The Armed Man: A
mass for Peace 10th November 2009 - Inverurie Advertiser 28th October 2009
Fauré and Friends 6th June 2009 - Inverurie Advertiser 12th June 2009
Aberdeenshire Singing Festival - Inverurie Advertiser 13 March 2009
Inverurie Advertiser -23 January 2009
Inverurie Advertiser - 26th December 2008
Inverurie Advertiser - 12th June 2008
Inverurie Herald - 23 May 2008
Inverurie Advertiser 9th March 2007
Inverurie
Advertiser 16th February 2007
Choral concert kicks off busy 2006 programme (The Inverurie Advertiser - 3rd February 2006)
Inverurie Choral Society are gearing up for the presentation of their first substantial event of 2006, a major work by Durufle. Durufle's Requiem will be the central piece in a concert at Inverurie's West Church on Sunday February 5 at 7.30 pm.
Maurice Durufle (1902 - 1986) was a very important 20th Century composer and his Requiem (composed in memory of his father) is considered to be one of his most important pieces. The influence of the Church on his music stems from his time as a student at Rouen Cathedral and Gregorian Chants are in evidence as well as sublime and ethereal moments which are quite dream-like. The work is not particularly long, but is testing for the performers.
Musical Director Moira Hunter said "We hope that Durufle will please our audience and that together with the supporting items they will go home after the concert well satisfied."
The Inverurie Choristers have as their soloists Gordon Jack, Tracey Stewart and organist Donald Hawksworth (George Chittenden substituted Donald - webmaster) and will be supported by some of the Simpson Singers and guest singers from Aberdeen University.
As well as Durufle, the choirs will sing an original setting by Paul Halley (former organist at New York's Cathedral of St John The Divine) of the 13th century hymn Jesu, The Very Thought of Thee. There will also be a number of solos by the guest singers and the popular Mozart work Ave Verum Corpus (K618).
The Inverurie Choral Society enjoyed a busy Autumn season, having performed at Marischal Hall in Aberdeen with the Bon Accord Brass Band, Castle Fraser and at the Inverurie Garden Centre where they put on carol concerts.
As well as the coming performance they will be taking part in the Aberdeenshire Choir Festival in March and will have a summer concert in June with the theme A Trip Around Europe.
Tickets are available at the door, from choir members or by emailing tickets@inveruriechoral.org.uk
Choral Group's Inverurie Date (Press & Journal -3rd February 2006)
Inverurie Choral Society will launch a new season of recitals at the weekend with a concert in the town's West Church.
They will perform Durufle's Requiem from 7.30 pm on Sunday.
The work written in memory of Durufle's father is recognised as one of the 20th Century composer's finest pieces.Durufle, who died in 1986 at the age of 84, studied at Rouen Cathedral in France and his work reflects the tradition of Gregorian chants and traditional church music.
Soloists will be Gordon Jack and Tracey Stewart and organist George Chittenden, who plays at St Andrew's Cathedral in Aberdeen. They will be aided by members of the Simpson Singers from Aberdeen University.
Also on the programme will be a setting of a 12th-century hymn by Paul Halley, who was a cathedral organist in New York, and works by Faure and Mozart.
Inverurie Choral Society recently performed at Marischal College in Aberdeen and at Castle Fraser, near Kemnay/ Next month, the group will join in the Aberdeenshire Choir Festival.
Tickets for Sundays concert priced at £7 (£5 concessions) are available at the door
Inverurie Choral brings Christmas cheer to Inverurie Garden Centre - Saturday 4th December 2004
This picture appeared in the Inverurie Herald after the Choral sang Christmas Carols at Inverurie Garden Centre. We have been asked back to sing again the Saturday before Christmas.
thanks to Pamela Eastwood for the picture
Seven
centuries of carol singing
A
concert with a difference is the promise from the Inverurie Choral Society when
it presents its Annual Christmas concert at St Andrews church, Inverurie, on
Sunday (December 14th).
Under
its new director Moira Hunter the choir will be taking music from each of the
last seven centuries and bringing them into most modern times. Not
only is the Society going back to its own very traditions - for several years it
presented a very popular carol concert - but by going back to the to the very
roots of Christmas singing, to the 1300s, it is offering the public the chance
to hear how the season was celebrated in the middle ages. The songs and airs are
remarkably easy on the ear.
Choral
singing as a tradition has involved not only different styles of music and many
different instruments but it has been popular in many different countries.
The
Inverurie Choral Society is not only singing in modern English and of course
giving the chance to its audience to join in to sing some of the most popular
carols of today, but it's testing its ability to sing in old German, French and
Latin! The
centre piece of the concert will be Haydn’s Missa Brevis, or the Little Organ
Mass. This is an engaging and testing piece which the choir has been practicing
since September.
Guesting
with the choir on this occasion will be Anna Hamilton, a very popular soprano
who has worked with conductor Moira Hunter on many occasions in opera on the
stage of His Majesty’s Theatre. The
choir is excited that Anna is joining them.
The accompanist will be seasoned regular Donald Hawksworth.
(The
Herald, Friday December 12, 2003)
Carols at Castle Fraser - 6th December 2003
Picture courtesy of Heather Wilson
Conductor John's choral swan song (Review by Chrissie Wallace - Inverurie Advertiser 13/6/03)
Chapel of Garioch was the venue for Inverurie Choral Society's summer concert on Saturday. Entitled "A Summer Schubertiad", the choir, which celebrates its five years of existence this year, gave a resounding vote of confidence to the works of Franz Schubert and a few of his contemporaries.
Conductor John Hearne picked Schubert's Mass in G as the main offering from the choir which was sung in Latin with the soloists provided by the Aberdeen Vocal Ensemble. The concert also included some more readily recognisable pieces including Schubert's composition for the 23rd Psalm and an extract from the German Mass.
Mr. Hearne, who was conducting the choir for the final time, introduced several of Schubert's songs to the audience. Songs of love and dance, of the sea and of sorrow, showed off the breadth of the master's skill. That the choir had to sing a cappella and several in the Old German language, gave them a chance to demonstrate their skills. The accompanist on the piano and organ was Donald Hawksworth.
Sharing the stage with the ICS was the Aberdeen Vocal Ensemble (AVE) - a group of ten students directed by Brian Gunnee who sang Schubert's Der Schnee Zerrint after Mendelssohn's Hear My Prayer. The soloist was Laura Morley.
John Hearne, who had taken up the baton for Inverurie Choral Society, will not be lost to the area. He is currently rehearsing a combined choral group including Haddo and ICS for a major performance of Elgar's Gerontius to take place on November 30 as a tribute to Lady Aberdeen, His place at ICS will be taken by Moira Hunter, lately the conductor of the Aberdeen Opera Society.
Prior to the concert ICS Chairman Douglas Harper of Monymusk presented John with a music stand as a thank-you gift from the Society.
Choral and Celtic musical traditions in harmony at Chapel of Garioch Concert (Review by Alan Cooper P & J 1/7/02)
Inverurie Choral Society and their conductor John Hearne successfully married two different musical traditions at their concert in Chapel of Garioch on Saturday (29/6/02) night.
The special guests of the choir this year were a group of four fantastic young musicians who cam from Inverurie Academy - three fiddlers and a pianist - who made up the Celtic folk band Celtacad.
The fiery attack of their playing and their evident enjoyment put a fizz into a programme of choral favourites which ran from Thomas Morley's madrigal April is in my Mistress's face to Elgar's As Torrents in Summer or Sullivan's The Long Day Closes, a splendid piece of Victoriana and all beautifully performed by the chorus. Along with these standards of choral repertoire expected from John Hearne there was imaginative programming, such as a revival of Dr Callcott's amusing setting of the May Fly. There was also an immaculate performance of Massenet's Meditation from Thais.
Just a few ingredients of a wholly delightful evening in a picturesque setting.
The Way We Sang Then (Review by Alan Cooper P & J 14/3/02)
The Way We Sang Then was the title of last night's concert by Inverurie Choral Society conducted by John Hearne in Kemnay Church Centre.
Billed as a visit to an early Victorian Glee Club. John Hearne had unearthed a wealth of wonderful music some of which had hardly seen the light of day for more than a century and a half - music by Scottish composers like John Thomson, Scotland's first professor of music at Edinburgh and Sir George MacFarren.
In fact, Mr. Hearne ended up contributing more to the evening than he had intended. Guest soloist Jamie MacDougall had flu so John took his place.
The choir were in top form and with solo songs by Schubert sung by John Hearne, it all added up to an evening of pure delight.
From the Inverurie Advertiser
Glee-full night of nostalgia (Excerpt from Inverurie Advertiser)
Inverurie Choral Society singers whisked themselves back in time last Wednesday (13th March 2002) evening as songs from the early 19th century were revived.
The Society presented a programme described as a visit to an early Victorian Glee Club, at Kemnay Church Centre where The Way We Sang Then was performed in front of an appreciative audience. The chorus sang a number of "glees" which are short choral pieces of the type enjoyed by members of the singing clubs of the early 19th century in England and Scotland. Several of them were amusing and jocular; others sentimental and romantic. One was a very significant piece written in 1836 by John Thomson and performed at a dinner of an Edinburgh Society of Musician.
Ably stepping into the shoes of the unavailable guest artiste tenor Jamie MacDougall, was John Hearne, who in addition to being a conductor and composer, is also a professional singer. Mr. Hearne performed a similar programme to that originally planned.
Guest artistes on the night were the clarinetist Colin Hunter and pianist Robert Howie, who are well-known musicians from Aberdeen.
Inverurie Choral Society was formed in 1998 in response to requests from many people who wanted to sing choral music from the classical repertoire, and the society gave its first concert in December 1998, and a summer concert in June 1999.
Thanks to Inverurie Advertiser for this insert:
Choral concert revives "glees"
Songs from the early 19th
century will be revived by Inverurie Choral Society at a concert next week.
The society is presenting a programme described as a visit to an early Victorian
Glee Club, on Wednesday March 13th at Kemnay Church Centre at 8.0 pm.
The chorus will sing a number of “glees” which are short choral pieces of the type enjoyed by members of the singing clubs of the early 19th century in England and Scotland. Several of them are amusing and jocular; others are sentimental and romantic.
One is a very significant piece written in 1836 by John Thomson and performed at a dinner of an Edinburgh Society of Musicians. Guest artists are the tenor Jamie MacDougall and the clarinetist Colin Hunter, accompanied by pianist Robert Howie. Jamie will be familiar to Radio Scotland listeners for his Sunday afternoon broadcasts and as a very popular soloist and an opera singer with an international career. He will be singing Lieder by Schubert and Mendelssohn and two rarely heard songs by the Scottish 190th century composer George MacFarren, which are accompanied by clarinet and piano. Colin Hunter and Robert Howie are well-kent musicians from Aberdeen.
The concert on Wednesday will last for just over one hour and refreshments will be available afterwards.
Tickets are available from Leonards Music, Inverurie, or at the door on the night.
Patrons are advised to leave cars in the street below the church centre as parking space is limited.
All reports reproduced from the Press & Journal with their permission.
Choirs hit high note at Inverurie festival
(P & J March 2001)
Around 300 choir singers from throughout the North East converged on Inverurie
Academy to take part in the Aberdeenshire Singing Festival. The 10th
annual event was the biggest so far. It attracted 10 of the North-east's
top choirs, including 2 youth choirs, and groups from Stonehaven, Inverurie,
Aberdeen, Banchory, Peterhead and Ellon. A capacity crown of around 300
parents, relatives and friends of those taking part turned up to watch a concert
on Saturday night. It featured short individual performances from all of
the choirs before they joined together for a massed finale that demonstrated
skills learned from an afternoon-long workshop led by Edinburgh-based conductor
Ben Parry and previous practice sessions. Aberdeenshire Council Arts
Development Officer, Sheila Waterhouse explained the non-competitive element of
the event. She said "It is help purely for the joy of people singing
together. It started off as a Deeside Singing Festival and then
Aberdeenshire Council promoted it when it came into existence and turned it into
the Aberdeenshire Singing Festival. It travels around Aberdeenshire and we
have held events in Aboyne and Stonehaven and last year's event was in
Fraserburgh." Festival music Director, John Hearne said the event was
a big success. "They were so different from each other - it was a terrific
variety, "he said, "it was a wonderful opportunity for all these
people from different places and of all ages"
Choral Society in full flow (Review
by Alan Cooper P & J)
The first ever concert given by Inverurie Choral Society drew a big crowd to
Inverurie Academy hall on Saturday night. Through his work with the
Stonehaven Chorus their conductor, John Hearne, has established a reputation for
unusual and adventurous programming especially at Christmas. Saturday's
debut performance was no exception. New World Nowells took six carols by
the South American composer Ariel Ramirez and interspersed them with carols from
England, Scotland and Canada to tell the entire Christmas Story. Guitarist
David Bracegirdle contributed a couple of intimate guitar solos, and soprano
Gillian Taylor, delighted with two striking solo spots. The enthusiasm and
fervour of the choral singing put across all the rhythmic excitement and co lour
of the South American carols, and although the choir does need a few more men,
they impressed me with the Scottish carol, Balulalow, and its striking unusual
melody, and within their performance of the Red Indian Huron Carol from Canada.
Impressive start by Inverurie choir
(Review by Alan Cooper P & J)
The recently-established Inverurie Choral Society gave their first annual
concert in the Inverurie Academy hall on Saturday night. It was an
impressive start, although the choir really do need a few more tenors and basses
for a satisfactory balance, and consequently there were one or two threadbare
patches in the choral texture. Conductor John Hearne pulled off something
of a coup by getting Aberdeen Sinfonietta as the support orchestra. Their
performance of Honegger's Pastorale d'Ete was ravishing. Baritone Gordon
Jack proved his worth as guest soloist with a delightful selection of English
songs on which he was accompanied by Christine Bremner. Choir, orchestra
and soloist opened the concert with Holst's Psalm 86, but the most captivating
performances were the two larger items, the first of which was by John Hearne
himself. Summer Nights in the Fjords is a setting for chorus, soloist and
orchestra of four Icelandic folk songs. The orchestral writing was full of
magical touches and the entire work painted a vision of the land of sparkling
waters and midnight sun to perfection. Elgar's Scenes from the Bavarian
Highlands also featured John Hearne's skills as an orchestral colourist in his
new arrangement for wind quintet and strings. That work had the best
moments of choral singing, too, as the choir really grabbed hold of Elgar's
joyful melodies.
Choir strikes gold in chapel (Review
by Alan Cooper P & J)
When they got Baritone Alan Watt as guest soloist for their Spring Concert in
the delightfully intimate Chapel of Garioch on Saturday night, Inverurie Choral
Society struck gold. Much of their performance centered on his beautifully
smooth singing, with solos like I bought Me a Cat from Three American Songs by
Aaron Copland, and Lord God of Abraham from Mendelssohn's Elijah, both in
different ways highlights of the performance. With David Smith at the
organ and the Choir providing richly coloured backing, Alan Watt carried the
melodies of Vaughan Williams' soaring settings of George Herbert's texts warmly
and confidently. The Choral Society still needs more men, especially
tenors, to achieve a completely satisfactory balance but their series of secular
songs from Scotland and France were nicely drawn and the two of Grieg's Four
Psalms which they performed were first class. Conductor John Hearne
included two of his own compositions, the beautiful anthem At Close of Day and
The Seagull in which the sopranos sing an old Skye folk song while the rest of
the chorus provide atmospheric sounds of the sea and seabirds. It was a
startling idea that worked remarkably well.
To return to Home Page, click HERE