Past Concerts
2011
Saturday 3 DecemberSt Stephen's Church
Bath
Advent candlelit carol service
Our popular Advent carol concert entertained a crowded St Stephen's Church this year.
Soprano Nerissa Faulkner, harpist Kate Watt and pianist
Will Ashworth joined us for a magical evening of meditative music which included excerpts from Britten's Ceremony of Carols, Whitacre's Lux Aurumque and Ubi Caritas from Durufle's Quatre Motets.
Sunday 10 JulySt Mary's RC Church
Bath
In Concert with
Jo Sercombe
A packed church in Julian Road played host to a remarkable evening of music from the choir, gospel animateur Jo Sercombe, jazz pianist Will Ashworth and conductor Francis Faux.
Highlights included Sondheim's rousing
Sunday from the critically, though not commercially,successful
Sunday in the Park With George and Gorecki's minimalist Totus Tuus.
Saturday 9 AprilSt Stephen's Church
Bath
Music for Passiontide
Haydn - Missa Sancti Nicolai
Vivaldi - Nulla in Mundo Pax Sincera
Lotti - Crucifixus
J.S. Bach - Cantata No.4 (Christ Lag In Todesbanden)
Haydn's sixth mass in G Major was composed in honour of his patron, Count Nikolaus Esterhazy. The choir performed this work, as well as the achingly beautiful Passiontide cantata by J.S. Bach, with members of the Bath Concertino and soloists Hannah Lockwood, Judy Davis, Rupert Drury and Tim Nelson.
2010
Saturday 4 December
St John the Baptist Church
Batheaston
An Advent celebrationa candlelit concert with music, readings and poems
Organum's annual Advent concert was the first one, since the choir was founded, to be sung entirely by candlelight.
A wide variety of atmospheric choral music was on show combined with readings and poems, both secular and sacred, chosen especially for the occasion.
This was a fundraising event in aid of the Karen Hilltribes Trust which aims to improve health
and education in Thailand.
Saturday 10 July
St Thomas a Becket Church, Box
Mozart - Spatzenmesse
Elgar - Give unto the Lord
Stanford - Beati quorum via
Howells - Like as the hart
Britten - Hymn to the Virgin
Goodall - The Lord is My Shepherd
and other works
The contrast between the rich, harmonic language of Howells' Like as the Hart and the a capella arrangements of traditional jazz standards by Andrew Carter were a treat enjoyed by the villagers of Box.
Saturday 20 MarchNexus Methodist Church
Walcot, Bath
Mendelssohn's Elijah
Charlotte Newstead Soprano
Penny Davies Alto
Simon Walton Tenor
Christopher Sheldrake Bass
David Bednall Organ
Francis Faux Conductor
Francis Faux's first concert with the choir was Felix Mendelssohn's most popular oratorio with Christopher Sheldrake singing the title role. Internationally acclaimed composer and organist David Bednall completed this exciting line-up.
2009
Saturday 11 JulySt. John's Church, Colerne
Haydn's Creation
Haydn's music illustrates each part of nature, from the sun, the moon and the elements, to the birds and insects and there is much colourful humour in his writing.
When Haydn was asked why it took him nearly two years to finish, he replied '...because I intend it to
last for a long time".
Saturday 4 AprilSt. Michael's Church, Bath
Monteverdi - Beatus Vir
Charles Wood - St Mark's Passion
The night before Palm Sunday saw us in this beautiful, newly-refurbished Victorian gothic venue in the centre of the city for our devotional Passiontide concert, where the choir had not sung since 2000. Monteverdi's "Beatus Vir" ('Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord'), a Latin setting of Psalm 112 with its well-known recurring motto theme, was the first work on the programme.
The main performance of the evening was "St. Mark's Passion" by Victorian/Edwardian Ulsterman, Charles Wood, a pupil of Stanford and Parry's and teacher of Vaughan Williams and Howells. Soloists were Mike Wills (tenor) and Lawrence Lockhart (bass), both members of Organum.
For more information about the repertoire the choir have sung over the years, see below.
