Saint Cecilia Singers

 

 

          

 

          

     Saint Cecilia Singers      

of

Gloucester

   Welcomes you to their 60th Season of Concerts

      

The Saint Cecilia Singers of Gloucester are one of the UK's most respected chamber choirs. The choir comprises about thirty gifted and dedicated amateurs and semi-professional singers from around Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Established in 1949 by Donald Hunt, the choir has strong links with Gloucester Cathedral and the Three Choirs Festival.

The choir has nearly always been conducted by Assistant Directors of Music at Gloucester Cathedral, although last season, there was an exception and we were pleased to be under the direction of Russell Burton, tenor lay-clerk and Head of Vocal Studies at the Kings School. The choir enjoyed an extremely full and rewarding series of concerts throughout the year and are indebted to Russell for his superb guidance and direction. Highlights included an authentic performance of J. S. Bach's St John Passion in the Cathedral with The Corelli Orchestra and an impressive 'Dream Team' of soloists. This was followed by a concert, also in the Cathedral, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams. This concert formed part the Vaughan Williams in Spring Festival and as well as his more familiar choral works included a performance of his 'Visions of Aeroplanes', rarely 'aired' in view of its technical difficulty, particularly with regard to the organ accompaniment which on this occasion was played with virtuosity by Charles Mathews. To round off the season and as part of the Cheltenham International Festival of Music, the choir shared a concert with The Oriel Singers of Cheltenham in Tewkesbury Abbey which provided an opportunity to perform the sublime 40 part Motet 'Spem in Alium' under the direction of Tim Morris. Works conducted by Russell included 'In Sacrum Convivium' of Thomas Tallis and the four motets of Maurice Duruffle.

This season we are delighted to welcome Ashley Grote as our new conductor following his appointment last April as Assistant Director of Music at the Cathedral. The first concert of the season, a special Holst Birthday Concert in All Saints Church, Cheltenham on Saturday 20th September was conducted by Russell and all future concerts will be under the direction of  Ashley.

The choir' repertoire has always been ambitious. Each season generally comprises two or three programmes in Gloucester Cathedral as well as one-off events and collaborations. We always give several concerts per year in aid of local charities.

Nearly all of our concerts are of capella choral music. However at Gloucester Three Choirs Festival the choir often performs with a professional orchestra. As part of the Three Choir Festival in 2007 we presented a performance of Haydn's 'Nelson Mass' with the Soloist's Ensemble who also performed Elgar's 'Serenade ' together with 'Metamorphosen' by Strauss.

In recent years the choir has toured the USA and France, and has recorded two CD's for the Lammas and Priory labels.

In recent years the choir has premiered works by John Sanders, Giles Swayne, Keith Amos, Andrew Millington,  Mark Blatchly and Mark Lee. A highlight of last year' season was an authentic and fully orchestrated performance of the Vespers (1610) of Monteverdi.

 

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