David Kary

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER CHOIR PRESENTS BACH IN THE CASTLE OF HEAVEN @ ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL

Chamber Choir(1)

 

Bach In The Castle Of Heaven Program:

  • JS Bach  (1685–1750) Lobet den Herren alle Heiden (BWV 230) for 4-part choir
  • Herbert Howells (1892–1983) Three Latin Motets Op.38
  • JS Bach Jesu meine Freude (BWV 227) for 5-part choir
  • Johann Michael Bach (1648–94) Das Blut Jesu Christi
  • Gregorio Allegri (c.1582–1652) Miserere
  • Olivier Messiaen (1908–92) O sacrum convivium
  • JS Bach – Singet dem Herren ein neues Lied (BWV 225) for two 4-part choirs

Following their sell out Melbourne performance of BACH IN THE CASTLE OF HEAVEN,   the sublime voices of the highly acclaimed Australian Chamber Choir is performing this concert one time only this Sunday afternoon at St Mary’s Cathedral.

Acclaimed in six countries by audiences and critics alike, the choir has attracted glowing reviews and return invitations that are testament to this Choir’s international standing:

“Delivered with complete stylistic perfection.  “AUSTRALIAN CHOIR IN THE SUPER LEAGUE””Dagbladet, Denmark, July 8, 2015

“In music that seems to penetrate into visionary dreamscapes … The choristers consistently impressed with their exploration of sonority and atmospheric depth”  Echo, Darmstadt, July 4, 2015

Australian Chamber Choir Director Douglas Lawrence OAM, renowned for his highly-engaging programs, has taken as a starting point a comment made by John Eliot Gardiner in Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven: “Who needs pills to lift the spirits when we have the six Motets of Johann Sebastian Bach?”   Lawrence contrasts three of JS Bach’s masterpieces with a gem from Bach’s father-in-law, Johann Michael Bach highlighting the talents of the Choir’s six sopranos, four altos, four tenors and four basses.      

Gregorio Allegri’s celebrated Miserere, which the Choir has performed to enraptured European and Australian audiences, sits alongside one of the most profound works in the motet repertoire, Messiaen’s O sacrum convivium.  The program also features Three Latin Motets by Herbert Howells, representing a pinnacle of early 20th century English choral music.

Fresh from his role as Ubaldo in Haydn’s Armida with Pinchgut opera in Sydney, Jacob Lawrence will be singing with the choir for this series before he departs Australia to undertake vocal studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel. Ellie Walker and Ria Pollo, also choir members, will accompany two of the Bach Motets on cello and organ.  Internationally renowned harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson also sings with the choir.

Audiences will experience the vocal dexterity of the 18-member choir, which has undertaken five European concert tours, given numerous Australian concerts and released four CDs. Their most recent release is Live in Europe 2015, which was recorded in Geneva.

Since its beginning nine years ago, the Australian Chamber Choir has given 168 concerts across Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, regional Victoria and NSW, Germany, France, Denmark, Switzerland and Poland.

The Australian Chamber Choir’s concert will take place this Sunday August 21 at 2.30 pm at St Mary’s Cathedral. Tickets – Adult $40 Conc $35  Student $20   ( 2 school-age children free with a paying adult)