A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster, conducted by David Murray.

Tickets £12.00 (£10 concessions) or £6.00 in Gallery with limited view.

Soloist – James Geer – tenor

 Britten’s cantata, St.Nicolas,was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Lancing College, Sussex, where its first official performance took place in July 1948. However it had already received an unofficial premiere six weeks earlier at the first Aldenburgh Festival with Britten himself conducting both performances. It tells the story, some of it real but mostly legendary, of Nicolas the 4^th century bishop of Myra.

Nicholas is immortalised in legends that tell of his care of  the poor and oppressed. The miracle which confirmed his position was his restoration to life of three small boys who at the time of a famine had been pickled in brine by a wicked butcher. From this macabre tale emerged the practice of giving presents to deserving children. This and the fact that the Feast of St.Nicolas falls on the 6^th of December, meant that his popular image evolved into the figure of Santa Claus.

Monteverdi was perhaps one of the greatest Italian Renaissance composers and he revolutionised the music of the theatre and the church with his dramatic use of instruments and voices. Beatus Vir, which was probably composed in 1630, was published as part of a collection Selva Morale e Spirituali in 1641. A setting of Psalm 112 it is a fine example of his dramatic style, contrasting pairs or small groups of voices with the weight of the full chorus.

James Geer

Hailing from Sussex, James studied at Magdalen College, Oxford University, where he sang as an Academical Clerk in the College Choir, Trinity College of Music and on the Opera Course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 2008. While at College James won numerous scholarships and competitions including the Morag Noble Award, the Catto Scholarship and the Principal’s Award for the outstanding student performance of the year.

After graduating James was invited to become a Britten/Pears Scholar and has appeared in numerous performances at the Snape Maltings, notably as Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, conducted by David Parry and Mathan in Athalia, conducted by Richard Egarr. He has also appeared at the Snape Easter Festival in Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Bernard Labadie and at the Aldeburgh Festival where he performed Britten’s Sech Holderlin Fragmente with Malcolm Martineau. This concert was recently broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

James’ operatic roles performed while at college include Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Monsieur Triquet (Eugene Onegin), Gonzalves (L’Heure Espagnol), L’Aumonier (Les Dialogues des Carmelites), Duncan (The Albatross), The Singer (Beatrice Cenci) and Le Berger (Oedipus Rex). Roles elsewhere include Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia) at the Snape Maltings, Acis (Acis and Galatea) with Edinburgh Studio Opera and Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance) for Haddo House Opera.

Concert appearances have included L’Aumonier in Les Dialogues des Carmelites with Stephane Deneve and the RSNO, The Sailor in Dido and Aeneas with Nicholas McGeegan and the ECO, both at the Edinburgh International Festival as well as a wide range of performances with choral societies throughout the UK.

James is currently a member of the Glyndebourne Chorus, the Dunedin Consort, the Academy of Ancient Music, London Voices and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, and will be a Samling Scholar in 2010.

A Saturday evening event in Whitburn Parish Church Hall.

Following the success of the Ceilidh held as part of the 60th Anniversary season, this is another opportunity for everyone to get up and dance the night away to a live band.

Tickets are £8.00 – including a pie & pea supper, with roast potatoes and gravy (vegetarian option is available if booked when buying ticket). They are available through Society members or the website.

Bring your own choice of drinks (glasses provided) and enjoy the music, dancing, raffle and good company.

Everyone can ceilidh!

A concert in the City Hall, Newcastle.

This will be the 21st North East Promenaders Against Cancer (NEPAC) concert to raise funds for cancer research and patient support. Although the content of the programme is not yet finalised, it is likely that members of Bishopwearmouth Choral Society will be making a significant contribution to the choral content.

A Wednesday evening event by Bishopwearmouth Young Singers and Bishopwearmouth Choral Society Chamber Choir to be held in St.Chad’s Church, East Herrington, Sunderland.

Ticket details to follow.

A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster.

Conducted by David Murray.

Soloists:          Jessica Holmes – Soprano

                        Sally Burchell – Mezzo Soprano

                        Mark Chaundy – Tenor

                       James Oldfield – Bass

Haydn only composed works for the church intermittently for five decades and then between 1796 and 1802 he produced one setting of the mass per year. Hayden, by now in his sixties but still alert to the opportunity for innovation, expanded the format by combining an extended setting of the mass text with the full resources of the orchestra – resulting in the symphonic mass. The St.Nicholas Mass was written earlier, in 1772, and is not on the same scale as the later masses but still demonstrates his tunefulness and joy. The Theresienmesse from 1799 was originally simply entitled ‘Missa’ on its title page but is associated with Marie Therese, the wife of the Emporer Franz ll. It was composed the year after the noted Nelson Mass but is equally masterful.

Tickets £12.00 and £10.00 (Concessions) in the Nave and £6.00 in the Gallery, with limited views. Seats are un-numbered and doors open at 6.45 p.m.

Tickets can now be booked on-line, at a small extra cost, from WeGotTickets at http://www.wegottickets.com/f/2260

A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster.

Conducted by David Murray

The soloists are Katherine Moore (soprano), Sarah Parry (contralto), Christopher Turner (tenor) and Njabulo Madlala (baritone).

 Tickets are £12.00 (£10.00 concessions) in the Nave or £6.00 for the Gallery, with limited view.  Seats are un-numbered and doors open at 6.45 p.m.

 Tickets can now be booked on-line, at a small additional cost, from WeGotTickets at http://www.wegottickets.com/f/1934

 The composing of the cantata ‘Stabat Mater’ was Antonín Dvo?ák’s reaction to the death of his two year old daughter Josepfa.  The work was begun in 1876 and was dedicated to František Hušpauer “ as a souvenir to the friend of his young days”. Dvo?ák was obliged to postpone the orchestration of his work due to other obligations but he returned to the final stylisation in 1877 after two more of his children tragically died within a short space of time, one as the result of accidentally drinking a phosphorus solution and the other to smallpox. It was his first work on a religious theme and there is no doubt that it is both a work of mourning and a work of healing. It was first performed in 1880.

 ‘Nänie’ (the German form of the Latin nenia, meaning a funeral song) is a beautiful piece written in memory of Brahms’  friend, the artist Anselm Feuerbach who died in 1880. It is based on a poem by Schiller dealing with the transience of life. The first sentence, Auch das Schöne muß sterben, translates to “Even the beautiful must die”. The work contains some interesting references very discreetly woven into the fabric. There is the so called Clara Embelm which appeared first in Schumann’s Fantasy Op 17, and the use of it implies that the death of Brahms’ godson, Felix Schumann, may have been a source of inspiration for the work. There is further a thematic connection between Nanie and Ein Deutsch Requiem, suggesting that the Clara Emblem may have been a germinal motive for the Requiem . There is even a reference to the opening of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op 81a, Les Adieux, also called Das Lebewohl (or The Farewell). It is one of the most rarely performed pieces by Brahms mostly due to its difficulty.

A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster.

Conducted by David Murray.

In addition to the choral works, there will be several brass and percussion pieces :-

Fanfare from the Ballet Le Peri for brass quintet by Paul Dukas, Die Bankelsangerlieder for brass quintet, an extract from Prince of Denmark’s March by Jeremiah Clarke, six dances from The Danserye by Tylman, Marche de Timbales by André and Jacques Philidor and Little Polly’s Polka by Keith Bartlett.

Tickets £12.00 and £10.00 (Concessions) in the Nave and £6.00 in the Gallery, with limited views. Seats are un-numbered and doors open at 6.45 p.m.

Tickets can now be booked on-line, at a small extra cost, from WeGotTickets at http://www.wegottickets.com/f/1709

A Friday Evening concert in Ewesley Road Methodist Church.

The Young Singers, supported by the Chamber Choir of Bishopwearmouth Choral Society, will host their own annual summer concert. Tickets will be available at the door.

A Saturday evening concert in Whitburn Parish Church, Whitburn, Sunderland.

This concert is being held in memory of Doug Hughill, former Head of Music at Monkwearmouth School and well known local musician, and include many of his own compositions and arrangements. All monies raised will be contributed to St.Clare’s Hospice in Jarrow.

Doug was born in Sunderland, attending Bede School. After studying in Whinchester, he returned to Sunderland to become a teacher at Barnes School, followed by Head of Music at Castle View School before being appointed to Monkwearmouth. Music was a passion to Doug and he excelled at composition and arranging. At the schools where he worked he formed orchestras, brass bands and choirs and soon became renowned for his contribution to the development of music in schools. After his retirement Doug accompanied, arranged and composed for the St.Andrew’s Singers.

This concert will feature songs by the Bishopwearmouth Young Singers and the Bishopwearmouth Choral Society Chamber Choir, including Doug’s arrangements of Hoagy Carmichael songs and some French folk songs. Other musical items will be provided by Eileen Bown and David Murray – piano, Rachael Fuller – Flautist, and by Doug Hughill’s grand-daughter – piano.

Tickets are £10.00 including refreshments (no concessions) with children under 16 admitted free (although a donation would be welcomed) available from the church, through Bishopwearmouth Young Singers or at the door.

A Wednesday evening concert at Ewesley Road Methodist Church, Chester Road, Sunderland.

Bishopwearmouth Young Singers, supported by some members of the Choral Society, present a Christmas Carol with quite a difference.

Tickets £5.00 (concessions £3.00)