Yorkshire Bach Choir 2016-17: Bach and beyond

Image copyright Ian Martindale: http://www.ianmartindalephotography.co.uk/

We are happy to announce our 2016-17 concert season! Join us for a year of music brimming with inspiration, excitement and history.

Yorkshire Bach Choir has a reputation for the quality and authenticity of its performances including the greatest pieces in the choral repertoire. Along with this familiar fare, this season will introduce less familiar music from figures as diverse as CPE Bach and Zoltan Kodály. For lovers of great choral or early music can there be a better way to spend a Saturday evening in York?

Renaissance Unchained: 29.10.16

Byrd (TL), Lassus (TR), Sweelinck (BR),
Victoria (BL), Palestrina (Ctr)

Our opening concert showcases the variety and depth of music across Europe during the Renaissance with music by Byrd, Sweelinck, Lassus, Palestrina and Victoria. Challenging the idea that Renaissance musical innovation was centred exclusively in Italy it includes music from Spain, the Low Countries and our own Isles. 

We unlock the mysteries of William Byrd’s intriguing Mass for Five Voices which was secretly performed in the private chapels of devout English Catholics during the turbulence of the late sixteenth century. Italy is not ignored in our tour of Europe as we perform Palestrina’s plangeant, suspension-filled setting of the Stabat Mater for double choir. Other gems of Renaissance music included in the programme are the exquisite motet ‘Justorum Animae’ by Lassus and a festive ‘Hodie’ by Sweelinck.

Further details: bit.ly/YBRenaissance

YBC @ Illuminating York

We are thrilled that this opening concert will once again be a part of the artistic programme for the Illuminating York Festival. We are pleased that our singing will once again be part of the magical atmosphere across the city on evenings of the festival. 

This year's festival makes a particular focus of some of York’s greatest religious spaces including York Minster and the adjacent St Michael le Belfrey which is the home of our concert series. Illuminations on the exterior of St Michael le Belfrey promise to be complemented by tranquil sonorities inside.   

Bach at Christmas: 10.12.16

For our December concert we make the first of two visits this season to the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall (University of York) to perform Bach at Christmas with Yorkshire Baroque Soloists. The concert includes an unmissable trio of festive works with JS Bach’s Magnificat and cantata Wachet Auf (Sleepers, wake’). Particularly exciting will be the York premiere of CPE Bach’s exciting setting of the Magnificat text.  

Tickets are selling quickly for what promises to be a highlight of the York Early Christmas Music Festival.

Further details: bit.ly/YBachXmas

Heinrich Schütz at the Dresden Court: 4.02.17

2017 will open with Heinrich Schütz at the Dresden Court when we explore the wonderful range of music written by one of the most important, innovative composers of the seventeenth century. 

We showcase the range of his musical style from his expressive, trailblazing settings of the passion story to the sonorous vocal textures of his colourful psalms.    

Further details: bit.ly/YBSchutz

Bach: Mass in B minor: 18.03.17

Completed in the final year of his life, the monumental Mass in B minor is arguably Bach's greatest achievement. All in all, it is the perfect realisation of his endlessly flexible and inventive musical style. 

An outstanding line-up of vocal soloists complements the period-style agility of Yorkshire Baroque Soloists.

Book early for what promises to be a highlight of 2017 musical life in York!

Further details: bit.ly/YBach 

20th Century Choral Classics: 13.05.17

Organist Ben Horden

We return to the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall (University of York) on 13 May for a colourful programme of music for organ and choir entitled 20th Century Choral Classics accompanied by organist Ben Horden. 

In this concert we present three distinctive twentieth century settings of spiritual texts for voices and organ. Both Kodály and Duruflé take their cue from earlier musical styles, especially Gregorian chant, and reinvent familiar texts in the full technicolour of their own individual musical languages. Completing the trio of works is Walton’s The Twelve a hugely imaginative and distinctive setting of W H Auden’s words.    

Read more about Ben Horden at http://www.benhorden.com/

Further details: bit.ly/YB20thCent

Monteverdi: Vespers (1641) and Carissimi: Jephte: 17.06.17

YBC and Yorkshire Baroque Soloists at
York Early Music Festival December 2015

Known as ‘the other vespers’, Monteverdi’s 1641 collection Selva morale e spirituale is a greatest hits compilation from his many years’ experience as a church composer. The virtuosic settings combine a characteristic combination of weighty, expansive choral writing and exquisite vocal solos. Forming an ad hoc vespers sequence, the music performed reflects Monteverdi’s revolutionary, colourful treatment of voices and instruments. Dramatic flair and vividly imagined biblical characters are the hallmarks of Carissimi’s compact masterpiece Jephte. 

Further details: bit.ly/YBVespers

Come to hear us!

Full details of ticket prices and season subscriptions can be found on our website. You can save money across the season by subscribing for one of our season tickets. For the first time this year £5 student tickets will be available in advance of the concert.

Further details on Yorkshire Bach Choir: bit.ly/YBChoir
Yorkshire Baroque Soloists: bit.ly/YBSoloists

All our concerts (except for the December and May concert at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall) are performed in the spacious St Michael le Belfrey a historic church in the heart of the city.

YBC Concert reminder service: http://bit.ly/1nbRxIJ

Twitter: @YorksBachChoir

Facebook: Yorkshire Bach Choir

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/yorksbachchoir

Email: marketing@yorkshirebachchoir.org

Introduction to our new concert series 2015/16

YBC have already started rehearsing for the first concert of what promises to be another fantastic year of music-making in York.  This year our programme of concerts covers a huge range of  composers and musical epochs including Allegri, Byrd, Tallis, Gesualdo, Bairstow, Wood, Harris, Haydn, Victoria, Vaughan Williams, Howells, Tippett, Finzi, Monteverdi, Croce, Clinio and, of course, J.S. Bach!

In an exciting new venture we will open our season on the 31 October 2015 with a concert entitled ‘Blessed City: Lamentations and Light’ which is part of the Illuminating York Festival.  Taking place on All Hallow’s Eve (‘Halloween’) our concert will hopefully be a musical counterpoint to the amazing light installations going on around the city. The theme of our concert takes some of our inspiration from Nayan Kulkarni’s ‘Three Graces’ installation which will see  flickering candles appear outside St Michael le Belfrey projected from the building's lantern.

Projection of Nayan Kulkarni's 'Three Graces' outside St Michael le Belfrey

The atmosphere in York over the evenings of the festival is always particularly special as thousands of people come into the city centre to see the illuminations. This atmosphere will transfer into the calm interior of St Michael le Belfrey where, beginning in semi-darkness, our programme will range from the renowned Allegri: Miserere written for Sistine Chapel in Rome, to the tortured and harmonically audacious music of Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responses.  

The second half which focus on the English music of Thomas Tallis with the majestic sonorities of his two Lamentation settings before a switch to the more late Romantic and twentieth century sound world of Edward Bairstow, Charles Wood and William Harris.  The Lamentation by Bairstow will be of particular interest to York audiences as it was written during the Second World War for the Dean of York Minster and has a wonderful, haunting simplicity. The concert ends in uplifting fashion with the golden, sumptuous harmonies of William Harris: Faire is the Heaven and the ecstatic glow of Charles Wood: Hail Gladdening Light.


By coincidence, the birth of light is a notable in the iconic opening of our second concert of the season as we perform Haydn’s celebrated Creation as part of the York Early Music Festival on Saturday 5 December at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall (University of York).  2016 begins with a programme of Victoria motets and psalms on 6 February and continues the mouthwatering opportunity on 12 March to hear three separate JS Bach masterpieces (Easter & Ascension Oratorios & Mass in G minor).  Spring continues with a programme of Songs and Elegies of the English Romantics (including music by Vaughan Williams, Howells, Finzi and Tippett) on 7 May and our final summer concert on 18 June finds brings Italian sunshine with a concert featuring the music of Monteverdi and Croce. The music of Giovanni Croce and Teodoro Clinio is specially edited for this concert and it seems that this will be the first time since the 17th century that much of the music will have been heard.   

 
Full details of ticket prices and season subscriptions can be found on our website. Alongside the usual reduced prices for full and concessionary seasons ticket holders those under 30 can for the first time this year take advantage of our Under 30s Season ticket which allows access to all six concerts for just £60.

All our concerts (except for the December concert of Creation at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall) are performed in the glorious surroundings of St Michael le Belfrey a historic church which is right in the heart of York beside York Minster.

The opening concert Blessed City: Lamentations and Light takes places at St Michael le Belfrey York and starts at 7.30pm on Saturday 20 June. Tickets priced at £18 (£16 concessions) are available here or on the door.


YBC Concert reminder service: http://bit.ly/1nbRxIJ

Contact details:
Twitter: @YorksBachChoir 
Facebook: Yorkshire Bach Choir
Email: marketing@yorkshirebachchoir.org

Artist spotlight - Tenor Matthew Long

Matthew Long

Our tenor soloist for Messiah is rising star Matthew Long. As an alumni of Yorkshire Bach Choir, former chorister at York Minster and music student at the University of York, Matt has strong ties with the city of York. Now based in London, Matt has travelled the word with some of the world’s finest ensembles.  He has even released his own album recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road studios. We started by asking him to recall his experiences as a student at York and why he enjoys coming back to the musical city helped shape him.

Matt began by commenting:

As an undergraduate student, I think it can be difficult to have a perspective of how important and formative time spent working with good ensembles can be. I now look back at my time in Yorkshire Bach Choir with great fondness. To have been part of such high calibre music making as a 19/20  year old student was a real privilege and I owe a lot to the experience I gained whilst singing in YBC.

Have you had the opportunity to return to York since you left a few years ago?

I've come back to sing on quite a few occasions under different guises. With the Sixteen, I Fagiolini and as a soloist. It's always a joy to be here and see old friends and familiar faces and places.

Musically, when do you feel the happiest?

At the end of most concerts! That's not true [...] I spent a lot of my twenties worrying about how to get better at singing, how to get the better work, how to make enough money etc. It's a tough and hugely competitive world for a young singer. In the last few years I've taken a step back from this view and taken time to enjoy the other things in life that aren't music. 

More specifically I recently performed Britten's War Requiem for the first time. It was one of my most satisfying musical experiences to date. Also, working on my debut solo album, choosing repertoire, booking musicians etc. was a hugely rewarding and educational experience.

Which living musician do you most admire?

Hmm…. Difficult….The work of Mr Justin Bieber is underrated I feel.

Seriously, who is the composer (dead or alive) that you’d most like to meet?

J S Bach (obviously).

As a youngster, did you ever have a eureka moment performing a certain piece of music?

I have very strong memories of first performing Monteverdi's Vespers with YBC. I'd never heard music like it before. The intricacy, the power of the extended cadences, and the simple beauty of the monody. It switched a switch in me somewhere. I have gone on to perform it probably more than any other work.

When you’re not practising or performing, how else do you like to spend your time?

Music can be all consuming and I've found this isn't always helpful. Taking a step back can help focus the mind. I've not been happier to be working in music than since I adopted this approach. I'm a keen follower of wildlife conservation and all things 'biodiverse' and green! I love to go walking in the wilder places we have in the UK, usually with my camera.

What is your most treasured possession?

My wife [Matt laughs]! She would hate that I've written that. No? Let's go with our cat, Florence. Although she owns me in truth. As does my wife.

What keeps you awake at night?

Often it's the music of the next or most recent concert I've been involved in.

What would your super power be?

Constantly reliable vocal cords.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?

London 25,000 years ago. When Lions, Hyenas, Hippos and Elephants roamed the land where London now lies. That would be pretty cool. I wouldn't stay for very long!

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

J. S. Bach, Sir David Attenborough, Scarlett Johansson, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Dr Alan Rabinowitz ( look him up, he has quite a story), Jimmy Hendrix, Nigel Farage, Jo Brand…. yep, that should provide some interesting conversation!



We look forward to hearing Matt singing ‘Comfort ye’ and kicking off what will certainly be a very special performance of Messiah with Yorkshire Bach Choir, Yorkshire Baroque Soloists alongside a stellar line up of soloists. 

York Early Music Christmas Festival

Tickets are available in advance at the National Centre for Early Music by clicking here: bit.ly/1wBSQ63

The York Early Music Festival runs from 5-14 December and further details can be found here: http://www.ncem.co.uk/xmas

Further details on Matthew Long including details of his debut solo disc Songs of These Isles with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, accompanist Malcolm Martineau and guitarist Rufus Miller can be found on his website: http://www.matthew-long.co.uk/