Project #2020 began on February 15th with the first of two identical concerts in Dry Drayton, the second taking place two weeks later in Comberton, near Cambridge. We hugely enjoyed singing a variety of classics both sacred and secular, serious and light, from (mostly) English composers through the ages, and would like to give special thanks to the large audience at Comberton, at whom our director made her banana-throwing début…
In August 2019 we ventured abroad once more for a short tour of Belgium. Our programme consisted of works by 16th-century European composers, in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
After an incredibly smooth and hitch-free journey on the Eurostar, we arrived in Ghent, only to encounter our first problem: where was Tenor 2? After several failed attempts at locating the coffee shop where he had apparently been hiding out since arriving from Munich earlier in the day, we eventually (literally) bumped into each other in the middle of a road and continued our journey to the hostel where we were to spend the next three nights.
The hostel kindly allowed us the use of their conference room for a short rehearsal; once we’d got used to the unnerving presence of the is-it-a-fish-or-is-it-a-giant-worm model we had a productive time and retired feeling positive about the next day’s performances.
Friday saw us sing in two very different venues: St Michael’s Church in the afternoon (see post-concert photo below) and St Paul’s Church in the evening. The latter’s acoustic was simply stunning, and we hugely appreciated the reception laid on by the not insignificant audience, who in turn appreciated our director’s attempts at speaking Dutch, and even laughed at a joke or two. A late-night trip out for a quick meal saw Tenor 2 experience the delights of McDonald’s for the first time (he eventually triumphed over the electronic ordering system [despite its attempts to eat him], although not without some lasting trauma), and Tenor 1 let loose in Ghent as he didn’t fancy the tram.
On Saturday we enjoyed a boat-trip in the morning (complete with collapsing umbrellas), and visited St Bavo’s Cathedral for our third and final performance, before enjoying the rest of the afternoon and evening at leisure. There was great excitement at the prospect of a visit to a ‘cat café’, but we opted for waffles and sight-seeing instead before regrouping for a final meal prior to our departure the next morning.
Thanks must go to Rayburn Tours for organising such a hassle-free trip, and to our director Louisa Denby (who in turn would like to thank all those who sang).
Monday 31st July 2017
8pm, Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge
Tuesday 1st August 2017
8pm, St Mark’s Church, Newnham, Cambridge
Once again we were delighted to perform some well-known choral classics in two of our favourite Cambridge venues. The programmes included works by renaissance composers G. P. da Palestrina, Orlande de Lassus, and Thomas Morley, later works by C. V. Stanford and William Harris, and some 20th-century and contemporary pieces by composers such as Ola Gjeilo, Michael Tippett, and Cole Porter. Thank you very much to all those who packed out the two venues!
‘All Creatures Great and Small’
2nd & 3rd April 2016
Our 2016 Easter Tour will include concert and liturgical performances in and around the Guildford area, including a programme of sacred and secular music focused on animals.
Watch this space for updates!