November
2005November
2005The choir has commenced rehearsals for our next CD recording project - Will Todd's Jazz Mass - Mass in Blue. Commissioned in 2003 by The Hertfordshire Chorus, this is an uplifting and innovative work setting the standard six movements of the traditional mass, in Latin, for chorus, with soprano soloist and 14-piece jazz band. The work is currently receiving regular performances across the UK and the choir is looking forward to collaborating with Will Todd again building on the recent 25th Anniversary commission, Angel Song II.
For more information, please visit the Tyalgum press website.
Vasari was delighted to be involved this autumn with the 2005 Canterbury Festival in a performance described as "a real gem" . The Canterbury Festival is Kent's annual International Arts Festival, which this year saw groups such as Tenebrae and the London Community Gospel Choir appear and artists including Sir Willard White and Van Morrison performing in a 2-week programme. The choir has close links with Canterbury and the Cathedral and we look forward to returning to Kent for 4-days of Cathedral services next July.
For more information please visit the Canterbury Festival website.
September
2005The choir is pleased to announce that the world premiere performance of our 25th Anniversary Commission from renowned UK composer Francis Pott, entitled "The Cloud of unknowing", will take place on Saturday May 13th 2006 as the closing concert to the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, at St Pancras Church, London.
Originally commissioned as a 15-minute extended anthem, the work has grown in to a full-length, 50-minute cantata for tenor soloist, double chorus and organ accompaniment. An extracted movement of the work was performed at St John's, Smith Square, by Vasari in 2005 as part of the choir's anniversary concert, giving the choir and audience a small taste of what will come in the final work.
More information will follow soon.
To start the new 2005-2006 season, Vasari returns to one of its favourite concert venues, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, to give a concert entitled "Requiem". Featuring repertoire from Thomas Tallis, Vaughan Williams and Maurice Durufle, this will be a concert not to miss. The choir will be joined on organ by Jeremy Filsell.
Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah
Vaughan Williams: Mass in G Minor
Durufle: Requiem
More information in the concerts page.
June
2005The choir is looking to add to our number of available altos and tenors for next season (starting September 2005): if you sing either of these two voices and would like to find out more about how to audition to join the Vasari Singers, please complete the questionnaire.
May
2005A track from our new CD release, Anthems for the 21st Century, will be featured on ClassicFM on Saturday 21st May in a programme of music inspired by Science-Fiction. Will Todd's Angel Song II will be broadcast, listen out!
On Sunday 15th May, the choir gave its 25th Anniversary concert at St John's, Smith Square, with a programme entitled "Anthems for our time". Featuring a range of choral music including Howells' haunting Requiem and Walton's dramatic The Twelve, Vasari also gave World Premiere performances of the 10 newly commissioned works. Singing to a very large and responsive audience, the choir was joined on stage during the evening by 8 of the commissioned composers and also by Bob Cassidy and Tony Vincent Issacs, who had written new poems for the commissioning programme which were then set to music.
Vasari were accompanied at the organ by Jeremy Filsell in Walton's work, and also in the performance of Filsell's own composition.
Comments composer Gabriel Jackson "Vasari were refined and meticulous and performed with great fervour and virtuosity. There is simply no better non-professional group in the land".
Vasari's musical director, Jeremy Backhouse: "The singing was of the very highest standard, with real conviction and we truly communicated the meanings of these works across to the audience. This has been remarkable achievement: it represents a celebration of our achievements over the last 25 years, reflects our continuing commitment to the creation and performance contemporary music, and dramatically demonstrates the health of today's choral music in this country."
The choir will perform the commissions again in concert in Douai Abbey, Berkshire, on Saturday 4th June, and in Canterbury Cathedral on Monday 25th July. More details may be found in the concerts section.
The choir is grateful to the support of the following organizations for their support for this concert:
The PRS Foundation for financial support, White Horse Press, Newbury, for sponsorship of the concert programmes, La Sologne Publications for design work of all promotional materials and to AFM Lighting, Shepperton, for sponsoring the dramatic stage lighting.
Our new CD release, Anthems for the 21st Century, will be reviewed on BBC Radio 3's "CD Review" programme, broadcast on Saturday 14th May. CD Review starts at 9.00am, listen in/ download the show!
Tracks from our new CD release, Anthems for the 21st Century, will be played on BBC Radio 3's popular programme "Late Junction" , broadcast on Monday 9th May. The show starts at 10.15pm, listen in/ download the show!
April
2005
Our new CD release, Anthems for the 21st Century, is now in final production with SignumClassics. The disc will be available on commercial release in May. Concert-goers who attend the World Premiere at St John's will be able to purchase the disc at the concert on Sunday 15th May and the Cd will be available on commercial release shortly afterward.
This ambitious CD features 12 World Premiere recordings of British contemporary choral music written since the year 2000. It includes some of the UK's leading composers, with works by James MacMillan, Jonathan Dove and Jonathan Rathbone, and features 9 newly commissioned works written for Vasari's 25th Anniversary, including works by: Stephen Barlow, Barrie Bignold Richard Blackford, Humphrey Clucas, Jeremy Filsell, Gabriel Jackson, Philip Moore, Ward Swingle and Will Todd.
Vasari is included in a 4-page feature in the April edition of Choir & Organ magazine this month - be sure to get your copy. Available from good newsstands now.
The Vasari Singers is pleased to announce that the choir has been awarded another grant by the PRS Foundation to support Vasari's performance work during 2005. The substantial award is given in recognition of Vasari's ambitious programme of commissioning and performance of British contemporary music, and will allow Vasari to perform in concert in a large number of venues across the UK.
Details of Vasari's 25th anniversary concerts programme can be found in the concerts page.
The Vasari Singers is grateful to the PRS Foundation for its continuing financial support.
March
2005BBC2 will screen Holy Warriors on Saturday 26th March at 9.10pm. This documentary features an original musical score written by Glenn Keiles, and features the voices of the Vasari Singers. Don't miss it!
The Vasari Singers is pleased to announce that the choir has been nominated for the category of "Best ensemble" in the forthcoming 2005 RPS Awards, which will be held at the Dorchester hotel on Wednesday 11th May 2005.
The final shortlist will be announced in April, with the winners of each category announced on the night of the awards. This is one of classical music's most prestigious awards events, and Vasari is delighted to receive this nomination. More news regarding the shortlist announcement will follow next month.
Vasari can be heard on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday 12th March, featured in the "Building a Library" section of CD Review, which features our award-winning recording of the Frank Martin Mass for Double Choir. Tune in!
The choir is looking to add to our number of available altos and tenors: if you sing either of these two voices and would like to find out more about how to audition to join the Vasari Singers, please complete the questionnaire.
February
2005February was taken up entirely with working towards the CD recording sessions for our new CD of contemporary choral music, entitled "Anthems for the 21st Century". This new disc will feature our 25th Anniversary commissions, and several other works by leading contemporary British composers.
The composer, Gabriel Jackson comments on the preview performance: " It was great to hear the choir on such fine form: Vasari were transparent, refined and meticulous, but also possessed of great fervour and virtuosity.".
The preview night, and subsequent 3 day recording session, were held in the magnificent chapel at Tonbridge School. The disc was recorded and engineered by Floating Earth, for release on SignumClassics and will be available on commercial release in May.
In the first week of January, the Vasari Singers recorded a new soundtrack for a forthcoming TV documentary production. To be broadcast on BBC2 in the spring, the music has been written by renowned broadcast composer Glenn Keiles. For more information, please visit Glenn's website.
January
2005The February/March edition of the music magazine Muso will feature an article about Vasari and the 25th Anniversary commissioning programme. Look out for it on newsstands and in HMV/Waterstones stores soon!
In the first week of January, the Vasari Singers recorded a new soundtrack for a forthcoming TV documentary production. To be broadcast on BBC2 in the spring, the music has been written by renowned broadcast composer Glenn Keiles. For more information, please visit Glenn's website.
December 2004 saw Vasari's busiest ever Christmas, featuring 5 concerts in short order. The choir is extremely grateful to all its members for the incredible support shown in committing to so many performances close together. Most notable were the performances at Le Manoir, and at St Paul's Covent Garden -a concert held in association with the Musicians' Benevolent Fund. Performing to a more than full house, the choir gave a superb performance of a diverse range of repertoire, including a World Premiere of the new Corpus Christi Carol written by Jonathan Rathbone.
The choir was delighted to work together with the MBF for that event, and Vasari looks forward to more collaborations in the future.
To mark Vasari's 25th anniversary year, the choir has commissioned a total of 10 new choral works: over 50 minutes of new music.
| Composer | Title | Scoring | Words | Duration |
| Stephen Barlow | When I see on Rood | SATB a capella | anon (10th Century) | 6 minutes |
| Barrie Bignold | Peace | SATB a capella | Bob Cassidy | 6 minutes |
| Richard Blackford | On Another's Sorrow | SATB a capella | William Blake | 6 minutes |
| Humphrey Clucas | Hear my crying, O God | SATB a capella | Psalms 61 & 115 | 3 minutes |
| Jeremy Filsell | Mysterium Christi | SATB/organ | Alice Meynell | 8 minutes |
| Gabriel Jackson | Now I have known, O Lord | SATB a capella | Al-Junaid | 7 minutes |
| Philip Moore | I saw him standing | SATB a capella | Rowan Williams | 6 minutes |
| Francis Pott | The Lord is my Shepherd | SSAA/organ | Psalm 23 | 7 minutes |
| Ward Swingle | Give us this day | SATB a capella | Tony-Vincent Issacs | 4 minutes |
| Will Todd | Angel Song II | SATB a capella | Hosanna | 4 minutes |
The commissioning programme features a mix of works by a range of composers of different backgrounds and experience, and cover a range of compositional styles.
These works will be premierèd at a gala concert at St John's, Smith Square, Westminster, in May 2005, and also released on a new CD in 2005 provisionally entitled "21st Century British Anthems". This CD will also include works from leading British composers including: John Tavener, Jonathan Dove and James MacMillan. Additional performances of selected anthems will follow during the course of the rest of the year, including performances at Douai Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The Vasari Singers would like to thank the following organizations for financial support which has enabled us to commission these new works:
The PRS Foundation
The RVW Trust
The Holst Foundation
The Leche Trust
The Kenneth Leighton Foundation
The choir would also like to thank our anonymous donors for their financial support.
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