Bury Bach Choir blog

A collaboration of conductors It is unusual for larger choirs to perform the same programme twice, and rarer still for two conductors to share the honours during a concert, but that is exactly what Edmond Fivet and Philip Reed will do when their choirs, the Aldeburgh Music Club Choir and the Bury Bach Choir, together perform Mozart’s glorious Mass in C Minor and Vesperae solennes de confessore , first at St Edmundsbury Cathedral on 3 March and then at Snape Maltings on 17 March. Edmond Fivet and Philip Reed So how did the idea come about?  Philip says 'Edmond made the suggestion as he wanted his choir to perform the Mass. This was quickly agreed - it’s such a great work despite its incomplete nature, and I’m always happy to conduct it. It took quite a while to find the first half of the concert and we went through several possibilities before I suggested the Vesperae, and keeping the whole evening exclusively to Mozart.  Edmond adds:  ‘We were anxious to fi...

A marvellous evening of Mozart On 3 March at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, the Bury Bach Choir and the Aldeburgh Music Club Choir will perform Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Vesperae solennes de confessore , conducted by Philip Reed and Edmond Fivet. They will be joined by the Prometheus Orchestra and five wonderful soloists: Sarah Fox, soprano; Rachel Dyson, soprano; Valerie Reid, mezzo soprano; Austin Gunn, tenor and Graeme Danby, bass. In 1781 Mozart moved to Vienna, delighted to be free of the shackles of working for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg and able to spread his wings in the musical world.  In Vienna, he initially lodged with the Weber family, whose four daughters inevitably caught his eye.  At first he paid attention to the eldest daughter, Aloysia, an exceptionally gifted soprano who went on to enjoy an illustrious career, but it was her younger sister, the quiet, doe-eyed Constanze, also a soprano of no mean ability, who was eventually to capture his h...

Sarah Fox sings Mozart on 3 March We’re delighted that Sara h Fox will be singing one of the  solo soprano roles in our all-Mozart  concert at St  Edmundsbury  Cathedral on Saturday 3 March, including the ravishing  Laudate  Dominum  and , from the C Minor Mass,   Et  incarnatus   est , which Mozart’s wife Constanze reputedly  sang at its first performance in 1783. ​ Looking forward to the concert, Sarah s aid  ‘ I don't know how you can be  a singer and not love Mozart -  he loved the human voice and wrote such wonderful music for us ’ . Born in Yorkshire, Sarah  is one of the leading English  sopranos of her generation.  A former winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award and the John Christie Award,  she was educated at  London Universit y and the Royal College of Music, and  is also an Honorary Fellow of Royal Holloway College, London University. She is  equally at home ...

One year in, and loving the Latin! ‘This time last year’, says James Myers, ‘I did something I’ve always wanted to do –  joined  the c hoir!’  James says he’s always enjoyed singing, but didn’t have enough confidence to join the school choir because it seemed so full of good singers.  Later on, when he sang at church:  ‘People said I had a  good voice, but never the ver y musical people, only the ones who didn’t really know!’ At a recent rehearsal for our forthcoming concert, Mozart’s  Mass in C Minor  an d  Vesperae  solennes  de  confessore ,  at St  Edmundsbury  Cathedral on 3 March, James told the story of how he joined the Bury Bach Choir. A few years ago he  went to hear Handel’s  Messiah  at the Royal Albert Hall. ‘We were  w earing  dinner jackets and they thought we were part of the choir, we were told we were late and were rushed off to the dressing rooms!’ Eventu...

Bury Bach Choir raise a record sum for the Samaritans The Bury Bach Choir raised £4,500 for the Samaritans at their successful fundraising concert on 21 October at St Mary’s Church. An audience of over 500 enjoyed Fauré’s beautiful Requiem and a selection of short pieces including John Tavener’s The Lamb and Song for Athene, Mozart’s Ave Verum and three ethereal Bruckner motets. 2017 is the year of ‘Sing for Samaritans’ as a flagship fundraising campaign. Presenting the cheque, Choir Chair Tess Wright said ‘We enjoyed singing for the Samaritans, who do such great work in the Bury area, and we’re delighted that we raised so much money from ticket sales’. Samaritans Deputy Directors Vivian Bewley (2nd from left) and Claire Couch é  (right) accepting the cheque from Tess Wright (left) and Pam Reed (2nd from right) of Bury Bach Choir Vivian Bewley, the Samaritans’ Regional Fundraiser, said ‘It was a wonderful evening, a lovely way to raise money, and we are so grateful...

The Glory of Bach at Christmas For our Christmas concert this year, on 16 December at the beautiful church in Lavenham, we are performing four parts (I, II, III and VI) of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio . We will be joined by the period instruments of the Suffolk Baroque Players and four outstanding soloists: soprano Fae Evelyn, mezzo-soprano Valerie Reid, tenor Anthony Gregory and baritone Tom Asher. The Christmas Oratorio is a joyful experience, the perfect way to begin the celebration of Christmas. Bach designed the six parts (or cantatas) of the Christmas Oratorio to be performed at specific church services in Leipzig during the Christmas and New Year period of 1734/5. The work follows the familiar Christmas story in a glorious sequence of chorales, arias and powerful choruses. Part I, for the first day of Christmas, relates Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, and the joy of the birth of Jesus. Part II, for the second day of Christmas, tells of the angels’ announcem...

Welcome Chantal ! In an earlier post on the blog we celebrated Ann Brown, who has sung with the choir for 60 years.  In this post we welcome a new member, Chantal  Beeston, who joined us in September.  We will continue to feature members of the choir over the coming months. So how did Chantal feel about her first concer t with us last Saturday (21 Octo ber ) , for the Samaritans? ‘I loved it – t he sense of teamwork and camara derie , all of us working towards the same goal after all those intensive rehearsals.  More than that, I felt a sense of belonging, of doing something  just  for me.’ Chantal, a soprano, moved to Bury St Edmunds in the summer with her husband Ben, a teacher, and Beatrix, their 18 month-old  daughter .   Chantal is a music teacher , though she’s currently on maternity leave,  and has taught children from nursery through to  ‘ A ’  level, most recently as Head of Performing Arts for the Prep School ...