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Information for members
Latest news We are delighted to announce that Christine Cairns, vocal trainer from the Birmingham Conservatoire, has agreed to provide a workshop for us on Saturday 13th March. It will happen from 10.30-2.30 with a break for lunch, and Richard will be present to facilitate what promises to be an excellent event. LBC members who joined the chorus of Richard's opera company Operamus last autumn to perform Handel's Semele very much enjoyed working with Christine. Somehow with deceptive ease we found ourselves opening our voices more to sing with greater fluency and resonance. We are fortunate that Richard is able to persuade a vocal trainer of such quality and experience to work with us. The BBC have made some money available for choirs who wish to develop their technique, in a project called Choral Ambition, so we have made a bid for funds from them to support this workshop. Final arrangements and costs will depend upon whether or not our bid is successful.
Rehearsals for Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius with Cantamici and Leicester Grammar School Choir Soloists: Peter Wedd, George von Bergen, Karen Wise Wednesday Oct 21st Excerpts tbc Sunday October 25th 2:00-5:00: Joint rehearsal 3 at Queen Elizabeth I College Wednesday Oct 28th Joint rehearsal 4 at Leicester Grammar School, Great Glen Complete work Dave & Toby, the photographers from Crocodile House who took the photographs that appear on our publicity, including this website, will be present during both the rehearsal and concert to capture us in action in St James and provide a record of one of the most significant events we have put on in recent years. And to provide us with photographs in concert dress, in St James, for more formal use. How this concert came about. Elgar sets Newman’s intensely human account of a man facing death to music that sends shivers down the spine – or certainly down mine. No doubt that is influenced by this concert being in memory of my husband and long-standing LBC bass, Jonathan Hill, who died very suddenly in January 2008. Ever since Jonathan had sung Gerontius in the USA in 2000, he had campaigned for the LBC to perform it. This never seemed to be possible because it requires a bigger choir, and the size of the orchestra and the significance of the soloists makes it hugely expensive to stage. Somehow those problems started to shrink on the day of his funeral. The people who described different aspects of Jonathan’s life at the service sparked this concert into being. Glynn Richerby recalled that Jonathan’s interest in the work had been rekindled late in 2007, by a sermon he gave during an All Souls service. Owen Bentley, then chair of LBC, spoke about singing alongside Jonathan as a fellow bass and of his enthusiasm for Gerontius. Val Lewis, his art teacher, spoke of his fascination with finding a way to render Gerontius visually: a few of his sketches for an unfinished painting appear in the programme. As a result, when I met Owen with Richard Laing and Karen Wise at the wake, they were already starting to wonder if it might be possible to perform Gerontius after all. Meetings about this possibility were held after rehearsals, in the Swan & Rushes. Of course we had many practical details to consider, but Richard kept refocusing discussion onto what it was we hoped would unfold. There was both music and visual art to consider. Owen constructed the careful letters of which he is a master. These generated willing volunteers to swell the ranks of singers, from Cantamici and the Grammar School, and inspired generous donations from Jonathan’s friends and colleagues. Together with our fund-raiser, Angela Finch, Owen obtained significant financial support from two charitable trusts. Angela also talked with schools about an associated art work, resulting in a splendid installation in the Lady Chapel. As the dream became a reality, a few more details were added. Even though we are a bit crowded, it just had to be at St James. A team of friends who were keen to play their part volunteered to hand round the interval drinks. We also decided to feature Graham Sutherland’s Thorn Cross in the art work of our publicity. This painting was given to St James by his family, and can be seen at the top of the stairs just off the Lady Chapel. There are many possible interpretations of it: I think it represents the way we live our lives in the knowledge of death. So a tragedy brought many people together. One by one the impediments melted away, and we arrive at a performance that is meaningful for us and, we hope, moving and perhaps assuaging for you. As Karen had been a frequent visitor to our home and Jonathan was fond of her, it is poignant that tonight she is the angel who accompanies the dying man to meet his maker. Since Jonathan died there have been other deaths, sudden and prolonged, of people close to LBC members and of others known to you. We perform Gerontius as close as possible to All Souls day, November 2nd, when the church commemorates those who have died.
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