New Cambridge Singers news
March 2017
Music for choir and viols: premiere of Giles Swayne's Everybloom
Robert Hugill from Planet Hugill interviewed distinguished composer Giles Swayne and NCS Music Director Graham Walker to find out more about this new commission. Read the article: Giles Swayne's Everybloom.
Music for choir and viols: premiere of Giles Swayne's Everybloom
Robert Hugill from Planet Hugill interviewed distinguished composer Giles Swayne and NCS Music Director Graham Walker to find out more about this new commission. Read the article: Giles Swayne's Everybloom.
February 2017
Cambridge choir leads Choral Renaissance
The New Cambridge Singers (NCS) chamber choir, renowned for its imaginative approach to programming and performance, is gearing up for its flagship spring programme Renaissance Reimagined. Spanning five centuries, the programme combines superb 15th- and 16th-century masterworks with two exciting commissions inspired by the Renaissance – providing a cultural bridge that brings together professional musicians with talented amateurs, and reaches out to audiences in new ways.
At the heart of this project are the people who come to hear the music. NCS is deeply committed to its outreach work, and Renaissance Reimagined will build on the spectacular success of their ‘Big Sing’ performance of Handel’s Messiah in January – in which more than 430 people took part from around the region and over £8,000 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The first event is an Open Rehearsal of a newly-commissioned work, Everybloom, by distinguished composer Giles Swayne, in advance of two superb concerts of glorious Renaissance and Renaissance-inspired music.The idea is to give members of the public, students and other musicians the chance to hear a new work in the process of rehearsal, and to meet and chat with Giles – who will also talk about his piece.
The rehearsal is at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1 March at Parkside Community College, Cambridge, and is free to attend. Some of it will also be filmed for webcast, so that those who can’t be there in person can still get to know Everybloom, which sets text from James Joyce’s great novel Ulysses and features chorus, soloists and a consort of viols. Giles comments: “the haunting, resinous quality of the viol consort has always excited me, and the opportunity to combine it with voices is irresistible.”
Members of the public will also be able to share in the experience of making music themselves, rehearsing two short pieces with NCS on the day of the concert and performing in the evening. These are Thomas Tallis' famous canon, Glory to thee, my God, this night, and a new work called Then the angel showed me the river…, the winning entry from NCS’ first-ever composition competition held in November 2016.
Chosen from more than fifty pieces submitted by composers from all over the world, with an age range spanning 19 – 90, the winning composition is by a young New Zealander, Paul Newton-Jackson, who is currently studying music at Cambridge. Written for SATB, Renaissance brass ensemble and audience chorus, it sets a beautiful description of the New Jerusalem from the Book of Revelation – a vision of a broken world made whole. NCS Music Director Graham Walker, also one of the judges of the competition, says of Paul’s piece: “I found [it] most carefully and thoughtfully structured, with a clear sense of development and arch … the writing for the audience chorus was unique among the entries.”
Three other great sacred works from the Renaissance complete the programme: Thomas Tallis’ extraordinary 40-part motet Spem in alium, which has achieved justifiably iconic status in the choral repertoire; William Byrd’s Mass Propers for Ascensiontide from Gradualia; and Orlando Lassus’ magnificent Missa Bell’Amfitrit’ altera with its rich double-choir sonorities.
The choir joins forces with Newe Vialles and a consort of cornetts and sackbuts, led by Jeremy West. Performances are in Cambridge and London with pre-concert talks by Giles Swayne:
at Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge on Saturday 1 April, and at St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens on Saturday 22 April, in partnership with the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London.
The New Cambridge Singers are extremely grateful for the support they have received for this project from Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts and the RVW Trust.
Media enquiries: please contact Margaret Levin on 07790 411131 or by email on [email protected]
Cambridge choir leads Choral Renaissance
The New Cambridge Singers (NCS) chamber choir, renowned for its imaginative approach to programming and performance, is gearing up for its flagship spring programme Renaissance Reimagined. Spanning five centuries, the programme combines superb 15th- and 16th-century masterworks with two exciting commissions inspired by the Renaissance – providing a cultural bridge that brings together professional musicians with talented amateurs, and reaches out to audiences in new ways.
At the heart of this project are the people who come to hear the music. NCS is deeply committed to its outreach work, and Renaissance Reimagined will build on the spectacular success of their ‘Big Sing’ performance of Handel’s Messiah in January – in which more than 430 people took part from around the region and over £8,000 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The first event is an Open Rehearsal of a newly-commissioned work, Everybloom, by distinguished composer Giles Swayne, in advance of two superb concerts of glorious Renaissance and Renaissance-inspired music.The idea is to give members of the public, students and other musicians the chance to hear a new work in the process of rehearsal, and to meet and chat with Giles – who will also talk about his piece.
The rehearsal is at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1 March at Parkside Community College, Cambridge, and is free to attend. Some of it will also be filmed for webcast, so that those who can’t be there in person can still get to know Everybloom, which sets text from James Joyce’s great novel Ulysses and features chorus, soloists and a consort of viols. Giles comments: “the haunting, resinous quality of the viol consort has always excited me, and the opportunity to combine it with voices is irresistible.”
Members of the public will also be able to share in the experience of making music themselves, rehearsing two short pieces with NCS on the day of the concert and performing in the evening. These are Thomas Tallis' famous canon, Glory to thee, my God, this night, and a new work called Then the angel showed me the river…, the winning entry from NCS’ first-ever composition competition held in November 2016.
Chosen from more than fifty pieces submitted by composers from all over the world, with an age range spanning 19 – 90, the winning composition is by a young New Zealander, Paul Newton-Jackson, who is currently studying music at Cambridge. Written for SATB, Renaissance brass ensemble and audience chorus, it sets a beautiful description of the New Jerusalem from the Book of Revelation – a vision of a broken world made whole. NCS Music Director Graham Walker, also one of the judges of the competition, says of Paul’s piece: “I found [it] most carefully and thoughtfully structured, with a clear sense of development and arch … the writing for the audience chorus was unique among the entries.”
Three other great sacred works from the Renaissance complete the programme: Thomas Tallis’ extraordinary 40-part motet Spem in alium, which has achieved justifiably iconic status in the choral repertoire; William Byrd’s Mass Propers for Ascensiontide from Gradualia; and Orlando Lassus’ magnificent Missa Bell’Amfitrit’ altera with its rich double-choir sonorities.
The choir joins forces with Newe Vialles and a consort of cornetts and sackbuts, led by Jeremy West. Performances are in Cambridge and London with pre-concert talks by Giles Swayne:
at Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge on Saturday 1 April, and at St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens on Saturday 22 April, in partnership with the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London.
The New Cambridge Singers are extremely grateful for the support they have received for this project from Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts and the RVW Trust.
Media enquiries: please contact Margaret Levin on 07790 411131 or by email on [email protected]
January 2017
Results of The Big Sing 2017: Handel’s Messiah
The New Cambridge Singers are delighted with the fantastic response to The Big Sing which took place on Saturday 21st January in Great St Mary’s Church to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Over 430 singers came to rehearse and perform Handel’s Messiah under NCS Music Director Graham Walker. Over 100 people then squeezed into the remaining seats to listen to the performance itself later on in the evening.
The whole event was managed by the New Cambridge Singers who invited singers to come from a wide area of East Anglia. Others travelled from further afield - London, Brighton and other places. The orchestra and soloists all gave their time for the charity, and the result is that the event has raised over £8,000 for Macmillan’s work in Cambridgeshire. Gillian Perkins, NCS organiser of the Big Sing, admitted her target was “more than £5,000, but £8,000 has exceeded my wildest hopes. The noise all those singers made was tremendous, as anyone lucky enough to have squeezed in will tell you. Anyone walking by the church could not have missed the Hallelujah chorus at full pelt. And it’s especially wonderful that around 10% of the singers had not sung the Messiah before - quite a number of them were young singers - and I think they would have had a great time!”
Results of The Big Sing 2017: Handel’s Messiah
The New Cambridge Singers are delighted with the fantastic response to The Big Sing which took place on Saturday 21st January in Great St Mary’s Church to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Over 430 singers came to rehearse and perform Handel’s Messiah under NCS Music Director Graham Walker. Over 100 people then squeezed into the remaining seats to listen to the performance itself later on in the evening.
The whole event was managed by the New Cambridge Singers who invited singers to come from a wide area of East Anglia. Others travelled from further afield - London, Brighton and other places. The orchestra and soloists all gave their time for the charity, and the result is that the event has raised over £8,000 for Macmillan’s work in Cambridgeshire. Gillian Perkins, NCS organiser of the Big Sing, admitted her target was “more than £5,000, but £8,000 has exceeded my wildest hopes. The noise all those singers made was tremendous, as anyone lucky enough to have squeezed in will tell you. Anyone walking by the church could not have missed the Hallelujah chorus at full pelt. And it’s especially wonderful that around 10% of the singers had not sung the Messiah before - quite a number of them were young singers - and I think they would have had a great time!”
January 2017
The Big Sing 2017: Handel’s Messiah
We all know January is a gloomy month – so what better way to lift your spirits than by taking part in the New Cambridge Singers’ ‘Big Sing’?
A mass choral event for singers old and new, and of all abilities, it promises to be an exhilarating event raising vital funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Who hasn’t sung along to the Hallelujah Chorus? We’re sure you will love it, so caught up with members of the choir to find out more
TELL ME ABOUT THE BIG SING (Angela Au, Soprano)
The Big Sing is big! It’s a chance to come and sing a popular classical work, to raise money for a local charity, and above all to enjoy yourself. It’s a chance for past, present and future choral singers, and singers of none, to join together in a good cause. If you haven’t sung since school days, or sung for years, it does not matter, as you will be in good company. And it doesn’t matter if your ability to read music is rusty because a Big Sing is empowering. You will be surrounded by people all singing your part, meaning you get transported along with them and you’ll find confidence to sing like you never thought you could or would again!
HOW DID THE BIG SING BEGIN? (Gillian Perkins, Alto and Big Sing organiser)
New Cambridge Singers decided to organise a fund raising Come & Sing a couple of days after the dreadful Tsunami on Boxing Day in 2004. We invited singers to Great St Mary’s Church (GSM) in Cambridge to sing Vivaldi’s Gloria and part of Handel’s Messiah just three weeks after the disaster. The Tsunami effect was dramatic. We did no printed publicity, merely sent out e-mails to every choir and friend we had. They went viral in a way we could not have imagined. The number of people who turned up on the day to come and sing was simply stunning – such that the police turned up to manage the queue for us. Quite unbidden and unbeknown to me, someone had sent them an e-mail asking them to come and sing! Whilst waiting for a television news crew to arrive, outside the church, I met a bobby. “Wow, what a queue!” I said. He took me to the corner of the church and pointed up Trinity Street, where hundreds of people were waiting all the way up to Heffers. Everyone got in, and we had something like 1100 singers but there was only room for 120 people in the audience... The police counted them off, then we flung open the big west doors of the church (even in January) and hundreds more people stood outside in the street to listen. We raised £20,000!”
YOU DECIDED TO CONTINUE THE BIG SINGS….(Frank Hopkirk, Chair of NCS, and Bass)
The Big Sing has now become an established event in the NCS Calendar, taking place every two or three years in the quiet, early part of the New Year. Not only does it raise substantial amounts for charities with local connections but it also enables us to engage with singers in the local community and indeed from much further afield. (We’ve discovered singers in Brighton, Bristol, to name two, and even a lady from Harare!)
The occasion gives people a chance to express their support towards a charity and the people cared for in a manner that is enriched by the singing and the impact of the day. It makes it possible for participants to feel that they are doing something very positive to help. The event for Hospice at Home in 2007 had a tinge of sadness in so far as the choir sang a piece, conducted by John Rutter, in memory of a choir member whom the charity had supported. Other events have helped ongoing work by the host charity such as the Alzheimer's Society, Addenbrookes’ Charitable Trust for the Department of Medicine for the Elderly and East Anglia’s Children's Hospices.
Above all else, Big Sings are positive and joyful occasions. I’m looking forward to welcoming singers old, young and new, and audience on January 21st. It should be a wonderful musical experience and raise vital money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
TALE OF A FIRST TIMER
Jean, from Cambridge, hadn’t sung in a choir before and she wrote about her day:
“I joined the Big Sing event in January 2015 as a complete novice, who did not know what I was letting myself in for except to know we were ‘doing’ Mozart’s Requiem which I love. Under the direction of a great conductor, Graham Walker, some 400 of us took part in a day of carefully orchestrated rehearsals designed to get the best out of everyone. Graham’s style is so supportive and motivating. And to cut a long story short, in the evening I took part in my first public performance of a great classical work. There were some fantastic voices around me. The atmosphere was great, the audience were very appreciative. So if you want a rewarding and uplifting day, I recommend the Big Sing to you. I’d be game to do it again!”
THE CONDUCTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
The 2017 Big Sing will be conducted by Graham Walker, New Cambridge Singers’ Music Director. An award-winning cellist and conductor, Graham is no stranger to the Cambridge music scene – a chorister and choral scholar at St. John’s College, he now directs St. John’s Voices and is Precentor and Director of Music at Magdalene College. The News caught up with Graham and asked how he goes about directing such a big event.
“It’s quite a challenge, certainly, but enormously exciting. You have a large church crammed with singers, plus orchestra, and from my viewpoint it’s quite a sight! And the sound of those massed voices is absolutely electrifying. I found the 2015 Mozart Requiem - with nearly 500 performers - an incredibly moving and exciting experience, and Messiah in January will be just as wonderful. The challenge is to bring all these different people together in a really short space of time, but the effect is quite magical.”
THE BIG SING 2017 WILL BE IN AID OF MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT – HOW WILL THE MONEY BE USED? (Penny Cleobury – Chair of the Macmillan Cancer Support Fundraising Committee in Cambridge)
“Every day 1000 people in the UK find out they have cancer. Macmillan Cancer Support is the only charity that provides a complete package of care to ensure that cancer patients do not have to go through this alone. Although the Charity is known nationally, it is also a “local” charity and all profits from the Big Sing 2017 will go to Macmillan in Cambridgeshire, so your participation or contribution will help provide not only medical, but also financial, emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families near you.”
ABOUT MESSIAH
Messiah is almost a household word for English people, whether music lovers or not. Arguably the most famous choral work of all time, beloved of choirs around the world, Handel wrote Messiah in 22 days when he was virtually bankrupt – he had lost a great deal of money promoting performances of his operas and other oratorios in London. It was first performed in Dublin, at a concert to raise money for Mercer’s Hospital – it raised £127. The first performance in London in 1750 was for the Foundling Hospital by which time Handel had recovered his financial position somewhat. So many people wanted to come to the concert it had to be repeated two weeks later. It’s a work which has never gone out of fashion – from its opening Comfort Ye, its exuberant Glory to God chorus, the sorrow of He was despised to the exultant Hallelujah, it is full of music so well known.
WHY DON’T YOU COME AND JOIN IN THIS AMAZING EVENT
If you have never sung Messiah, this is your chance! Book your ticket now!
Saturday 21st January 2017 at Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge, CB2 3PQ.
2pm rehearsal with registration and music collection from 1.15pm. If you have a copy of the Watkins Shaw edition of Messiah please bring it along. There will be a break for tea.
The performance starts at 6pm, and will finish around 7.30pm.
The New Cambridge Singers and New Cambridge Players will be there to welcome you. There will also be a team of soloists so you will hear the famous arias as well as sing the well-known choruses. Singers should book in advance if possible.
The Big Sing 2017: Handel’s Messiah
We all know January is a gloomy month – so what better way to lift your spirits than by taking part in the New Cambridge Singers’ ‘Big Sing’?
A mass choral event for singers old and new, and of all abilities, it promises to be an exhilarating event raising vital funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Who hasn’t sung along to the Hallelujah Chorus? We’re sure you will love it, so caught up with members of the choir to find out more
TELL ME ABOUT THE BIG SING (Angela Au, Soprano)
The Big Sing is big! It’s a chance to come and sing a popular classical work, to raise money for a local charity, and above all to enjoy yourself. It’s a chance for past, present and future choral singers, and singers of none, to join together in a good cause. If you haven’t sung since school days, or sung for years, it does not matter, as you will be in good company. And it doesn’t matter if your ability to read music is rusty because a Big Sing is empowering. You will be surrounded by people all singing your part, meaning you get transported along with them and you’ll find confidence to sing like you never thought you could or would again!
HOW DID THE BIG SING BEGIN? (Gillian Perkins, Alto and Big Sing organiser)
New Cambridge Singers decided to organise a fund raising Come & Sing a couple of days after the dreadful Tsunami on Boxing Day in 2004. We invited singers to Great St Mary’s Church (GSM) in Cambridge to sing Vivaldi’s Gloria and part of Handel’s Messiah just three weeks after the disaster. The Tsunami effect was dramatic. We did no printed publicity, merely sent out e-mails to every choir and friend we had. They went viral in a way we could not have imagined. The number of people who turned up on the day to come and sing was simply stunning – such that the police turned up to manage the queue for us. Quite unbidden and unbeknown to me, someone had sent them an e-mail asking them to come and sing! Whilst waiting for a television news crew to arrive, outside the church, I met a bobby. “Wow, what a queue!” I said. He took me to the corner of the church and pointed up Trinity Street, where hundreds of people were waiting all the way up to Heffers. Everyone got in, and we had something like 1100 singers but there was only room for 120 people in the audience... The police counted them off, then we flung open the big west doors of the church (even in January) and hundreds more people stood outside in the street to listen. We raised £20,000!”
YOU DECIDED TO CONTINUE THE BIG SINGS….(Frank Hopkirk, Chair of NCS, and Bass)
The Big Sing has now become an established event in the NCS Calendar, taking place every two or three years in the quiet, early part of the New Year. Not only does it raise substantial amounts for charities with local connections but it also enables us to engage with singers in the local community and indeed from much further afield. (We’ve discovered singers in Brighton, Bristol, to name two, and even a lady from Harare!)
The occasion gives people a chance to express their support towards a charity and the people cared for in a manner that is enriched by the singing and the impact of the day. It makes it possible for participants to feel that they are doing something very positive to help. The event for Hospice at Home in 2007 had a tinge of sadness in so far as the choir sang a piece, conducted by John Rutter, in memory of a choir member whom the charity had supported. Other events have helped ongoing work by the host charity such as the Alzheimer's Society, Addenbrookes’ Charitable Trust for the Department of Medicine for the Elderly and East Anglia’s Children's Hospices.
Above all else, Big Sings are positive and joyful occasions. I’m looking forward to welcoming singers old, young and new, and audience on January 21st. It should be a wonderful musical experience and raise vital money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
TALE OF A FIRST TIMER
Jean, from Cambridge, hadn’t sung in a choir before and she wrote about her day:
“I joined the Big Sing event in January 2015 as a complete novice, who did not know what I was letting myself in for except to know we were ‘doing’ Mozart’s Requiem which I love. Under the direction of a great conductor, Graham Walker, some 400 of us took part in a day of carefully orchestrated rehearsals designed to get the best out of everyone. Graham’s style is so supportive and motivating. And to cut a long story short, in the evening I took part in my first public performance of a great classical work. There were some fantastic voices around me. The atmosphere was great, the audience were very appreciative. So if you want a rewarding and uplifting day, I recommend the Big Sing to you. I’d be game to do it again!”
THE CONDUCTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
The 2017 Big Sing will be conducted by Graham Walker, New Cambridge Singers’ Music Director. An award-winning cellist and conductor, Graham is no stranger to the Cambridge music scene – a chorister and choral scholar at St. John’s College, he now directs St. John’s Voices and is Precentor and Director of Music at Magdalene College. The News caught up with Graham and asked how he goes about directing such a big event.
“It’s quite a challenge, certainly, but enormously exciting. You have a large church crammed with singers, plus orchestra, and from my viewpoint it’s quite a sight! And the sound of those massed voices is absolutely electrifying. I found the 2015 Mozart Requiem - with nearly 500 performers - an incredibly moving and exciting experience, and Messiah in January will be just as wonderful. The challenge is to bring all these different people together in a really short space of time, but the effect is quite magical.”
THE BIG SING 2017 WILL BE IN AID OF MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT – HOW WILL THE MONEY BE USED? (Penny Cleobury – Chair of the Macmillan Cancer Support Fundraising Committee in Cambridge)
“Every day 1000 people in the UK find out they have cancer. Macmillan Cancer Support is the only charity that provides a complete package of care to ensure that cancer patients do not have to go through this alone. Although the Charity is known nationally, it is also a “local” charity and all profits from the Big Sing 2017 will go to Macmillan in Cambridgeshire, so your participation or contribution will help provide not only medical, but also financial, emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families near you.”
ABOUT MESSIAH
Messiah is almost a household word for English people, whether music lovers or not. Arguably the most famous choral work of all time, beloved of choirs around the world, Handel wrote Messiah in 22 days when he was virtually bankrupt – he had lost a great deal of money promoting performances of his operas and other oratorios in London. It was first performed in Dublin, at a concert to raise money for Mercer’s Hospital – it raised £127. The first performance in London in 1750 was for the Foundling Hospital by which time Handel had recovered his financial position somewhat. So many people wanted to come to the concert it had to be repeated two weeks later. It’s a work which has never gone out of fashion – from its opening Comfort Ye, its exuberant Glory to God chorus, the sorrow of He was despised to the exultant Hallelujah, it is full of music so well known.
WHY DON’T YOU COME AND JOIN IN THIS AMAZING EVENT
If you have never sung Messiah, this is your chance! Book your ticket now!
Saturday 21st January 2017 at Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge, CB2 3PQ.
2pm rehearsal with registration and music collection from 1.15pm. If you have a copy of the Watkins Shaw edition of Messiah please bring it along. There will be a break for tea.
The performance starts at 6pm, and will finish around 7.30pm.
The New Cambridge Singers and New Cambridge Players will be there to welcome you. There will also be a team of soloists so you will hear the famous arias as well as sing the well-known choruses. Singers should book in advance if possible.
November 2016
New Cambridge Singers Composition Competition: Winner Announcement
Fifty entries from around the world from composers ranging in age from 19 to 90 were received for this composition competition. The winning work "Then the Angel showed me the River...", composed by Paul Newton-Jackson who received a prize of £500, is scored for SATB chorus, audience chorus and five-piece Renaissance brass ensemble, and will be performed at least twice, in Cambridge and London in 2017. More details about the competition, the winner and the winning work can be found here.
New Cambridge Singers Composition Competition: Winner Announcement
Fifty entries from around the world from composers ranging in age from 19 to 90 were received for this composition competition. The winning work "Then the Angel showed me the River...", composed by Paul Newton-Jackson who received a prize of £500, is scored for SATB chorus, audience chorus and five-piece Renaissance brass ensemble, and will be performed at least twice, in Cambridge and London in 2017. More details about the competition, the winner and the winning work can be found here.
December 2016
Victorian Christmas by candlelight:
Raising funds for a very modern way of saving lives…
Many of the most cherished Christmas traditions began in Victorian times, from giving gifts to Christmas trees and mulled wine. Carol singing was regarded as a delightful form of musical entertainment, and we hope those who come to our atmospheric Victorian Christmas Concert will also agree! New Cambridge Singers have teamed up with East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and their concert on Tuesday 13th December in Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge will raise funds for a much-valued service in our region.
EAAA Fundraising Manager Barbara McGee commented,
“We are delighted to be partnering with the New Cambridge Singers at this special time of the year. With each mission costing an average £3,500, EAAA is challenged with raising £11.1 million this year to keep our two helicopters in the skies above our region. We receive no regular, direct government funding and are solely reliant upon the voluntary funding and generosity from the kind people of East Anglia. Together we save lives.”
Great St Mary’s Church in Cambridge will be atmospherically lit by candles whilst the audience enjoys festive performances of music, interspersed with readings, from the Victorian era. There will be some firm favourites, including the peaceful Silent Night as well as the joyful Deck the Halls, and lesser known hidden gems. There will also be opportunities for the audience to join in and festive refreshments will be served during the interval.
Victorian Christmas by candlelight:
Raising funds for a very modern way of saving lives…
Many of the most cherished Christmas traditions began in Victorian times, from giving gifts to Christmas trees and mulled wine. Carol singing was regarded as a delightful form of musical entertainment, and we hope those who come to our atmospheric Victorian Christmas Concert will also agree! New Cambridge Singers have teamed up with East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and their concert on Tuesday 13th December in Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge will raise funds for a much-valued service in our region.
EAAA Fundraising Manager Barbara McGee commented,
“We are delighted to be partnering with the New Cambridge Singers at this special time of the year. With each mission costing an average £3,500, EAAA is challenged with raising £11.1 million this year to keep our two helicopters in the skies above our region. We receive no regular, direct government funding and are solely reliant upon the voluntary funding and generosity from the kind people of East Anglia. Together we save lives.”
Great St Mary’s Church in Cambridge will be atmospherically lit by candles whilst the audience enjoys festive performances of music, interspersed with readings, from the Victorian era. There will be some firm favourites, including the peaceful Silent Night as well as the joyful Deck the Halls, and lesser known hidden gems. There will also be opportunities for the audience to join in and festive refreshments will be served during the interval.
Photo credit cambridge2000.com
November 2016
Honouring those who have fallen
The theme of remembrance is ever present in the opening concerts of the New Cambridge Singers’ Season, taking place in central Cambridge (the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs), and in Fordham, near Newmarket in November.
The concerts, which explore the beautiful tradition of French choral music, will offer the listener a memorable evening, whether merely enjoying the music, or using the opportunity for contemplation around the time of Remembrance Day, and more specifically, the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.
The programme contrasts the sumptuous harmonies of Poulenc’s exquisite a cappella motets for men’s voices with the imposing grandeur of Vierne’s only Mass setting and the intimate intensity of Fauré’s ever-popular Requiem.
For those interested in attending our central Cambridge concerts, we are delighted to offer for the first time the chance to buy a season ticket at a discounted price.
We are also very pleased to have the support of our media partners at Cambridge News & Media for our 2016/17 season.
Honouring those who have fallen
The theme of remembrance is ever present in the opening concerts of the New Cambridge Singers’ Season, taking place in central Cambridge (the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs), and in Fordham, near Newmarket in November.
The concerts, which explore the beautiful tradition of French choral music, will offer the listener a memorable evening, whether merely enjoying the music, or using the opportunity for contemplation around the time of Remembrance Day, and more specifically, the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.
The programme contrasts the sumptuous harmonies of Poulenc’s exquisite a cappella motets for men’s voices with the imposing grandeur of Vierne’s only Mass setting and the intimate intensity of Fauré’s ever-popular Requiem.
For those interested in attending our central Cambridge concerts, we are delighted to offer for the first time the chance to buy a season ticket at a discounted price.
We are also very pleased to have the support of our media partners at Cambridge News & Media for our 2016/17 season.
New Cambridge Singers is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a substantial grant by Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts programme towards the costs of the commission of Giles Swayne and the performances we plan in Cambridge and London in April 2017.
Read more about the Arts Council support for this venture and for more information about Grants for the Arts, please visit the Arts Council’s web site.
NCS is grateful for the support from the RVW Trust
Composition competition
We are inviting composers to write a 5 minute companion piece to be part of the From Tallis to Swayne programme. Click here to find out more about the competition.
Read more about the Arts Council support for this venture and for more information about Grants for the Arts, please visit the Arts Council’s web site.
NCS is grateful for the support from the RVW Trust
Composition competition
We are inviting composers to write a 5 minute companion piece to be part of the From Tallis to Swayne programme. Click here to find out more about the competition.