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Keeping you updated with the latest news
 

2024

13 June 2024
2023/24 season finishes at Christ Church

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

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2014

 

Summer Term Review : Shakespeare, Seaside and Saints

1 September 2014

Fresh from a short break after beginning 2014 with a performance of Mozart’s Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and continuing with two days of recording sessions for our third and latest CD recording, Be Merry!, the summer term presented no fewer than three major events.

The choir’s fifth major première – British in this case – of a large-scale choral-orchestral work by a North American composer took centre stage on 7 June, when the choir were joined by a cast of superb soloists, musicians from the Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust and the Madrigalis chamber choir from Northampton School for Girls.
 
Shakespeare in Song
 
Cap'n Gary sails away with the Second Altos 2014

Steve Dobrogosz grew up in the American south where his training as a classical pianist paralleled his fascination with popular music. After moving to Stockholm in 1978 he became an active part of Scandinavia’s jazz scene as both pianist and composer. The Gothenburg Post compared his music to Gershwin and Porter, writing “Dobrogosz’s songs are melodic masterpieces, with a harmonic sophistication seldom found in music today.”

Our performance of his My Rose: a Shakespeare Oratorio marked the 450th anniversary year of the birth of the Bard. The musical style of the oratorio, which sets fifteen of Shakespeare’s most evocative Sonnets, is contemporary fusion; Dobrogosz seamlessly moves between his basic neo-Romanticism and other styles, including Broadway musical theatre, Jazz, Blues and – there is even a Hoe-Down. The audience were clearly delighted by this fascinating work, and we were very happy to be performing in the Spinney Hill Theatre for what we hope will not be the last time.

Singing Beside the Seaside 2014

Two days later we were back in rehearsal, preparing sea/lake/river themed pieces for our summer fundraiser, Beside the Seaside. Next to a splendid lake in the grounds of Wyndham House, games, drinks and over 100 portions of fish and chips were served, and a great time had by all. We are so grateful to Sir Peter and Lady Ellwood for their hospitality, which raised over £1000 for the Bach Choir and a considerable amount for the British Red Cross. The choir performed two slots – one featuring sea shanties sung by a group of tenors and basses – and another full choir performance including arrangements of Afton Water, Down by the Riverside and Shenandoah.

Our New Red Folders on Display
Last Night of the Derngate Proms 2014

Less than three weeks later we were back with our second of three performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2014. This was our third Last Night of the Derngate Proms, and surely our best yet – certainly the most colourful, not least due to our spanking brand new red folders. A reviewer of the concert noted our “terrific performance of Zadok the Priest, full of power, crispness and joy”, “stirring performance of Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor” and that we had kept back as an encore “a fantastic rendition of When The Saints Go Marching In, with the choir giving it everything and the orchestra loving every minute of it. A superb way to round off the evening”. In our final rehearsal before this concert we were delighted to hold the European Challenge Rugby Cup and the English Premiership Cup, won by our Rugby team – the Saints – just a few weeks earlier!