News
Keeping you updated with the latest news
 

2023

28 June 2023
A Rousing end to the 2022/23 Season with Viva Italia!
9 June 2023
Cathedral Visits - Summer 2023
12 May 2023
Simon Toyne appointed as our new Musical Director
20 March 2023
Dame Ethel Smyth Mass in D - A resounding success!
13 February 2023
The Ethel Smyth full score has arrived

2022

13 December 2022
Christmas 2022 Concert & Fundraising
1 October 2022
New Accompanist Announced
1 September 2022
2022/23 Season Launched
31 August 2022
2022/23 Season : Our Conductors
1 August 2022
2021/22 Season - Done!
30 July 2022
Another (!) Special Evensong
13 June 2022
Jubilee Proms - Staggering Success
30 May 2022
MD steps down after 15 years
29 May 2022
A Special Evensong
2 April 2022
Carmina in Style
1 March 2022
Song for Ukraine
21 February 2022
#22for22 Update
7 February 2022
The Armed Man

2021

16 December 2021
#22for22 is launched
4 December 2021
Christmas is Back! with a brassy bang!
6 November 2021
714 Days... Back in Concert
27 October 2021
660 Days... We're Back
4 October 2021
Annual General Meeting
1 August 2021
2021/22 Season Launched
7 June 2021
Expanding the Canon
18 May 2021
Live Singing started ... stopped
17 May 2021
Fridays and the Future
14 April 2021
Virtual Video
12 April 2021
Summer in the Alps
26 March 2021
Fridays at Four - Spring Done
9 March 2021
International Women's Day
22 February 2021
Cooking up a Feast
12 February 2021
Centenary Classics
11 January 2021
Classical Classics

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

 

Heroes for Peace - a fitting tribute

11 November 2018

We were delighted to be invited by the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire to lead the event commemorating the centenary of the Armistice in the Derngate on 11/11/2018. The first half of the event explored the heroes of Northamptonshire, telling the stories of Edgar Mobbs, Walter Tull, The Anglian Regiment, and many more local people. This was led by BBC Radio Northampton’s John Griff and Grham McKechnie, Dr Helen Stringer of Northampton High School, and the Lord Lieutenant himself, with performances by members of Royal & Derngate’s Youth Theatre and our friends at the Northampton Male Voice Choir.
 

Walter Tull (1888-1918)
 
The Lord Lieutenant in Rehearsal

For the second half we were joined by the Daventry Choral Society and members of Earls Barton Music, alongside the Northampton Male Voice Choir and Orchestra da Camera, to perform Sir Karl Jenkins The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace. The thrill of nearly 300 voices combined was quite astonishing, and because of careful and subtle amplification, the small band of twelve players were at all times in perfect balance with the choir. Our Musical Director, Lee Dunleavy, directed with great finesse, keeping the speeds true to the markings in the score by the composer, and increasing tension as the work proceeded.

Getting Ready for The Armed Man
 
250 Singers Assemble

Following this we were delighted to give the first performance of an arrangement - by the composer - of Dr David Bednall’s stunning setting of Siegfried Sassoon’s verses Everyone sang. This was a real tour de force, which clearly had a huge impact on the audience - which numbered just under the 1000. The climactic point featured organ, piano, cello, percussion and flute, crowned with a trio of trumpets, and the chorus at the very highest point in their registers, and this gradually gave way to a truly poignant conclusion where our Musical Director was able to create the timeless feel so essential. We offer our sincere and grateful thanks to Dr Bednall for creating this arrangement for us.

The concert concluded with Jerusalem, sung by the combined voices, orchestra, and the whole audience - over 1250 singing voices in all, the playing of The Last Post and the dropping of poppies over the whole auditorium.

Dr David Bednall
 
The Last Post

We offer thanks to our friends and partners who played and sung alongside us, to those who helped put this remarkable event together, and especially to Lee for bringing the music together to create such a fitting tribute to the Fallen of the First World War.