BY Daniel Harkins | November 26 | 
0 COMMENTS 
print
New composition by James MacMillan to premiere next week
The piece will be performed as part of a concert for the 40th anniversary of the CBSO Chorus
The UK premiere of a new piece by renowned Catholic composer James MacMillan will be performed in a special concert to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the CBSO Chorus next week.
Mr MacMillan’s St Luke Passion will be performed for the first time in the UK on Thursday December 4 as part of a programme which includes Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Mr MacMillan will conduct the performance, which will feature the CBSO Chorus and CBSO Youth Chorus. The Britten piece will include Tenor Toby Spence and Richard Watkins on Horn.
An hour-long piece, the St Luke Passion is the result of an international co-commission by Dutch orchestras together with Duke University, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Soli Deo Gloria Inc, and Britten Sinfonia.
Mr Macmillan, one of Scotland’s foremost composers, said the composition reflects the ‘special appeal’ the Gospel of Luke holds for him and the idea of ‘a more spiritual, inward, and pared-back approach to create a focused work.’
St Luke Passion dispenses with soloists and focuses on the chorus as narrator, with children’s voices representing the voice of Christ. Mr MacMillan said he ‘wanted to examine [Christ’s] otherness, sanctity and mystery,’ adding that ‘employing a children’s choir grants a measure of innocence to Christ as the sacrificial lamb.’
The CBSO Chorus made its concert debut in 1974. Membership is via audition and the chorus attracts amateur singers from throughout the West Midlands and beyond to perform regularly as a body of ‘unpaid professionals’ and undertake a huge range of repertoire.
Directed by internationally-renowned choral conductor Simon Halsey for over 30 years, the CBSO Chorus has more than 40 recordings.
Speaking about the 40th anniversary concert, Mr Halsey said: “It is a huge privilege to be part of this major international collaboration—so typical of the CBSO chorus who have toured, collaborated and initiated new projects, new ideas, new music and new ways of doing things since their foundation 40 years ago. The relationship with James MacMillan goes back many years and will continue for years to come, I’m sure!”
For further information and booking details visit www.cbso.co.uk
RSS Feeds