Quantus tremor est futurus: getting ready for Saturday

A big week this week, as we continue our preparations ahead of the annual Colyer-Fergusson Cathedral Concert on Saturday, for which the combined might of the University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra will come together in Verdi’s Requiem.

Here’s the Chorus in fine form yesterday afternoon, rehearsing old-skool style in Grimond, where for many years the Chorus used to meet each Monday night. Although we don’t recall its ever having been quite so green before…

Dies irae: Chorus rehearsing in Grimond
Dies irae: Chorus rehearsing in Grimond

Yesterday’s all-day rehearsal is followed by rehearsals tonight, Thursday and on Saturday morning. It all culminates on Saturday evening; how much tremor there shall be…

 

All that jazz: the Geoff Mason Quintet coming next week

Our next lunchtime concert on Weds 11 March sees trombonist Geoff Mason bring his quintet to Colyer-Fergusson for what promises to be a mouth-watering gig.

A regular with the Ronnie Scott’s Big Band, Geoff Mason is widely regarded as the leading exponent of ‘Blue Note Era’ jazz in the UK, named for legendary sound engineer Ruby van Gelder’s recordings by players such as Lee Konitz, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard and Cannonball Adderley during the 1950s and 60s.

Geoff MasonThe quintet line-up reads like a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of British jazz, and includes drummer Trevor Tomkins, saxophonist Simon Spillett and pianist John Horler. I remember hearing a gig with John Horler and guitarist John Etherbridge broadcast on Radio 3 a few years ago that was mesmerising.

The programme promises a blend of jazz standards and bebop tunes, and will surely be a highlight of the year; the concert starts at 1.10pm, admission is free with a retiring donation.

Here’s a classic of the Blue Note sound: Cannonball Adderley as front-man to a group including Miles Davis, in ‘Love for Sale’ from the 1958 classic, Somethin’ Else. (Just look at that line-up…)

Furley Page logo
Sponsors of the Lunchtime Concert series

Image Gallery: the ‘Variation a Day’ project

Over ten days, Your Loyal Correspondent has been exploring the Variations for Judith with a performance each lunchtime of the aria (‘Bist du bei mir,’ sung by fourth-year soprano, Kathryn Cox) followed by one of the modern reflections from the set.

It’s been a fascinating odyssey, during which the aria has changed, developed, altered, as we’ve explored the resonances between it and the ensuing variation; a daily visit to the same piece of music, performed ten times in front of different people, has seen the aria sung differently on each occasion; more intimately, more expansively, at different tempi, exploring a wider dynamic range.

I’m hugely grateful to Kathryn for undertaking the project, and for turning up each day on the foyer-stage at 1.15pm to sing the same piece each time! Tomorrow, we perform the set as a whole, including the aria, in the concert-hall at 1.10pm, and I’ll also be performing pieces by Amy Beach, Satie and Alison Wrenn.

One last stop on the voyage…

A drum, a drum: Verdi doth come…

The annual Colyer-Fergusson Cathedral Concert next week forms part of the University’s fiftieth-anniversary celebrations, and does so in grandiose fashion with Verdi’s epic Requiem on Saturday 14 March.

50th-ribbon-smlConducted by the Director of Music, Susan Wanless, the Chorus and Symphony Orchestra will unite to set the Nave’s soaring, vaulted ceiling echoing, joined by four acclaimed soloists, together with The Verdi Drum of the South-East, in what promises to be a highlight of this year’s performing calendar.

Here is the University Chorus at a recent rehearsal, looking and sounding in fine form:

Chorus

The Director of Music is very excited at the prospect: ”the concert will provide the perfect setting to capture the Requiem’s operatic power and drama and the event will showcase the University’s many talented musicians.” Darn right!

Verdi RequiemJoin us (and the Verdi Drum) for high drama on March 14th – details and tickets here.

Not one but two Big Bands this Wednesday

Fresh from its roof-raising gig here last Friday, there’s no rest for the University Big Band as its takes its dancing-feet down the road to St Edmunds’ School, where it joins forces with the St Edmund’s School Big Band for a rollicking night of jazz, swing and blues this Wednesday night.

Click to view
Click to view

Fearless captain Ian Swatman will once more be at the helm, and vocalist Louise Cookman will return for what promises to be a lively evening; tickets are a mere snip at £7 / £5 concessions, available from the Marlowe Theatre Box Office or Canterbury Ticket Shop here.

Hold on to your hats…

Heart of Glass: #EarBox at Studio 3 Gallery

The collaborative #EarBox series exploring the resonances between visual art and music continued yesterday, with a recital of piano music by Philip Glass by Your Loyal Correspondent over in Studio 3 Gallery in the School of Arts’ Jarman Building.

It was fantastic to play for such an attentive audience, who listened to a selection of the piano Etudes, Opening, and parts of the music to The Hours and The Truman Show. The dim-lit gallery space allowed room for contemplation and reflection, in a programme of music where the use of pattern, repetition and shifting tonal colours responded to the Palindrome exhibition currently adorning the gallery’s walls.

Thanks to Katie McGown for the photos. #EarBox will return: watch this space…

Find out more about Studio 3 Gallery and the latest exhibition here.

Are bassists hot, and are trombone players good kissers ? Crucial questions for Google

Thanks to colleague, Mick Norman, for pointing us in the direction of this revealing graphic by Rick O’Bannon and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Collating the questions Google auto-predicts, it shows some crucial questions are being asked of the search engine about the heady world of orchestral musicians, including ”Do trombone players make good kissers?” and ”How much do oboe players get paid ?”

In the interests of impartiality, we are, of course unable to comment on either of these critical questions…

Image: Rick O'Bannon / BSO
Image: Rick O’Bannon / BSO: click to read article

Read the full feature on the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s website here.

High-voltage Baroque from CantiaQuorum

An electrifying performance of the Bach Double Violin Concerto from Alexandra Reid and Kathy Shave and the musicians of CantiaQuorum was the centrepiece of a concert bursting with energy on Friday.

A rapturous ovation from an enthralled audience greeted an agile reading of Bach’s concerto that bristled with vigour – the enthusiasm shared between the soloists was reflected by the ensemble as a whole.

WP_20150220_20_02_07_ProThe evening opened with Handel’s Silete Venti, conducted by Alex Caldon, with Susanna Hurrell’s bright, spinning soprano a perfect foil for the supremely accomplished Ilid Jones on oboe; the performance deftly captured the wide range of both the drama and the melodic grace of the piece, delivered with stylish aplomb.

WP_20150220_20_05_29_ProThe second half alternated movements of Telemann’s Tafelmusik with Cage’s Living Room Music; gathered around a dining-table, various members of the ensemble took turns to wield chopsticks, cutlery and even children’s toys to realise Cage’s exploitation of household objects, at one point updating it to deploy iPhones and an iPad to reflect the twenty-first century – an energy-drive reading of a different kind.

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A fantastic evening, with an ensemble of professional players in tip-top form.