The other extraordinary thing was that it was like being part of a private music party with Richard and his friends, not a big public event. Altogether excellent, and please pass on my thanks to Richard for an uplifting concert and to the choir for the excellent singing.
Choir and Cello Meditations
Saturday 1st July 2023. 7.30pm.
Church of St James the Greater, 2016 London Road, Leicester, LE2 1NE
Gjeilo: Serenity
Bach: Erbarme Dich
Tavener: Svyati
Ešenvalds: In Paradisum
Arensky: Three Quartets for cello and choir
Rutter: Out of the Deep
Cello: Matthew Sharp
Organ: Simon Hogan
Viola: Rose Redgrave
Conductor: Richard Laing
Choir and Cello Meditations on 1st July is a textured concert that moves between accompanied choral works and instrumental solos, duets and trios. Rutter’s Out of the Deep turns Psalm 130 into a spiritual. Tavener’s Svyati earths the choir’s 3-note Russian Orthodox incantation on a deep bass drone, counterpointed by the cello. For Esenvalds’ In Paradisum, cello and viola fizz against the choir’s beating of angels’ wings. Top soloists on cello, organ and viola perform with and alongside the Leicester Bach Choir.
Matthew Sharp - Cellist
‘Virtuoso of the arts’ (The Times), Matthew Sharp, has performed worldwide as solo cellist, baritone, actor and director: solo appearances with the RPO, LPO, RLPO, CBSO; singing principal roles for the Royal Opera House and Opera North; acting principal roles at the Young Vic and National Theatre Studio; directing for the BBC and Opera North. From Glastonbury to Glyndebourne, Sydney Opera House to Wigmore Hall, he has worked with an extraordinary spectrum of leading artists from Sir John Tavener to Marta Eggert to Dave McKean to Caryl Churchill. His own music and theatre works have toured to major festivals globally. He has given over sixty world premieres and recorded for Sony, EMI, Decca, Naxos, Somm, NMC, Avie and Whirlwind.
Richard Laing - Conductor
Rose Redgrave - Viola
Rose Redgrave is one of the leading chamber musicians in the UK: she plays a French viola circa 1900. She undertook a busy schedule of concerts and recordings as a member of the Coull Quartet 2010-2015 alongside a full-time residency in Warwick University. Currently playing with chamber groups such as Music Theatre Wales, Scottish Ensemble, Lontano, Goldberg Ensemble and Chroma, she has worked alongside contemporary composers: Mark Anthony Turnage, Harrison Birtwistle, James Macmillan, Peter Maxwell Davies, Philip Glass, Gerald Barry, Judith Wier, and Joe Cutler (to whom she is married). Rose also enjoys an International performing career with the Kings Consort, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and The Academy of Ancient Music, and is principal viola with The Orchestra of the Swan. Passionate about teaching Rose teaches viola and chamber music at Birmingham Conservatoire and Birmingham University.
Simon Hogan - Organ
Simon Hogan is the Sub-Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Southwark Cathedral, a post which he combines with being Organist to the Cathedral Singers of Christ Church, Oxford, and a portfolio of freelance work. He is also the principal organist for JAM – an organisation which commissions and performs new music for brass, organ and choir by leading contemporary composers – through which he enjoys working with some of the country’s finest ensembles: the BBC Singers (happily with a recently announced stay of execution), the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College Cambridge, Gesualdo Six and Onyx Brass.
A trio of top soloists joins the Leicester Bach Choir for a soul-searching programme of profound choral and instrumental music on July 1. Devised by Director of Music Richard Laing, Choir and Cello Meditations features nuanced reflection on human life, Wagner-meets-Russia, and upbeat warmth.
LBC chair Jennifer Clegg said: “This textured concert moves between accompanied choral works, and instrumental solos, duets and trios. Out of the Deep turns Psalm 130 into a spiritual. Svyati earths the choir’s 3-note Russian Orthodox incantation on a deep bass drone, counterpointed by the cello. For In Paradisum, cello and viola fizz against the choir’s beating of angels’ wings. It requires the viola to be placed away from the choir, so expect it to be near you in the middle of the nave!”
Jennifer added: “We are delighted to be singing with and alongside such acclaimed soloists. Matthew Sharp has performed with an extraordinary spectrum of leading musicians and composers in venues from Wigmore Hall to Sydney Opera House. Rose Redgrave performs regularly with the Kings Consort, Music Theatre Wales, the Scottish Ensemble and Musica Saeculorum in Italy. Organist Simon Hogan is the Assistant Director of music at Southward Cathedral, also performing with the happily reprieved BBC singers, the Gesualdo Six, and the Onyx Brass.”