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.
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…
Next week is the penultimate week of term, and the events are starting to come thick and fast;
Weds 10 Dec, 1.10pm; the Musical Theatre Society presents a lunchtime of carol-singing on the foyer-stage – admission is free
Thurs 11 Dec, Studio 3 Gallery, Jarman Building, 1pm; the Cecilian Choir presents a festive lunchtime of carols amidst the current exhibition in Studio 3 Gallery over in the School of Arts’ Jarman Building, followed by refreshments; the event is free, details on Facebook here
Saturday 13 Dec, 7.30pm; the University Chorus and Orchestra will be joined by musical alumni in the end of term concert featuring music by Mozart and Beethoven.
And there’s more to come the following week as well; see everything that’s to come on our What’s On page here.
And with the sound of heralding in the distance, the clarion-call of trumpets and a celestial choir, we are delighted to announce that the full line-up of events for Summer Music Week has now been published online.
The annual music celebration of the end of the University year starts with the University Big Band beside the seaside, performing at Deal Bandstand in support of Porchlight on Sunday 8 June at 2.30pm. Events then continue throughout the week – choral music, jazz, Big Band Gala, Music Scholars‘ recital, period-costume with the Dance Orchestra, foyer-stage gigs and more – culminating eventually in Music for a Summer’s Day on Sunday 15 June at 3pm, in which the combined forces of the University Chorus, Orchestra, Concert Band and Chamber Choir bid a rousing farewell to the end of another musical year.
Venues this year range from the seaside at Deal to the historic venues of St Thomas’ Hospital and the ancient St Peter’s Anglican Church in Canterbury, as well as the lively foyer-stage and the Colyer-Fergusson concert-hall.
Explore the complete programme online here: plenty to look forward to in this, the last term. Follow #SummerMusicWeek or @UKCSummerMusic on Twitter.
The University Cecilian Choir and Music Scholars came together in an evocative and dramatic lunchtime concert on the foyer-stage last week, as part of a month-long series of events across the campus to mark LGBT Month.
Conducted by your loyal correspondent, the Cecilian Choir opened the concert with several movements from Britten’s Friday Afternoons, delivered with great vigour. Following this were two of Britten’s folk-song settings; Down By The Salley Gardens (sung by soprano Kathryn Cox) and O Waly, Waly (from soprano Paris Noble). These two moving, initimate reflections on love and loss were performed with real commitment, drawing the hushed audience so close that it was as though the listeners were hunched right around the stage.
The Cecilian Choir returned to the stage, together with third-year harpist Emma Murton, to close the concert with four movements from the Ceremony of Carols, moving from the high drama of ‘This Little Babe’ to the lyrical, evergreen simplicity of ‘Spring Carol,’ through the declamatory ‘Deo Gracias’ and ending with the plainchant of ‘Hodie Christus natus est.’
An engaging concert, and a great opportunity to make a musical contribution to the month’s events. Bravo, team.
The University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra brought their term to a rousing conclusion on Saturday night in the Colyer-Fergusson hall.
But the music doesn’t end there; this Wednesday, there’s a seasonal ‘Watch This Space‘ on the foyer-stage, with festive contributions from the Chamber and Cecilian Choirs, the Lost Consort, Tutti Flutties, The Canterberries and the Dance Band starting at 1.10pm; then there’s live jazz from 2-3pm.
Then at 5.15pm, the University Big Band invites us to Swing-along-a-Santa, including communal carols with the Brass Ensemble. Sadly, all the tickets for the event have now gone – it promises to be a packed and festival finale to the term.
Over on the choral blog, Cantus Firmus, there’s a look back at the University Carol Service that took place on Monday night at Canterbury Cathedral, at which the University Chamber performed, processed, and managed not to set light to anything flammable…
And in case you missed it, conductor of the University Big Band, Ian Swatman, ponders the inevitability of next week’s Swing-along-a-Santa over on On The Beat.
Meanwhile, we’re all preparing for tomorrow night’s concert with the University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra in the usual end-of-term extravaganza. See you on Monday…
Second-year Matt Bamford reviews last week’s choral concert during Summer Music Week.
The Church of St Paul’s Without was the setting for Music for a Summer’s Evening, where the University of Kent Chamber and Cecilian Choirs, conducted by Dan Harding and Emma Murton, joined forces to provide an evening of fantastic entertainment.
The Cecilian Choir
With proceeds in aid of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help, the audience quickly filled the church and eagerly awaited A Ceremony of Carols composed by Benjamin Britten. Whilst the audience entered, they were treated to a selection of pieces by a string quartet consisting of pieces from Queen to Vivaldi.
A Ceremony of Carols begins with a solemn plainchant before going into ‘Wolcum Yole!’ where Emma Murton began to accompany the Cecilian Choir on the harp. The audience were then treated to a solo by Hannah Johns which was very well executed. Another solo from Aisha Bové followed and the balance between Aisha and the supporting choir was perfect. Ann-Kathrin Kirschbaum and Montana Slattery both excelled in solos in ‘In Freezing Winter Night.’
My highlight from the work, however, was ‘Deo Gracias’ which was sung with enthusiasm and fantastic diction. It was very easy to understand the words of the 15th Century Text ‘Adam Lay Ybounden’. Carina Evans then cleverly accompanied the Cecilian choir in two modern pieces which were a real contrast to Britten work.
Carina Evans
After the interval, the University of Kent Chamber Choir took to the stage and opened the second half of the concert with Dawn by Eric Barnum. This is a personal favourite of mine and it really created a very peaceful atmosphere. Tanzen und Springen then gave a fantastic contrast as it is a jolly madrigal by Hans Leo Hassler.
The Chamber Choir
Credit is due to Emma Murton, who after playing the harp and singing in the Chamber Choir then conducted the choir in a brilliant rendition of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. It was brilliant to see the audience enjoying Nice Work If You Can Get It by Gershwin, I don’t think that there was a single foot that wasn’t tapping in the whole church!
The choir then sang Forgotten Children’s Songs composed by Dan Harding, a very clever set of pieces that was very well sung by the choir. I couldn’t help but think of Schumann’s Kinderszenen whilst listening to these pieces.
We were treated to an encore of My Spirit Sang All Day which was a fitting end to a very professional and enjoyable concert. Thanks must go to members of SSAFA who kindly provided the musicians with refreshments after the concert.
Overall, a very enjoyable evening which was well received by the audience.
Matt Bamford
Photos: Matt Wilson
Because it does. Doesn't it ? Blogging about extra-curricular musical life at the University of Kent.
