Contemporary Christmas Carols
Wednesday 22 December 2021, 2.00pm
A PDF version of this programme can be viewed here:
James Whitbourn Christmas Welcome (In die natalis Domini) 3’
Trad.,arr. René Veen Es ist ein Ros entsprungen 3’
Roderick Williams O Rex Gentium BBC commission: world premiere c3’
Sally Beamish In the stillness 2’
Sydney Carter, arr. Ashley Grote Lord of the Dance 3’
John Tavener Rocking 2’
Richard Allain Dormi, Jesu! 2.20’
Matthew Owens The holly and the ivy 3’
Francis Pott Balulalow 3’
Judith Bingham Tu creasti Domine 4’
Marcel Dupré Variations sur un Noël 12’
Jamie W. Hall Lisa’s Carol 2’
Paul Edwards No Small Wonder 2.50’
Errollyn Wallen Peace on Earth 3.40’
Tim Sutton Quittez, pasteurs 3’
Hafliði Hallgrímsson Christ Was Born on Christmas Day 3.20’
Michael Nicholas ’Twas in the year that King Uzziah died 3’
Trad.,arr. Tobias Frank Les anges dans nos campagnes 4’
Trad., arr. Stuart Nicholson I saw three ships come sailing in 3’
Ashley Groteorgan
BBC Singers
Owain Park conductor
Presented by Ian Skelly
There will be no interval
This afternoon’s concert is being broadcast live by BBC Radio 3 for 'Afternoon Concert'. It will be available for 30 days after broadcast via BBC Sounds, where you can also find podcasts and music mixes.
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Biographies
Owain Park conductor
Owain Park was born in Bristol in 1993. His compositions are published by Novello and have been performed internationally by ensembles including the Tallis Scholars and Aurora Orchestra. While at Cambridge University, he studied orchestration with John Rutter before undertaking a Masters degree in composition.
Recent works include Antiphon for the Angels for VOCES8 and Rachel Podger and Footsteps for Tenebrae and Nigel Short. Under Stephen Layton the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge recorded an album of his compositions which was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2019. The Epiphoni Consort released an album of his secular choral works entitled When Love Speaks in 2020.
As a conductor he maintains a busy schedule of projects with ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music, BBC Singers, Cambridge Chorale, Capella Cracoviensis and London Mozart Players. His own vocal consort, The Gesualdo Six, tours extensively around the world performing their interpretation of Renaissance and contemporary music.
Owain Park is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and was awarded the Dixon Prize for improvisation, having been Senior Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was one of BBC Radio 3’s 31 under 31 Young Stars 2020, and was a Tenebrae Associate Artist for two seasons. He has worked with ensembles including the Gabrieli Consort, Polyphony and The Sixteen.
Ashley Groteorgan
Photo: Paul Hurst
Photo: Paul Hurst
Ashley Grote was both a chorister (1990–95) and an organ scholar (2001–4) at King’s College, Cambridge, under the direction of the late Stephen Cleobury, whose influence did so much to shape his musical development. He studied the organ with David Goode and Nicolas Kynaston, and as organ scholar at King’s performed internationally with the choir, as well as accompanying numerous recordings and radio and television broadcasts – including the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
He has subsequently held posts as Organist in Residence at Tonbridge School (2004–5), Assistant Organist at Westminster Abbey (2005–8) and Assistant Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral (2008–12). He has also been involved in the Edington Music Festival, first as Organist (2007–9) and then as Festival Director (2010–12). He is currently Master of Music at Norwich Cathedral, a post he has held since 2012. He also directs Norwich Cathedral Chamber Choir, who frequently perform alongside period-instrument ensemble Norwich Baroque.
As a recitalist he has performed throughout the UK, USA and Europe, with recent concerts in Italy, Germany, Finland and Sweden. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic his regular online recitals from Norwich Cathedral have attracted many listeners from around the world. He last performed alongside the BBC Singers in December 2020, giving a live broadcast performance of Messiaen’s La nativité du Seigneur.
He has made solo recordings of Louis Vierne’s organ symphonies, and his recording of popular organ works from Norwich Cathedral is heard frequently on national radio. His most recent recording, of major organ works by J. S. Bach from Selby Abbey, was released in December 2019. He is also a published composer and arranger of organ and choral works.
He has raised over £70,000 by running six London Marathons for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, where his daughter is a patient.
Coming up at Milton Court Concert Hall
Sunday 13 February 2022, 4pm
Howard Goodall conducts the BBC Singers
Howard Goodall conducts the BBC Singers in a concert of restorative, radiant choral music separated by a century but united by tragedy.
Book tickets
BBC Singers
The BBC Singers have held a unique place at the heart of the UK’s choral scene for almost 100 years and have collaborated and performed with many of the world’s leading composers, conductors and soloists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The current Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers is Sofi Jeannin.
The BBC Singers promote a 50:50 gender policy for composers whose music they perform, and champion inclusivity for composers from all backgrounds. Recent concerts and recordings include music by Joanna Marsh, Cecilia McDowall, Roxanna Panufnik, Sun Keting, Errollyn Wallen and Roderick Williams. In addition, recent seasons have seen diverse creative collaborations with singers Katie Melua, Laura Mvula and Clare Teal, South Asian dance company Akademi, world music fusion band Kabantu and choreographer Duwane Taylor alongside artists from East London Dance.
As well as their annual performances at the First and Last Nights of the BBC Proms, the 2021 season saw them perform a conceptual Prom featuring composer and turntablist Shiva Feshareki.
The BBC Singers are based at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios, where they rehearse and record regularly for BBC Radio 3. They also perform an annual series of concerts at Milton Court Concert Hall in London. The 2021–22 season includes a concert conducted by Howard Goodall featuring music by Errollyn Wallen, Judith Weir, Vaughan Williams and Goodall himself. The group also gives free concerts at a number of venues across London and appears regularly at major festivals across the UK and abroad, with the vast majority of its performances broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The BBC Singers also offer a wide programme
of innovative learning and community activities, working with schools, colleges/universities and community groups, and take a leading role in BBC Ten Pieces and BBC Young Composer. When vacancies arise, the group encourages applications from all areas of our diverse UK community.
Chief Conductor
Sofi Jeannin
Principal Guest Conductor
Bob Chilcott
Sopranos
Rebecca Lea
Clare Lloyd-Griffiths
Helen Neeves
Olivia Robinson
Emma Tring
Altos
Margaret Cameron
Nancy Cole
Cathy Bell
Jessica Gillingwater
Tenors
Ben Durrant
Stephen Jeffes
Andrew Murgatroyd
Tom Raskin
Basses
Stephen Charlesworth
Charles Gibbs
Jamie W. Hall
Jimmy Holliday
Andrew Rupp
Keep up to date with the BBC Singers
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