Since we last spoke, you and I, Your Loyal Correspondent has been busy making good on his rash promise to create a choral arrangement of the Anthem for Kent, which presenters James and Becky broadcast on HeartKent Radio a few weeks ago, and which I thought on Tuesday might work as a choral piece.
Since then, with brow furrowed and wielding quill and parchment, the arrangement has been written and type-set, and is here unveiled for the first time; the University Cecilian Choir will be taking a first look at it in rehearsal later today.
This stirring, epic hymn to the glories of the county will resound around Colyer-Fergusson Hall this afternoon; prepare for the earth to move…
So, here we are; I’ve now made a start on converting the piece to a full arrangement for mixed choir, which the Cecilian Choir will then need to learn. We’ll keep you posted as to how it’s progressing. It’s my children’s fault…
Fresh from its concert at Studio 3 Gallery last week, the University’s auditioned upper-voices chamber choir will bring the Crypt to shimmering life on Friday 26 February with Vivaldi’s masterpiece, in a programme that also explores repertoire from the medieval to the present day. The first half of the concert will include works by Hildegard von Bingen, Mozart and Brahms, as well as Veljo Tormis’ filigree Spring Sketches and Bob Chilcott’s radiantly colourful Song of the Stars. It’s a terrific opportunity to hear Vivaldi’s radiant, celebratory Gloria in an upper-voices edition which may well have been familiar to audiences during Vivaldi’s lifetime, written as it was for the young voices of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice.
Conducted by Dan Harding, costumed performers patrolled the foyer before being summoned into the re-imagined concert-hall by a side-drum, heralding the start of a selection of sacred and secular works which revisited the lavish entertainments of the court of the Sun King.
The same forces combine on Thursday 31 March at St Peter’s Methodist Church, in Canterbury, when they will unleash the high drama of two of Vivaldi’s choral works, the Credo and Magnificat, alongside a trio sonata and Mozart’s Ave Verum; more details 
If you missed them, then the choir will be back in action in two weeks time, on Friday 26 February, when it gives its annual performance in Canterbury Cathedral Crypt in a programme which includes Vivaldi’s bright and shining Gloria.
I later moved to Hurstpierpoint College where I had the opportunity to join a whole host of new ensembles. This included choirs as I had now started singing, however the Jazz band was my new favourite because I had started working on some jazz repertoire with my new teacher. Improvisation was especially enjoyable for me – In my lessons I would try to get away with as much as he would resist before he would give in to join me in a jam session until the lesson was up! I also gained a keen interest in chamber music on the singing side and would later get to sing with the choir in residence at the national pilgrimage in Walsingham. Other personal highlights include performing Vivaldi’s La Tempesta Di Mare Concerto accompanied by a full orchestra – a memorable experience! During my A-levels at Hurst I took Music Technology which allowed me to dabble in writing and recording my own music. The technological aspect of this was particularly interesting to me as a computer scientist and is an industry I still follow closely.
The Radiance Trio was formed in the summer of 2013 by violinist, Lydia Cheng (University of Kent), cellist, Angel Ji (University of Toronto), and pianist, Marcus Chiam (University of Toronto) after their trio debut of Butterfly Lovers at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. The name is taken from the debut composition with the same title by the trio’s pianist and composer, Marcus Chiam.