Choir of Somerville College, Oxford

Choir of Somerville College
Choir
Founded 2001 (2001)
Chief conductor William Dawes
Affiliation Somerville College
Website somervillechoir.com
Somerville College Chapel

The Choir of Somerville College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, is a mixed voice and is led by a Director of Chapel Music,[1] currently William Dawes.[2] In conjunction with the organ scholars, the choir is central to the musical life of the college. Somerville Choir, in its present form, was founded by Francis Knights and Sam Bayliss in 2001 and practises in Somerville College Chapel.[3][1] The choir sings in the college chapel every Sunday during term and performs regularly in concerts organised by Somerville Music Society.[4][1]

The choir has sung services and concerts at Blackburn, Coventry, Southwark, St Paul's, Wells, Worcester, Winchester cathedrals.[1] The choir has been involved in two opera productions: Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.[3] The choir also held concerts in Brighton, Oxford, Swindon and Upton.[3]

In 2009/2010 the choir appeared in a memorial concert for Somerville alumna Iris Murdoch,[1] performed Händel's Messiah and gave a performance of John Tavener's Song for Athene in the presence of Tavener himself and his wife, a Somerville alumna.[5][6]

In 2010/2011 the choir performed Bach's St John Passion and recorded its first commercial CD: 'Requiem æternam' (Maurice Duruflé's Requiem and Robin Milford's Mass for Five Voices), which was released by Stone Records in 2012.[3][7] The album features Guy Johnston (cello), Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano) and Mark Stone (baritone).[8]

In 2011/2012 the choir performed Bach's Easter cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden and Schubert's Mass No. 2 with an orchestra and sang evensong at St Paul's Cathedral to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[3][7][9] The choir also toured Lancashire, singing concerts at Blackburn Cathedral and Lancaster Priory.[10][11]

Engagements in 2012/2013 included further performances at St Paul's Cathedral, a concert at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London as well as the releasement of a second CD, 'Advent Calendar', autumn 2013.[3][7][12][9] The choir also made an appearance on BBC Radio 3.[7]

In 2014 the choir sang evensong at Coventry Cathedral[13] and gave two performances of Bach's St John Passion featuring an orchestra and soloists from the Royal College of Music.[10]

The organ of the college chapel is a traditionally voiced instrument by Harrison & Harrison.[14]

Somerville offers up to five Choral Exhibitions each year to applicants reading any subject. College Organ Scholars are guaranteed rooms in college for the duration of their course.[15][16]

Tours

In 2005 and 2009 the choir toured Germany under the patronage of the ambassador Sir Peter Torry and sang services and concerts in Berlin, Brandenburg and Potsdam.[3][17]

Another foreign tour in 2010 took the choir to Italy where the group performed in Crema, Lodi and Milan.[3][17][9]

In 2014 the choir undertook a tour of the United States, singing services and concerts at Washington National Cathedral and the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C. as well as several venues in Massachusetts, Delaware.[17][7]

In 2016 the choir toured the USA again and sang services and concerts in Virginia, New York City (such as Trinity Church and Grace Church) and Connecticut.[17]

The choir will tour India in 2018 and will give concerts and outreach in Mumbai and Goa.[17] It will be the first tour to India by an Oxford college choir.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Further Particulars for the post of Director of Chapel Music" (PDF). Global Ocean Commission. August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Will Dawes appointed as Director of Chapel Music – Somerville College Oxford". University of Oxford.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Oron, Aryeh (March 2015). "Choir of Somerville College, Oxford (Choir)". www.bach-cantatas.com.
  4. ↑ "Somerville Chapel Choir". some.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Hewett, Ivan (26 September 2014). "Maryanna Tavener: 'John was always obsessed by death'". The Daily Telegraph.
  6. ↑ "The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford". www.choirplace.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Choir of Somerville College, Oxford". Discogs. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Milford, Duruflé Requiem Aeternam – Stone Records". classical-iconoclast.blogspot.de.
  9. 1 2 3 "Somerville College Choir". Oxford University Music Society. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Guest Choirs sing at the Eucharist Sunday Evening at 6:00 p.m. during August and September". music.gracechurchnyc.org. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "Video clips". lancasterpriory.org. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "Advent calendar  :: Stone Records, Independent Classical Music". stonerecords.co.uk.
  13. ↑ "Coventry Cathedral". www.robert-smith.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  14. ↑ "The National Pipe Organ Register – NPOR". npor.org.uk.
  15. ↑ "Choral and Organ Scholarships". www.some.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  16. ↑ "Information on organ and choral scholarships in the colleges at oxford university applications for entry in 2018/19" (PDF). www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tours". www.somervillechoir.com.
  18. ↑ "Future Events". www.somervillechoir.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.