Thanks to Phil Ward for this wonderfully atmospheric view of the campus this morning, overlooking Canterbury Cathedral. Shortly after this cold and frosty morning, it started snowing too.
Phil’s photographs will form part of the new commission piece which will be premiered by the Chamber and Cecilian Choirs on Friday 13 June during Summer Music Week (details here).
Image: © Phil Ward
For those of you who like your information a little more visual, our What’s On guide to our own events is now available to view online here – created with Padlet, it now looks like a digital fridge-door a-blossom with virtual Post-It-Notes; great for a single-glance guide to what’s to come.
See more here.
Our new What’s On has now gone live, and is packed with lunchtime concerts, choral and orchestral concerts, visiting ensembles and special events.
We continue to celebrate the University’s fiftieth anniversary with the annual Colyer-Fergusson Cathedral concert in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem in March, whilst in June we bring a department-commissioned choral piece from members of the University community. Our Lunchtime Concert series sees tangos from Piazzolla, jazz with the Geoff Mason Quintet, and a second concert from our ensemble-in-residence, CantiaQuorum, in music by Bach, Handel and Telemann. The Concert Band and Big Band will take us on a trip Around The World In… in February; the new Alumni chamber choir Invicta Voices launches; pianist and Honorary Doctorate recipient Freddy Kempf gives a recital in June; and the year ends as usual with the now-customary week-long musical festivities of Summer Music Week.
Take a look at all that’s happening from January to June online here, or download a copy of the brochure (pdf) here.
As those of you who follow us on Twitter will have seen, last term we took a trip around the University of Kent’s Monopoly board, commissioned as part of our fiftieth-anniversary celebrations. Now you can experience the entire odyssey in eighty seconds…
Here’s to the next fifty years!
The Colyer-Fergusson building rang to some festive music-making throughout yesterday afternoon, as various musical ensembles took it in turns to bid a festive farewell to the term.
The foyer-stage hosted a seasonal ‘Watch This Space,’ in which the Flute Group made its debut in carols and the ‘Dance of the Swans’ from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (well, you can’t have Christmas without Tchaikovsky, can you ?!); members of the Cecilian and Chamber Choirs sang a collection of carols; and the Trumpet Trio brought the lunchtime event to a jolly conclusion with popular tunes including All I Want For Christmas (Is You).
Later in the afternoon, it was the turn of the Big Band, directed by the irrepressible Ian Swatman, to treat a packed concert-hall to its now-customary seasonal Swing-along, featuring a guest appearance from our very own Sophie in a sassy rendition of Santa Baby and White Christmas, whilst the Brass Group led some communal carol-singing in robust fashion. The Big Band’s selection-box included a deft rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, a solo spot for baritone sax-player Adam Rose to open a bold arrangement of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen and a lively Jingle Bells.
After the gig, audience and performers spilled out into the foyer for mulled wine and mince pies. A terrific day, concluding a very busy musical term; thanks to everyone who took part yesterday – it’s a wonderful testament to the ethos of music on the Canterbury campus, so many students, staff and members of the local community coming together in various groups to enjoy collective music-making.
We’ll be back in the New Year with details of events throughout the spring and summer; it promises to be an exciting six months ahead, judging by the draft of the forthcoming brochure; see you in January, and from all the music team – a very Merry Christmas!
Members of the Cecilian Choir sallied forth from campus into Herne Bay this week, as guests at Beach Creative arts centre, for a festive lunchtime of carols.
Ranging from the plainchant Hodie Christus natus est to popular seasonal favourites such as God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, a packed gallery space hosted an enthusiastic audience.
The Choir sang amidst the colourful backdrop of the December exhibition at Beach Creative, ‘Gold,’ which provided a myriad colours and textures as a visual enhancement of the programme of carols.
Our thanks to the board of Directors at Beach Creative for the invitation to perform, and to Mandy Broughton and Mandy Troughton for making us so welcome. We look forward to taking future musical events into the gallery next term.
The termly concert by the University Chorus and Orchestra last night saw three musical alumni returning to the Colyer-Fergusson Hall.
Soprano Caroline Kennedy, tenor Andrew Macnair and bass Piran Legg came back to Kent for a performance of Mozart’s Vespers, joined also by mezzo Bethan Langford. whilst the Orchestra furnished the remainder of the programme with Mozart’s overture to The Magic Flute and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.
Under the baton of Sue Wanless, the Orchestra delivered a sprightly and rousing reading of the Beethoven, in particular with an agile second movement that deftly steered clear of the more usual funereal tempi often heard in performance. The concert also saw second-year violinist Chantelle Yau making her debut as orchestral leader.
The next time Chorus and Orchestra perform, it’ll be in the august surroundings of Canterbury Cathedral for Verdi’s Requiem as part of the University’s fiftieth-anniversary celebrations. And That Famous Bass Drum Bit..
Studio 3 Gallery resounded to the sound of Christmas earlier today, as members of the Cecilian and Chamber Choirs took a festival programme of carols across to the School of Arts’ Jarman Building.
An enthusiastic audience was treated to a mixture of carols old and new, ranging from Ravenscroft’s seventeenth-century Remember, O Thou Man to Lauridsen’s sumptuous O Nata Lux and the enduringly-popular Ukrainian carol, Carol of the Bells.
The ravishing choral colours were given extra lustre by the current paintings on display in Studio 3, Rose Hilton’s Give Life To Painting (about which more here). Afterwards, audience and performers mingled over refreshments to explore the paintings further still.
Our thanks to Katie McGown and Denise Twomey for the invitation to come and perform; there are exciting plans afoot to develop a series of music events in Studio 3 throughout next term; watch, as they say, this space…
