HTAG Guildford - Guildford Chamber Choir Jan 05

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Guildford Chamber Choir Jan 05

Dear Friends

Those of you who were able to come to The Guildford Chamber Choir's recent concert in mid-November would have learned that it was the last occasion for the Choir to be singing under Stephen Farr as its Principal Conductor. Due to the pressures of Cathedral life and other ventures Stephen, with great regret, has had to relinquish the post, and the Choir will miss him greatly for his invaluable direction over the past three years. Nevertheless, the Choir remains Alive and very Well and is looking forward particularly to the new 2005 season in which it celebrates its 25th Birthday. I understand that celebrations are planned to start in June with a Silver Jubilee Celebration party! But before that, the Choir continues its music-making in support of local charities' fund-raising with a concert on Saturday 26th February next, starting as usual at 7.30 pm at St Nicolas' Church in the Lower High Street.

The theme of the concert, entitled "Jephte", is music of three centuries, covering 16th to the 18th century, and we are delighted to be supported on this occasion by a small orchestra drawn from members of The Surrey Mozart Players. In this anniversary year, the Choir thought it appropriate to include as its centrepiece a rarely-heard work which it performed in the year of its inception: Carissimi's solemn and majestic oratorio, "Jephte" with its tragic story of a rash vow made, kept and regretted. Also featured in the concert will be two very buoyant offerings: Bach's four-part motet, "Lobet den herrn" which contains his famous "Alleluia", treasured by choirs all over the world, and Alessandro Scarlatti's "Dixit Dominus", a florid and varied setting of Psalm 109 for choir, soloists and strings. To celebrate the semi-millennium of Thomas Tallis' birth, the choir will perform three of his most famous and beautiful motets including "Salvator mundi", "In manus tuas" and "O Nata lux de lumine", and there will be a special instrumental interlude in the form of Mozart's Church Sonata in E flat (K67) for strings and organ.

Our guest conductor, Kerry Beaumont, has conducted choirs in Canada and the USA as well as in Britain. He has produced five choral recordings and has made several Radio 3 broadcasts. He is also a composer as well as being an accomplished organist, and this year he was appointed Associate Organist at Guildford Cathedral. From 1990 he was the Organist and Master of the Choristers at Ripon and then at St David's cathedrals. He has been the Assistant Director of Music at St. Catherine's School in Bramley since 2002.

This concert is being given in support of The Mayor of Guildford's Distress Fund, which provides financial assistance to the needy within Guildford Borough. The fund answers to requests from all areas of the community, and has been able to assist both individuals and groups having a wide variety of needs.

We would like to take this opportunity to advise you that we are also using the Guildford Arts Mailing List this year, so we do apologise for any duplication. We would like to know from you, for our records, if you also on the Guildford Arts list? My e-mail address is mark.brown@dstintl.com and my home telephone no. is at the foot of this page. We would also be grateful to know if you no longer wish to remain on our own Mailing List.

As usual, the concert tickets are available from: The Tourist Office, Tunsgate (tel. 01483 444334); Record Corner, Godalming (tel. 01483 422006); from me, by post only (please enclose SAE); or on The Door, and, due to having the small orchestra, prices are £12.00, with Concessions at £8.00 and, for students, £5.00.

And so, we look forward to seeing you on 26th February at St Nicolas' Church.

With best wishes,

Mark Brown
Choir Publicity Committee