The final musical hurrah of the term has seen members of Minerva Voices performing at the ancient Pilgrims’ Hospital in Canterbury earlier today, as part of the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Festival curtain-raising Illuminating the Past: Gothic Colour day.
The Choir assembled in the priory garden this morning for the first of two sets; the latter saw them sing in the resonant acoustic of the refectory, bringing the historic stones to life in a variety of choral works, from medieval plainsong to Alvin Lucier’s Unamuno.
Led by Your Loyal Correspondent, together with assistant conductor, third-year Joe Prescott making his final appearance, it was standing-room only beneath the minstrel’s gallery.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in the choir for their commitment over the course of this year, and to the MEMSFest team for having us.
The final two days of Summer Music Week witnessed a tremendous flurry of musical activity both in Colyer-Fergusson and beyond, as the week-long music festival celebrating the end of the University year brought staff, students, guests, alumni and members of the local community together.
An intense forty-eight hours of rehearsing and performing began on Friday at lunchtime, with members of the Musical Theatre Society performing on the foyer-stage.
Later the same day, the Cecilian Choir, Sinfonia and soloists filled the church of St Michael and All Angels at Harbledown with a feast of Baroque music, featuring choral works by Vivaldi, Handel and Lully, and instrumental concerti featuring oboists Jonathan Butten and Dan Lloyd from the School of Biosciences, violinists Lydia Cheng (Law) and Claudia Hill (Politics and International Relations), and arias from Charlotte Webb and Ruth Webster (Biosciences – again!). A sultry encore from the Sinfonia took a packed and delighted audience to Argentina for a scintillating rendition of Piazzolla’s Libertango to conclude. And as if they hadn’t done enough playing, members of the Sinfonia provided a little light music during the post-performance reception…
Dan Lloyd (l) and Jonathan Butten rehearsing Vivaldi Double Oboe Concerto
With the end in sight, rehearsals continued first thing on Saturday morning as the Chorus, Symphony Orchestra and Minerva Voices prepared for the final event of the week, the annual Music for a Summer’s Day. Arriving audience-members were treated to a performance by the unstoppably energetic String Sinfonia on the foyer-stage prior to the afternoon gala concert.
The combined forces brought a programme including a zestful medley from My Fair Lady, besuited butlers bearing drinks during music from Downton Abbey, rousing music by Elgar, a Norwegian ballad, final-year Harriet Gunstone as guest soloist in the Champagne Polka, all culminating in a rousing rendition of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ (including an encore conducted by third-year Cory Adams making a rare sortie from the percussion section to the front of the orchestra), and the shedding of a few tears as we all realised that this was, for those who are graduating, their final performance at the University.
The reception afterwards saw performers, audience, family and friends mingling in the marquee, as well as the presentation of the Music Society Awards – a spirited tongue-in-cheek affair with prizes for ‘Most Likely To Be Seen On A Night Out’ and ‘Best Dressed’ among the commendations – and the raiding of sumptuous racks of cakes and scones, as the week drew to a close, whilst Minerva Voices and a jazz group provided some spontaneous musical entertainment.
Summer Music Week higlights all that making music at the University embraces: students making extra-curricular music and friends during the year; students, staff, alumni and the local community coming together on a weekly basis to work together towards termly public performances; the recognition that music-making holds a valuable place in University life in terms of making friends, developing performing and organisational skills, bringing the community together to work towards a public-facing event that represents the University in ambassadorial fashion. Where else might you find a senior Registrar, the director of the Development Office, the head of the International Office, a first-year from Blackpool reading Drama, a second-year from Malaysia reading Law, violinists from Toronto and Zimbabwe, a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, and local residents combining to let their hair down ?! It’s a terrific whirlygig, a snapshot of all the creativity that thrives both on- and off-campus throughout the course of the year, but it’s also a sad time, as we bid farewell to many who have become a vital part both of the Music department and the wider University during their time at Kent.
To all the leavers, we wish you the very best for the future in Life After Kent; to all those returning (or indeed joining!) us in September; rest assured, we’re now planning for another vibrant, action-packed, stressfull (!), creative, and ultimately rewarding year. To those moving on: we’ll miss you.
Colyer-Fergusson welcomed donors, supporters and friends to the University Music Department yesterday, as they gathered on Day Three of Summer Music Week for the annual Music Scholars’ Lunchtime Recital.
A wonderfully exploratory programme opened with second-year Jonathan Butten giving a lyrical solo cor anglais performance, followed by final-year Anne Engels in two pieces of French flute repertoire by Poulenc and Messiaen. The atmosphere turned sultry with a Piazzollla piano trio, featuring second-year cellist Faith Chan and first-year violinist Lydia Cheng, with Your Loyal Correspondent on piano, before a kitchen-sink finale highlighting diverse repertoire for solo percussion by third-year Cory Adams.
Cory Adams unleashes the timpaniLydia Cheng (l) and Faith Chan (r) after the performanceLydia Cheng and Faith Chan talking with patron of the Music Scholarship scheme, Dame Anne Evans
The concert was followed by the annual Music Awards ceremony, recognising the outstanding contribution made by various student musicians over the course of this year, about which more anon, before audience and performers retired to a post-ceremony reception.
Summer Music Week continues today with live jazz at lunchtime, followed this evening by the roof-raising gala from the Concert and Big Bands.
With one more rehearsal left before Monday’s performance of Horrortorio on Day Two of Summer Music Week, let’s just say things are in *frightfully* good shape…
See the finished product on Monday at 5pm in Colyer-Fergusson Hall…if you dare…
In the week of the composer’s ninetieth birthday, fittingly rehearsals are in progress for our production of Horrortorio, Joseph Horowitz’s mock-Baroque comic oratorio, celebrating the marriage of Dracula’s daughter to the son of Frankenstein.
Ruth Webster; Charlotte Webb; Doug Haycock; Robert Loveless; Joe Prescott
A small group of fiends, sorry, soloists will be joined by members of the Cecilian Choir for an in-the-round performance during Summer Music Week, on Monday 6 June at 5pm, complete with smoke and mirrors, as we transform the concert-hall into a ghoul-frequented wedding party.
Pictures above from the recent soloist’s dress rehearsal; join us in two weeks to be transported to Dracula’s grim castle…
Third-year flautist and Music Scholar Anne Engels recently took part in an annual procession back home in Luxembourg with a difference; I asked her to explain what it was all about…
Anne: “This photo was taken at the Sprangpressessioun (dancing procession) in Echternach, in Luxembourg. There’s an entire history behind the procession. Basically, around ten thousand pilgrims come to Echternach every year on the Tuesday after Whitmonday to visit the grave of St Willibrord, a monk who originally came from Ireland and set up a monastery in Echternach. The monastery now functions as a secondary school and college.
“The procession starts in the schoolyard and goes around the entire city of Echternach. The pilgrims jump or dance to the tune of the dancing procession (a polka), which is being played by a number of different music societies from Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands. The procession ends in the crypt of the Basilika, where St Willibrord is buried.
“As far as I know the jumping is originally believed to be healing or protecting the pilgrims from a specific disease (but I’m not quite sure about that!). The dancing procession itself was also recognized as Intangible Heritage by UNESCO in 2010.”
You can hear Anne performing (without the dancing, unless you feel so moved) in the Music Scholars’ Lunchtime Recital on Tuesday 7 June, when she will be playing Poulenc and Messiaen; details here.
The annual musical celebration of the end of the academic year at the University of Kent, Summer Music Week, is set to burst into life next month.
Featuring many of the University’s ensembles, the week-long festival opens at the seaside on Sunday 5 June with the University Big Band, conducted by Ian Swatman, visiting Deal Bandstand. Events throughout the week include a recital by University Music Scholars, a Wednesday evening gala concert with both the Concert and Big Bands, a feast of Baroque music with the Cecilian Choir and Sinfonia at St Michael’s Church, Harbledown,plus various other lunchtime events, all culminating in the traditional Music for a Summmer’s Day on Saturday 11 June with the Chorus, Orchestra and Minerva Voices, followed by cream teas.
The full line-up of events is now live on our website here, and you can follow all the events on the Summer Music Week Twitter feed here: printed brochures are also available in Colyer-Fergusson and the Gulbenkian. Join us as we bid an action-packed musical adieu to another year at Kent!
Because it does. Doesn't it ? Blogging about extra-curricular musical life at the University of Kent.
The reception afterwards saw performers, audience, family and friends mingling in the marquee, as well as the presentation of the Music Society Awards – a spirited tongue-in-cheek affair with prizes for ‘Most Likely To Be Seen On A Night Out’ and ‘Best Dressed’ among the commendations – and the raiding of sumptuous racks of cakes and scones, as the week drew to a close, whilst Minerva Voices and a jazz group provided some spontaneous musical entertainment.
