Tag Archives: Heart Kent Radio

Cecilian Choir sing the Anthem for Kent: the video

The heady excitement generated by the run-up to the University Cecilian Choir‘s appearance on Heart Kent Radio this morning – and if you’ve missed it all, where HAVE you been ?! – finally peaked when the station broadcast the recording this morning.

P1000735 webTo the delight ot listeners, commuters and those on the school-run throughout the county, the air-waves resounded to staff and students singing ‘England’s Gateway To The World,’ the mock anthem celebrating the glories of our county, arranged for mixed choir by Your Loyal Correspondent.

If you missed this stirring moment, watch the video here; thanks to all the students and staff involved in the project; how about taking it to the Albert Hall ?!

Thanks to HeartKent Radio for the film.

Anthem for Kent: the day the Cecilian Choir went to Heart Radio

What an afternoon.

The rising tide of excitement surrounding the ‘Anthem for Kent,’ created by HeartKent Radio by presenters James and Becky (see previous post), and turned into a full mixed-choir arrangement by Your Loyal Correspondent, finally peaked when members of the Cecilian Choir went out to the radio station yesterday  in order to record the piece.

P1000747 webLike something out of the Italian Job, a fleet of cars left the University campus and trekked deep into the darkest recesses of the north Kent coast, to arrive at the radio station where the excitement was palpable: we were really here! Ushered into the atrium, we met the presenters and production team, before recording the anthem; soprano Charlotte Webb and tenor Joe Prescott were also interviewed about their experience learning the piece.

P1000772 web
The Cecilian Choir with presenters James and Becky (centre)
WP_20160225_010 web
Joe and Charlotte in interview

WP_20160225_022 web P1000735 web P1000736 web P1000751 webA terrific experience for all the students and staff involved, and a chance to see into the life of the radio station where all the magic happens. Thanks to James, Becky, Producer Matt and the rest of the team for making us welcome;  tune in to Heart Breakfast tomorrow (Thursday) morning between 8 – 8.30am to hear the final result…

Photos: ©  Heart Kent Radio / University Music Department

Anthem for Kent for HeartKent Radio: part Two

Since we last spoke, you and I, Your Loyal Correspondent has been busy making good on his rash promise to create a choral arrangement of the Anthem for Kent, which presenters James and Becky broadcast on HeartKent Radio a few weeks ago, and which I thought on Tuesday might work as a choral piece.

Since then, with brow furrowed and wielding quill and parchment, the arrangement has been written and type-set, and is here unveiled for the first time; the University Cecilian Choir will be taking a first look at it in rehearsal later today.

WP_20160225_001

This stirring, epic hymn to the glories of the county will resound around Colyer-Fergusson Hall this afternoon; prepare for the earth to move…

 

Anthem for Kent for HeartKentRadio: part One

Early risers may have caught Your Loyal Correspondent live on air this morning, talking on Heart Kent Radio about the Anthem for Kent which presenters James and Becky have put together.

This stirring, majestic eulogy to the glories of the county – think Elgar and Walton – celebrates its Roman roads, its White Cliffs, as a ‘Garden of England green,’ and I rashly suggested that what better than a choral arrangement of the piece sung by the University Cecilian Choir ? A piece about the county sung by the county’s University seemed a great idea whilst listening to it in my car in the white-heat of the school run a couple of weeks ago, a thought I carelessly voiced out loud and to which my children immediately yelled ‘WE DARE YOU!’

Kent_Anthem_early_draftSo, here we are; I’ve now made a start on converting the piece to a full arrangement for mixed choir, which the Cecilian Choir will then need to learn. We’ll keep you posted as to how it’s progressing. It’s my children’s fault…

Who knows, maybe a performance in the Royal Albert Hall, anyone ?!