On SATURDAY 29 JUNE 2019, 7.30pm
TRINITY CHURCH GOSFORTH
NEWCASTLE CHORAL SOCIETY and NCS CHAMBER CHOIR
Musical Director MARK ANYAN
A bit of Awakening and Toe Tapping went on in our FEEL THE SPIRIT concert last month, the final one of the 18-19 season!
RUTTER Feel the Spirit
TIPPETT Five Spirituals
BRITTEN Rejoice in the Lamb
The audience enjoyed the varied programme and particularly the guest organist Louise Reid who accompanied the choir for the Britten piece Rejoice in the Lamb. Louise’s son Christopher, a chorister at Newcastle Cathedral, sang the Treble in the same piece. Members of the choir took solo roles in the Britten and the Tippett and were declared a hit!
Sara Louisa Parry mezzo soprano delighted us with 3 pieces by Harold Arlen. Sara, combines a professional singing career with a busy teaching practice. She is a member of vocal trio Closer performing mainly in Switzerland, and in the UK with the Neil Sedaka tribute show Oh! Carol
Our own Eileen Bown accompanied the choir and Sara on piano
NCS Chamber Choir had their own section in the concert singing Charles Wood’s Full Fathom Five and Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies.
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On Saturday 23 March 2019 7.30pm
at the Banqueting Suite Newcastle Civic Centre
Newcastle Choral Society and the NCS Chamber Choir
Musical Director Mark Anyan had a blast with
Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’
Our soloists were stunning!
Austin Gunn Tenor
Lisa Swayne Soprano
Philip Smith Baritone
David Murray and Eileen Bown provided the accompaniment, on two pianos, and also performed Lutoslawski ‘Variations on a Theme of Paganini for two Pianos’ which was breathtaking!
We were joined by a choir of schoolchildren from St Godric’s RC Primary School Durham and St Stephen’s RC Primary School Longbenton. They behaved impeccably, sang their own pieces beautifully in the first half and gave that extra lift to Carmina Burana. Lovely comments were received from the Head Teacher of St Godric’s:
‘A great experience that will inspire the children for years to come! We were so well looked after and everyone was so kind to us.’
and from the Deputy Head of St Stephen’s ‘It was a pleasure to be involved and such an experience for all of the children and their families.’
From an appreciative audience member: ‘Carmina was amazing, a ‘tour de force’ and the children’s input to the whole concert, brilliant’.
We were all very happy!
David Whetstone, former Culture Editor of the Journal was kind enough to give us a lovely review. This can be viewed here
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Our Christmas 2018 concert was held on 15 December, forecast to be dire weather later in the afternoon and sure enough it was! Arctic blasts transformed the roads and pavements into sheets of ice! Singers living in farflung places and prospective audience members decided it was safer to stay at home. Nevertheless, for the hardy folk who turned out undeterred, we thank you! It was a super night, much appreciated by the audience. NCS Chamber Choir, newly formed in the summer,sang an Appalachian Carol which was well received.
‘ A cappella group Quintessential Voices brought traditional and modern elements to the concert in their own inimatable way.
The pay bar and the complementary mince pies went down a treat. Trinity Church Gosforth is such a great venue and we were, as always, well looked after by their staff and volunteers.
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BRITTEN ‘WAR REQUIEM’
Newcastle Choral Society (NCS) was delighted to be the guest choir of Cleveland Philharmonic Choir (CPC), along with Northern Spirit Singers for this magnificent performance held in Sage One on Saturday 10th November 2018.
We joined the Choristers of Durham Cathedral and St Peter’s Church Stockton, Cleveland Philharmonic Junior Choir, and the Mowbray Orchestra. The acclaimed soloists were the magnificent baritone Roderick Williams, his voice deemed by an audience member to be ‘like melted chocolate’ wonderfully expressive tenor Mark Padmore and thrilling soprano Rachel Nicholls who sat amongst the choir. The Conductors were led by the commanding John Forsyth MBE, Gary Matthewman, and Daniel Cook, Master of the Choristers, Durham Cathedral. The details of the concert can be viewed here
A wonderful evening and a thrill to perform alongside CPC!
We sang to a hugely appreciative audience totalling 1111 and received rapturous applause as well as many post concert plaudits!
…“fantastic, marvellous performance, most impressive, never boring. Well done!
...Astonishing’ ‘Astounding’’ A triumph’ ‘Magnificent’…
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Our summer concert featured compilations of familiar and traditional tunes and texts of the British Isles, some with a new twist, all interwoven with readings from Adam Bushnell, local author and storyteller, and all sung by the full chorus accompanied by Venera Bojkova.
Adam Bushnell is a qualified teacher, experienced storyteller and published author. He aims to inspire a love of creative writing and reading amongst adults and children alike. He is also voice over artist for museums, audio guides and audio books CDs.
He certainly enthralled our audience and made us laugh too!
Venera Bojkova is a recitalist, teacher and workshop leader, a skilled harpist and also conducts Bishop Auckland Choral Society.
We were delighted to introduce the newly formed 18 strong NCS Chamber Choir who performed madrigals to an appreciative audience. They will continue to enhance our concerts in the future.
Newcastle Choral Society
Mark Anyan Musical Director
‘Summerthyme and Tales
The Sprig of Thyme: John Rutter
Selection of traditional songs of the British Isles
Songs and Sonnets: George Shearing
Shakespeare inspired Jazz settings
Venera Bojkova Piano
Adam Bushnell Author and Storyteller
Saturday June 30th 2018 at 7.30pm
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Newcastle Choral Society
Musical Director Mark Anyan
Elgar ‘Dream of Gerontius’
Saturday 24 March 2018, 7.30pm
Banqueting Suite Newcastle Civic Centre
Stephanie Lewis Mezzo Soprano
Adam Tunnicliffe Tenor
Philip Shakesby Bass
Elgar considered The Dream of Gerontius to be his finest work. Indeed it might be regarded as the greatest piece of music ever written by a British composer. Based on a poem by Cardinal John Henry Newman, the piece relates the journey of a man’s soul from his death bed, where he is attended by friends and a priest who pray for him in his last moments of life.
After death a Guardian Angel conducts his soul past demons and angels to the presence of God for judgement, and thence to the tranquillity of Purgatory to await a glorious re-awakening. The concert was well received by an appreciative audience. The work called for three soloists who represented respectively Gerontius, Priest and Angel. Adam Tunnicliffe was deemed to be ‘sensational’ as Gerontius and the rich voice of Stephanie Lewis gave depth and emotion to the role of the Angel. Philip Shakesby’s resonant bass voice gave power to the role of the Priest. There was a double chorus which incorporated a semi-chorus, portraying friends, demons and angels at various stages of the drama. Orchestra North East were superb and provided a wonderfully varied palette of sounds throughout the work, enhancing each phase of the journey.View pdf here
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