Messiahs in Durham

There are Messiahs of all shapes and sizes coming to Durham this Christmas season – here’s my run-down of what’s on offer.

Durham Vocal Festival

The first Durham Vocal Festival starts at the end of January with a week of choral music of all shapes and sizes, from the exquisite close harmony of the King’s Singers to a large scale project from Durham Choral Society, and a chance to hear the recently crowned BBC Choir of the Year, North East Voices of Hope.

Durham Choral Society: Heaven and earth

Durham Choral Society and Northern Spirit Singers, with soloists Andrew Slater and Rowan Pierce perform Fauré’s heavenly Requiem and Walton’s very earthy Belshazzar’s Feast.

Rowan Pierce becomes a Samling Artist

Congratulations to Rowan Pierce on being named one of the 2016 Samling Artists.

Durham Choral Society shortlisted for EPIC award

Congratulations to Durham Choral Society who have been short-listed for a Voluntary Arts EPIC award for their concert in May 2014 2014 featuring choral works by local composers that celebrate the North East’s rich mining and Christian heritage. The concert included the world premiere of Will Lang’s ‘Canny at Neet, Bonny at Morn’ commissioned by the […]

Concert previews – Winter 2015

The listings are gradually coming in for the next few months, and based on what I have so far, this winter’s concerts are dominated by early music treats courtesy of Musicon and a particularly rich choice of organ recitals at Ushaw College, Hatfied College and Durham Cathedral. Durham’s local musicians have lots going on too, with music spanning 500 years from John Sheppard to John Dankworth and so far the students have told me about Mozart and Bach.

Sing Messiah with Durham Choral Society

Come and sing Hallejulah and other choruses from Handel’s great oratorio Messiah with Durham Choral Society at their open rehearsals in October.

Missa Solemnis: Durham Choral Society

If I weren’t out of town this weekend, I’d definitely be going Durham Choral Society’s performance of Beethoven’s monumental Missa Solemnis in the cathedral tomorrow night. It’s a fantastic piece of music, and a really big sing – Beethoven didn’t write much for singers, but when he did, he certainly makes them work hard. I […]