble soloists from within the choir. The second programme focuses on more intimate works, ranging from Renaissance to 21st century.
Both programmes include three contemporary Australian compositions, each commissioned by Stephen Cleobury for King’s annual Christmas service A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols. Peter Sculthorpe’s The Birthday of thy King was commissioned for the 1988 service; Brett Dean’s Now comes the Dawn for the 2007 service, and Carl Vine’s Ring out, wild bells for the 2012 service.
20 July 2014
National Art School, Sydney
21 July 2014
City Recital Hall, Sydney
22 July 2014
Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne
24 July 2014
Perth Concert Hall, Perth
26 July 2014
Sydney Opera House, Sydney
27 July 2014
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
29 July 2014
QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane
31 July 2014
Canberra School of Music, Canberra
2 August 2014
Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge travel to Asia for a 5-concert tour in August. Concerts take place in Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Choir are delighted to be making a return visit to both the NCPA in Beijing and The Esplanade in Singapore, following successful performances in recent years. The Choir are also known to the audiences of Seoul and Hong Kong however are pleased to perform for the first time at the Seongnam Arts Center in Seoul and at two venues in Hong Kong: Sha Tin Town Hall and Hong Kong City Hall.
In Beijing and Hong Kong the Choir perform a mixed programme of English songs by Stanford, Parry and Vaughan Williams as well as works by Schubert, Widor and Wolf’s Sechs Geistliche Lieder.
The Choir will be joined by local ensemble and soprano for the concerts in Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore. The programme includes two Mozart works, Schubert’s peaceful yet dramatic setting of Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my shepherd’, and the Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo of Haydn, known as the ‘Little organ mass’ for its extensive organ solo in the Benedictus, which is performed by the Choir’s organ scholar. The major work in the second half is Vivaldi’s Gloria.
8 August 2013
Seongnam Arts Center, Seongnam
10 August 2013
NCPA, Beijing
14 August 2013
Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium, Hong Kong
15 August 2013
City Hall Concert Hall, Hong Kong
17 August 2013
The Esplanade, Singapore