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FUTURE CONCERTS Jonathan's preview of concerts for 2009-10 is printed below 2009 SATURDAY, 14th NOVEMBER Insanae et Vanae Curae Haydn
Current Ticket Prices March, November and December concerts in the Cathedral: £18, £15, £10, £7 (Students £4) December concert in St Paul's Church : £7 (adults), £3 (children under 14), or Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children : £15) June concert in the Cathedral : To be confirmed later Available from: Cathedral Cloisters Shop: 01243 813599 (credit cards accepted), Bastow's Classics: 01243 533264, Mrs Wendy Whittle, 01243 572195 ________________________________________________________________________________ LOOKING AHEAD - our 2009-2010 season Jonathan Willcocks I n my role as Musical Director of the Chichester Singers, I often need to be focusing on two distinct horizons. There is the immediate goal of ensuring that I manage the current rehearsal period to enable the choir to sing at their very best in whatever repertoire is on the programme. I have been extremely proud of our performances in concerts in the past year, in repertoire ranging from great established works by Vaughan Williams and Poulenc to Will Todd’s new and exciting Mass in Blue, and as I write this we are in the final stages of our work towards our collaboration with Sir Willard White (and don’t forget three other fine soloists and the Chichester chorister William Wallace) in Elijah. But at the same time, we have to plan ahead. The cathedral, soloists and orchestras need to be booked up to two years in advance and so the committee (advised by the music sub-committee) beaver away to plan menus which will tickle the palates of singers and audiences. The 2008-9 season has focused largely on more modern music, with only Mendelssohn – Elijah of the main concert programmes being written before the twentieth century. For 2009-10, however, the major concerts will feature music from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries (as well as one or two smaller more recent pieces). In November we sing major works by two of the most important classical composers – Haydn (whose bicentenary is this year) with his Paukenmesse and Mozart in the lovely (and far from solemn) Solemn Vespers. In addition we will revive Haydn’s Insanae et vanae curae, which we enjoyed singing on tour in Croatia recently, and our soprano soloist will perform the Mozart vocal tour-de-force Exultate jubilate. After a quick burst of Christmas, our March 2010 concert will give us the chance to sing a wide range of smaller pieces – including some of the earliest choral composers of music suitable for large chorus (such as Gabrieli and Schutz), unaccompanied pieces by Brahms and Grieg, and music for brass and choir by Bruckner and Stanford, with the concert culminating in John Rutter’s brilliant and exciting setting of the Gloria. In May 2010 we have invited Mike Brewer, one of the most charismatic choral directors around, to come and lead a choral singing day – which we hope will be as enjoyable and successful as the ones which we have had in the past with David Lawrence and Bob Chilcott. And then, as the culmination of the ‘09-10 season, we tackle what for many is the finest choral work of the baroque repertoire : Bach – Mass in B minor. This concert will be on 19th June and will be a wonderful opportunity and a huge choral challenge. One final thought which I hope all members will think carefully about. The choir is in terrific form, and in the thirty years I have worked with you I believe that we have never performed to a higher standard than in the recent run of concerts. But I am concerned that in the past twelve months we haven’t attracted the usual steady flow of potential new singing members. The future life-blood of the choir lies in regular strong recruitment as, inevitably, singing members do leave the choir – either when they may be leaving the area or when they decide to retire from active participation in the choir. We must ensure a strong stream of recruitment from September. Ultimately this is the responsibility of each of you as current members : Actively look for interesting singers, bring them along to have a sing with us in rehearsals at the beginning of the autumn term and reassure them, if necessary, that the audition process is not as terrifying as they may fear. Please do your bit to ensure that the next few years can be as successful and enjoyable as the past few years. Jonathan
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