Renaissance Reimagined EventsRenaissance Reimagined revolves around two concerts to be performed in Cambridge and London (as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival) in April 2017. At the heart of this is a commission by Giles Swayne, Everybloom, written for choir and viol consort. Using text from Ulysses, this piece is an exhilarating glimpse into James Joyce’s stream of consciousness, the music capturing the puns, parodies and characters of this extraordinary work. The concerts are also giving us the opportunity to engage with the wider public, through a composition competition, audience choir and an open rehearsal.
Open Rehearsal On Wednesday 1 March, we held an Open Rehearsal in Cambridge. Composer Giles Swayne talked about his new work and members of the public had the opportunity to meet him as well as see the choir work on the new commission with the composer himself. This was an ideal opportunity for those coming to our concerts in April 2017 to have a better understanding and deeper insight to the piece as well as familiarise themselves with it before the premières. 'Wonderfully constructed. Really liked it. Has made me think about reading the book! The choir were superb. Great dynamic contrasts that not every choir does.’ 'Brought Ulysses to life! Particularly enjoyed the feedback from the composer as the piece was rehearsed.' These are just a few of the marvellous comments from last Wednesday evening’s Open Rehearsal with composer Giles Swayne working on his new piece Everybloom with the choir. It’s not too late if you missed the Open Rehearsal - you can see and hear parts of the rehearsal and familiarise yourself with the music below before the concert on Saturday 1 April at Trinity College Chapel. |
Joining the Audience Chorus
Earlier last year, NCS invited composers of any age and nationality to write a 5-minute companion piece to these concerts for choir, Renaissance brass consort and audience chorus - quite an unusual brief! The aim was to engage directly with our audience who, in addition to singing the winning piece, will also sing Tallis’ canon Glory to thee, my God, this night during the concerts in April, thereby sharing our experience in making music old and new. The competition was a huge success; the winning piece “Then the Angel showed me the River…” composed by Paul Newton- Jackson, a student from New Zealand, will be premièred in the concerts in Cambridge and London in April 2017. If you are a singer with some choral experience, we would be delighted to welcome you to join us in our performances. Please contact us here to join the chorus in Cambridge on 1 April 2017 or here to join the chorus in London on 22 April 2017. Rehearsals for the audience chorus will be from 5pm to 6pm on both dates. Members of the audience chorus will need to purchase a ticket for the concerts and you can do so for the concert in Cambridge on 1 April here or here for the concert in London on 22 April. Recording of the audience chorus parts are available below |
London concert locationSaturday 22 April 2017 at 19.30pm
St James's Sussex Gardens Sussex Gardens London W2 3UD |