Baroque Concert -
26th May 2012 at the Acorn Centre, Inverurie
Inverurie Choral Society Press notice 18 MAY 2011
SONGS FROM THE SHOWS
The members of Inverurie
Choral Society are pleased to announce that shortly they will be offering
everyone the chance to enjoy popular music from shows which have stayed in the
public’s mind. The performance of “Songs from the Shows”
will take place at Inverurie Academy on Saturday 4th June 2011 at
7pm.
The event will mark the full
return of Musical Director Moira Hunter in leading the choir after being
indisposed. It also follows the extremely well received recent performance of
the Messiah at the Acorn Centre in March. When the members
were discussing what to include in the show it was clear that they wanted really
memorable and popular songs from recent as well as more distant shows.
What is amazing is that there are so many songs from the 40s through to
the 90s which seem as fresh today as they were when first sung on Broadway and
other theatre stages.
Songs from such innovative US
shows like Oklahoma, South Pacific and West Side Story are matched with The
Sound of Music, and My Fair Lady from this side of the Atlantic.
Then items from the King and I, Call me Madam and State Fair will offer
the chance for some nostalgia. There will also be that great finale to Carousel,
You’ll Never Walk Alone, which has been adopted by football fans everywhere.
The choir will be singing that
fabulously moving song Can You Hear the People Sing from Les Miserables.
What is certain that those who do come to our celebration on June 4th
will leave with some of the best tunes in 80 years birling happily around inside
their heads.
The Choral Society are pleased
that they will be joined by soprano Anna Hamilton and tenor Martin Rudge.
The price is £8.00 concession(£7.00) with any
children of school age welcome free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Tickets are obtainable from any Choir Member or at the door on the night.
There will be refreshments available.
The Messiah - 20th
March 2011 (Inverurie
Advertiser)
CONCERT REVIEW
MESSIAH by George Frideric Handel
Inverurie Choral Society, soloists and orchestra conducted by Paul Tierney
(Musical Director)
Inverurie West Church, Sunday, 20 March 2011
Inverurie Choral Society finally presented their
Messiah on Sunday - the concert
postponed from last December due to the weather. A full audience in Inverurie
West Church heard local soloists Martha Hayward (soprano), Fiona Hunnisett
(alto), Thomas Henderson (tenor) and Andrew McNeill (bass) sing with the Choral
Society, with Christine Moore on harpsichord and Paul Tierney conducting a
concert orchestra.
The musical output of George Frideric Handel contains more vocal work than
instrumental. In this output, oratorio is more significant than opera. When
Handel came to England from Germany, he found a ready inspiration for choral
singing. Handel’s oratorios have more choral than solo singing than the operas
and use English texts rather than Italian. His oratorios differ from those of
his con-temporaries, JS Bach and others, in being dramatic or epic, rather than
devotional. While his other oratorios relate Old Testament stories,
Messiah tells the well-known story of
Jesus’ life and death.
Like other Handel oratorios,
Messiah is in three parts. The first part describes Jesus’ birth, and the
second tells of His suffering, death and resurrection while the last celebrates
the saving of human souls. In this regard performances of this work are as
suitable at Easter as at Christmas. The Bibli-cal verses were selected for
Handel by Charles Jennens. Messiah
was first performed as a charity concert in Dublin in April 1742. All the
subsequent performances, in Handel’s lifetime, raised funds for the Thomas Coram
Foundling Hospital in London.
The singing of the soloists and chorus was good and improved as the
performance progressed. Sometimes the orchestra sounded tentative. However, this
concert did not disappoint. Choral words were generally clear, even in dense
musical texture, part entries clean and runs well executed. There was a
wonderfully moving sequence of choruses and arias in Part Two. As is
traditional, the audience stood for "Halleluiah", some even joining in! The
final applause started before the last chord had completely died away, testament
to the emotional experience felt by all.
The conductor, Paul Tierney, should be proud of his last concert in charge
before handing back the Music Director’s role to Moira Hunter.
Adrian Law
(Sorry about the quality but it was the best I could do with John's Scan)
Choral
Society to perform ‘Messiah’
Published on Thu Nov 18 11:08:58 GMT 2010 Inverurie
Herald
IN what is probably its most ambitious concert yet, the
Inverurie Choral Society’s will shortly tackle one of the
greatest and popular choral works of all. They will sing
Georg Frederick Handel’s “Messiah” on Sunday, December 12,
at the Acorn Centre, West Church, Inverurie.
Directed by Dr Paul Tierney and with several guest
singers taking on the principal roles as well as supporting
the regular members of the Society, the Inverurie based
singers have been hard at work most Wednesday evenings since
late August.
The work is familiar to many in the choir though not all.
For those who are new to Mr Handel’s great work it has been
a tremendous exercise. Though many of the airs are familiar
such as the Hallelujah Chorus, the techniques which the
various parts of the choir have to master are less well
known, and can be quite complicated and intricate. This then
is the challenge, but the members of the choral society hope
that they are up to the task.
It is said that the addiction to choral societies has
been a peculiarity of the British. When Handel arrived on
these shores he found it a hotbed of polyphonic singing.
This gave him considerable stimulus in composing oratorios
and he always gave the lion’s share of the action to the
chorus, unlike in opera where the chorus is usually
subordinate to the action. The Messiah is considered by many
to be his greatest work in this field, and he especially set
his oratorios in the English language, rather than the
fashionable Italian.
The Messiah was first performed in April 1742 in Dublin.
That it is still one of the most regularly performed says
much of its attraction. The Inverurie Choral Society will he
accompanied by Martha Hayward (Soprano), Fiona Hunniset
(Alto), Thomas Henderson (Tenor) and Andrew McNeill (Bass),
and musicians from Aberdeen University.
The performance will commence at 7pm and the price is
£10.00 (Children free if accompanied by an adult).
Refreshments will be available, and tickets may be obtained
from Morgan’s Music, Rose St, Inverurie, members of the
Choral Society or at the door on the night.
(Thanks to the Inverurie Herald)
"A Night at the Opera " Review The Advertiser
11th June 2010
"A Night at the Opera " Review Press & Journal June
2010
"A Night at the Opera " Preview Press & Journal 3rd June
2010
(sorry about the quality of the scan)
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
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.
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