Tag Archives: Chorus

Now Hear This!

Just because it’s June…Summer Music Week

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I’m delighted to say that the details for Summer Music Week (Mon 3 – Sun 9 June) have just been published live.

The week-long events programme opens in rousing style with music for brass and percussion at lunchtime on Monday 3 June, and continues throughout the week with a recital from some of the Music Scholars; a day of jazz, culminating in the annual bun-fest that is the Big Band Gala with special guests; string music is the theme on Thursday, including the String Sinfonia; Friday celebrates choral music with a lunchtime of a cappella vocal music, whilst the University Chamber and Cecilian Choirs come together in the evening concert; and the whole week, nay, the whole musical year, reaches its climax on the Sunday, in a combined afternoon concert with the University Chorus, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band and Chamber Choir.

summer_music_flowerFind out all that’s happening that week, including many free events, on the website here.

Just because it’s June…

Now Hear This!

Concert in the Cathedral looms

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Next week sees the annual Colyer-Fergusson Cathedral Concert, and this year the University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra will come together in Brahms’ Second Symphony and Schubert’s Mass in A flat.

cathedral_cloud_floodlit_webThe annual event is always one of the high points in the cultural calendar, and we’re busy amidst a final flurry of rehearsals in preparation for the big night. More details about the concert on our ‘What’s On’ page here.

To whet your appetite, here’s the vibrancy of Brahms’ symphony captured by Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.

See you on the night…

 

Scholars Spotlight

Scholars’ Spotlight: Victoria Newell

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Beginning the series profiling some of this year’s University Music Scholars: this week, soprano Victoria Newell.

 

On Song: soprano Victoria Newell

I have had a love of all music, with a particular passion for singing, from a very early age.  Before starting my Drama and Theatre Studies BA Hons at Kent University in September 2012, I was involved in a wide genre of singing, from formal school choirs to musical theatre and jazz.  I was lucky to attend a school with progressive drama and music departments and was privileged to be given main roles in Seussical, The Witches of Eastwick, Evita, Chicago and Spamalot.  Outside school, I took part in local musical theatre productions, including the title role in Annie, which developed my confidence as a soloist at a young age.

As a soprano I have sung a variety of solos in different choir groups, including 1st soprano in a joint school/adult performance of Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir.  One of the highlights of my singing career was accompanying the school jazz band at various functions – the pinnacle of this was singing ‘Fever’ at the Ronnie Scot’s Jazz Night, where the prestigious Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club performed alongside the school Jazz Band.

I am a songwriter and, in order to accompany myself, a self-taught guitarist with a growing repertoire of songs.  During my recent gap year working in a school in Auckland, New Zealand I supported both the drama and the music departments in a variety of ways, and gained a great deal from this experience.  The school even asked me to take part in their performance of Cats as no one else could reach the top notes in the Jellicle song!

Since being at Kent Uni I have greatly enjoyed being a member of the Chamber Choir and the Chorus.  The highlight so far has been the wonderful Carol Service in Canterbury Cathedral at the end of last term.  The atmosphere was extremely special and I felt very privileged to be part of such an amazing choral group.  Now we are working hard towards the Chamber Choir’s Crypt Concert next month, which promises to be equally fantastic. I have really been enjoying the new music building and all the facilities it offers and I look forward to enjoying and contributing to the department in my years to come.

Victoria Newell

Read the other profiles in the series here.

Building for the future

Chorus of approval

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Last night saw the last of the ‘first’ rehearsals in the new Colyer-Fergusson concert-hall, this time the turn of the University Chorus.

There was a general air of wonderment as members came through the entrance lobby into the new hall, waiting to be seated on the new choral risers.

Everyone waits to be seated

First to be seated were the tenors and basses, ably regimented by ‘Director of Choral Seating,’ Steve;

Seating the tenors and basses

Followed by the ladies of the alto section:

The alto section

And finally the ladies of the soprano section:

The Sopranos

And with everyone seated:

Tutti: this year’s Chorus

Now the hard part is over, the work can begin! 🙂

Notes on Music

An en-Choir-ing mind…

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It’s been a busy week with All Things Choral – the University Chorus continues its exploration of Orff and Handel, the Chamber Choir engages with Tavener and Finzi, and the first rehearsal for this year’s Cecilian Choir sees them getting to grips with Britten’s Ceremony of Carols.

Seeing stars…

And cake and biscuits…

Confused ? Check out all that’s been happening on the choral blog, Cantus Firmus, where you can listen to some of the pieces and see photos of cake. And biscuits too…

Notes on Music

It’s all kicking Orff tonight…

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With rehearsals for the University Concert Band and Big Band having begun last Wednesday, and those for the Symphony Orchestra last Thursday, it’s all choral this week – the University Chorus starts rehearsing this evening, and the Chamber Choir tomorrow night, whilst Sing! starts rehearsing this Thursday.

Tonight, we’ll be getting to grips with Handel’s Coronation Anthem The King Shall Rejoice and Orff’s riotous Carmina Burana with the Chorus – both pieces will feature in the Grand Gala concert which will officially launch the new music building at the inaugural concert in December (details online here).

7.30pm this evening, Grimond Lecture Theatre II; open to staff and students of the University without audition, and auditioned external members as usual – see you then!

And to whet your appetites, here’s Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance from 1989…

N.B. For those interested in Sing! – it starts on Thursday, Rutherford Music Room, 6pm. Be there…

Notes on Music

Autumn Concert Diary now online!

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After an industrious summer of event and programme planning, not to mention the minor task of preparing to move to the new building, I’m delighted to say our new Concert Diary for the Autumn term has now been published online.

Total Brass
Total Brass

The Lunchtime Concert series continues, as we welcome musicians from Total Brass, sitarist Jonathan Mayer, and close-harmony group Sector7 in concerts throughout the term.

University Music Scholars will be giving an informal lunchtime concert in the first week of November – an exciting moment, as it will be the first event in the brand new Colyer-Fergusson music building and its wonderful new concert-hall!

Jonathan Mayer
Jonathan Mayer (sitar)

We’ll also be gathering to raise money for Children in Need again this year; come and be part of a whacky world première with a difference, written by yours truly – all you will need is a donation and your mobile-phone, complete with three different ring-tones…

The world-famous Brodsky Quartet continue their fortieth-birthday celebrations in inimitable style, as they bring their ‘Wheel of Four Tunes’ to the Colyer-Fergusson hall. Armed with an array of forty pieces from their hugely eclectic repertoire, the pieces in this concert will be decided by the spin of a wheel in what promises to be a unique event.

Sector7

Finally, the term comes to a grand finale with the inaugural Gala Concert, with the combined ranks of the Chorus, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Concert Band and Big Band, in a spectacular evening celebrating the formal opening of the new Colyer-Fergusson music building, complete with two new works especially written for the occasion.

An exciting term ahead: find out more online here.

Furley Page logo
Sponsors of the Lunchtime Concert series