West London Chorus to Perform Platinum Jubilee Celebratory Concert |
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Handel and Purcell to feature in royal themed evening
The West London Chorus (formerly Chiswick Choir) is to hold a Platinum Jubilee Celebratory Concert. Tickets are now on sale for the event which is being held at St. Peter's Church on Southfield Road on Saturday 2 July at 7.30pm. They will be singing the Handel and Purcell Coronation Anthems. Handel’s four celebratory Anthems, including the rousing Zadok the Priest and The King shall rejoice, were written in 1727 for the Coronation of George II. A contemporary account of their first performance in Westminster Abbey reported that Anthem I ‘..was omitted and no Anthem at all Sung… by the Negligence of the Choir of Westminster and that Anthem II was ..in Confusion: All irregular in the Music!' The West London Chorus is confident that it will give a better performance of all four Anthems. Programme Handel - Coronation Anthems Tickets are priced between £5 to £5 plus a booking fee. The original Chiswick Choir was founded in 1976 in W4 by John Thackray, a passionate musician who served as conductor for many London choirs. Between 1984 and 2015 the choir was conducted by Alistair Jones and since January 2016 the choir has been under the direction of award-winning composer and conductor Hilary Campbell. In 2021 the choir changed its name to the West London Chorus to reflect its wider reach and appeal. Over the course of its career the Choir has built a repertoire principally based on the European tradition from the 16th to 20th centuries. The choir has also performed more contemporary pieces, including the world premiere of Alistair Jones’s Stabat Mater in 2006, Will Todd’s Mass In Blue and works by Bob Chilcott and others. The choir’s repertoire includes most of the major works suited to a group of its size – the Bach Passions, Mass in B minor, oratorios by Handel, works by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and so on. Excursions into the 20th century have included performances of Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Tippet’s A Child of Our Time and Stravinsky’s A Symphony of Psalms. It always welcomes new members, and more information is available on its web site. The choir also offers a limited number of vocal scholarships each year to nurture the skills and experience of talented singers between the ages of 18 and 30.
June 19, 2022
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