Dear Subscriber.

It's hard to believe that the 2015/16 season is coming to its close.

In January last term we had a very successful “Come and Sing” when we studied some Schütz motets and the Choralpassion by Distler. These works formed the programme for the two concerts we performed before Easter. The first of these was at St John’s Church, Carrington and the second at Southwell Minster as part of the Holy Week Devotions.

The Distler Choralpassion was unfamiliar to most people but the semi-staged performance with wonderful lighting effects and superb solo singing from Choir Members really heightened the dramatic and emotional content of the piece.

At the end of the Easter term, our accompanist, Charles Tebbs left us. As most people will be aware, Charles has a busy teaching schedule. As well as being a composer and solo performer he felt that he needed to spend more time on these activities. He has made a valuable contribution to the Choir, both in rehearsal and in performance, and will be greatly missed.

Now we have just two concerts to round off the season.

Called “Music for a Summer’s Evening", the programme has a strong emphasis on pieces with words by William Shakespeare. These range from some very interesting contemporary settings by Christopher Brown and György Orbán to selections from Bernstein’s West Side Story.

The first of these two concerts is at Linby Parish Church on June 25th at 7.30pm. Our guest artist will be Harry Smith (tuba) who was the Brass Finalist in the 2015 Nottingham Young Musician of the Year Competition last November.

Tickets for this event cost £8 or £9 if purchased on the door, £5 for students and FREE for under 16s.

They are available from Sandra Wakefield. Tel. 0115 9606236, online via our website or from Linby Parish Church

The second concert is at West Bridgford Methodist Church on Saturday, July 9th at 7.30pm

The guest artist on this occasion will be Alistair Parnell (saxophone).

Tickets for this concert will be £10 and £5 for full time students under 21.

Again they are available from Sandra Wakefield Tel. 0115 9606236 or the website 

When we return after the Summer break we shall begin our 50th Anniversary celebrations in earnest. We have some exciting events planned.

Our Autumn concert on Saturday November 12th will include a composition by our Musical Director, Richard Roddis entitled Lauda Creatoris as well as the Magnificat by Bach

On Saturday, January 21st 2017 we shall hold our "Come and Sing and Play". This will take place at Bramcote Parish Church and we shall be working on Bach’s Mass in B Minor which will be performed in the Southwell Minster on March 11th 2017.

The details of these and other events will be posted on the website in due course.

We hope you are able to come to one of our upcoming events and we thank you for your loyal support over the past season.

The Sinfonia Chorale

http://www.sinfoniachorale.uk

Dear Subscriber,

A very Happy New Year to you all.

2015 ended with three very successful concerts.

The November concert at St. John’s Church, Carrington celebrated the International Year of Light. The church was beautifully candlelit and the music covered a wide spectrum of styles all pertaining to the theme of light.

The second half of the concert was a performance of Fauré's Requiem. The terrible terrorist attacks in Paris had occurred the previous night and so it was fitting that before we sang the Requiem, Richard asked the audience to join the choir in a few moments of silence as a mark of respect to those who had died. 

Our annual Christmas concert at Patchings was, as usual, very well supported and we repeated the programme at Beeston Parish Church a few days later.

Our first concert of 2016 will be held on March 5th, again at St. John’s Church, Carrington (NG5 2DL) at 7.30 pm, and promises to be an exciting musical experience. The programme features pieces by two very diverse German Composers – Heinrich Schütz and Hugo Distler.

The programme includes German and Latin Motets by Schütz and the Choralpassion by Distler.

Heinrich Schütz (1585 -1672) is generally regarded as the most important German composer before J.S. Bach and is often considered to be one of the most influential musicians of the Seventeenth Century along with Claudio Monteverdi. He composed large amounts of both sacred and secular works but his best known compositions are in the field of his sacred music of which these Passion Motets are a fine example.

Hugo Distler (1908- 1942) is now recognised as one of the most significant German composers of his generation. He was a composer, conductor, organist and teacher. His works show the influence of old forms and styles, particularly the music of Heinrich Schütz. However, his innovative harmonic style caused him to come into conflict with the Nazi authorities, who considered his compositions to be “degenerate art”.

The Choralpassion will be a semi-staged dramatic performance with lighting.

Tickets for Choralpassion at St John's are £10 (£5 students under 21) and are available from:-

• Nottingham Tourism 1-4 Smithy Row Tel 08444 775678
• Sandra Wakefield Tel 0115 9606236
• the Sinfonia Chorale website

Highlights of the concert are being repeated at Southwell Minster on Monday 21st March at 7.30 pm as part of Holy Week.

Best wishes - we hope very much to see you at our concerts.

The Sinfonia Chorale

http://www.sinfoniachorale.uk

Dear Subscribers,

Welcome to Sinfonia Chorale's 2015-2016 season.

The Bergedorfer Kammerchor Visit

Since the last newsletter, the choir has enjoyed a visit from our friends in the Bergedorfer Kammerchor and their Musical Director, Frank Löhr.

A most interesting programme had been arranged for their four day visit, including a lunchtime concert in The Chapter House of Lincoln Cathedral and another at Southwell Minster. On the Saturday evening, the two choirs joined forces and performed together in St. Barnabas Cathedral.

We were delighted by the number of people in the audiences at all the venues, particularly on Friday lunchtime at Southwell Minster which was attended by over 200, and on Saturday evening we had over 100 in the audience. We know that many of you attended and hope you enjoyed hearing the very accomplished German Choir.

Naturally, these occasions do not just happen by chance. Many Sinfonia members were involved in one way or another, but the bulk of the work fell upon the shoulders of our indefatigable chairman, Pam Richings and her stalwart team of helpers on the tour committee, Christine Kirby, Liz Pike, Jonathan Page, Lesley Cohen and Teresa Marchewicz.

Everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was good to renew friendships we had made on our visit to Bergedorf last year, to meet new people and to make music together.

The Coming Months

Once again we have an exciting programme planned for the coming months.

The first concert of the season is on Saturday November 14th at 7.30 pm at St. John's Church, Carrington, NG5 2DL.

To celebrate the International Year of Light we shall give a candlelit performance of the Fauré Requiem along with pieces by Byrd, Gabrieli, Whitacre and Rutter. The performance will be directed by Richard Roddis and the Organist will be Tom Corfield.

Tickets - £10 (£5 for full time students under 21)

We shall be celebrating the Christmas Season with two events.

Once again we have been invited to sing at Patchings Farm Arts Centre, Calverton, NG14 6NU on Sunday December 13th at 7.30 pm.

On Tuesday December 15th at 7.30 pm, we shall perform at Beeston Parish Church, NG9 1GA.  As usual, the programme will be a mixture of both familiar and newer Christmas items with audience participation!

Tickets - £8 ( £5 for full time students under 21)

Tickets for all these events, except Patchings Farm Arts Centre, are available from Sandra Wakefield, Tel: 0115 9606236, the Sinfonia Chorale website, or on the door - subject to availability.

For the Patchings concert please visit their website or Tel: 0115 9653479

Come and Sing

We start the New year with our annual "Come and Sing". This is on Saturday January 23rd, 2016 at Christ Church Chilwell, NG9 4AS. Directed by Richard Roddis, we shall be studying part of the Choralpassion by Hugo Distler and selected motets by Heinrich Schütz.

The choral workshop begins at 10.00 am and finishes at 5.00 pm. The event costs £20 (or £25 if you want lunch). The information and booking forms can be downloaded from the website or are available from Pam Richings, Tel: 0115 9810874.

This music will form the basis of our first concert of 2016 when we shall give a semi-staged performance of the Distler work along with the Schütz motets.

We shall be performing part of this programme again at Southwell Minster, contributing to the Holy Week Devotions. This will be on Monday March 21st at 7.30 pm. There will be a retiring collection.

As you can see, the programme for the year ahead is an exciting one with some well known favourites and some exciting innovative pieces.

We look forward to welcoming you to our concerts and thank you for your continued support.

The Sinfonia Chorale

http://www.sinfoniachorale.uk

Dear Friend

Bergedorfer Kammerchor

Sinfonia Chorale are looking forward to welcoming the Bergedorfer Kammerchor and their conductor, Frank Löhr, to Nottingham.

Some members of Sinfonia visited Bergedorf in May 2014 and had a most enjoyable trip, making music together and singing in some magnificent venues.

Since it was founded in 1946 by Helmut Wormbächer, the Bergedorfer Kammerchor has had an important part to play in the cultural life of Hamburg and North Germany and since 2003, the artistic development of the Choir has been in the hands of Frank Löhr, Professor of Choral and Orchestral Conducting at Hannover College of Music and Theatre.

The Choir has approximately fifty singers and performs sacred and secular choral works from all ages. Each concert has a carefully structured programme which over the series, spans all styles of music. Alongside performances in North Germany, the Choir regularly gives guest performances in the Abbey at Marienmunster and has in recent years been on concert tours of Saxony and Italy.

We are delighted that they are coming to Nottingham for the “return match” and we are sure they will enjoy the exciting programme of events which has been arranged for them.

On Thursday August 20th, they will be giving a lunch time concert in the Chapter House at Lincoln Cathedral from 1.10pm to 2.00pm. There is no charge for this concert but normal admission charges to the Cathedral will apply.

On Friday August 21st, they will perform in Southwell Minster from 12.15pm to 1.00pm as part of the Minster’s regular Lunch time series. There will be refreshments available for the audience in the South Transept, with sandwiches at £1.50 and cold drinks at £1. Admission is free but there is a retiring collection.

On the final day of their visit, Saturday August 22nd at 8.00pm, the Sinfonia Chorale and the Bergedorfer Kammerchor will sing together in a concert at St. Barnabas Cathedral, Derby Road, NG1 5AE

It will be an exciting programme including works by Schutz, Mendelssohn, Distler and arrangements of some Northern German Folk Songs by Hellmut Wormbächer.

The Sinfonia Chorale will be singing works by Weelkes, Holst, Larley and Whitacre and the two choirs will join forces to sing Bruckner's Locus Iste and Cecilia McDowell's Ave Regina.

Tickets for this concert are priced at £10 (£5 for students under 21) and are available from:-

• Nottingham Tourism Centre, 1-4, Smithy Row
• Sandra Wakefield (Tel 0115 9606236)
• the Sinfonia Chorale website
• on the door

We look forward to seeing you at some of these events.

The Sinfonia Chorale 

http://www.sinfoniachorale.uk

Dear Friend

On Sunday, July 19th, at 7.30pm, Sinfonia Chorale are performing Music for a Summer Evening at Patchings Art Centre, Calverton, NG14 6NU, as the closing event of their Summer Exhibition.

There is a distinct Animal Theme in the programme which includes a group of pieces called Prayers from the Ark by Ivor Davies, Aaron Copland's I Bought Me a Cat and Eric Whittaker's beautiful part song The Seal Lullaby.

The final item is a musical entertainment (with surprises!) based on Kenneth Grahame's book The Wind in the Willows set to music by John Rutter and accompanied by Charles Tebbs, Martyn Spencer (bass) and Jon Richmond (drums).

The Charlie Tebbs Trio will also play some jazz favourites including Gershwin's Summertime and Rodger's My Favourite Things during the concert.

As you can see, this offers a varied and eclectic mix of music to be enjoyed on a pleasant summer evening.

Tickets are available from Patchings only - Tel. 0115 9653479. They cost £12.50 and include wine and nibbles.

Do come along. We look forward to seeing you!

The Sinfonia Chorale

http://www.sinfoniachorale.uk