Justin Doyle conducts the Swedish Radio Choir

Justin Doyle is in Sweden for his first conducting engagement with the Swedish Radio Choir.  The programme title is “Voices on Persecution and Flight” in which Justin and the Choir take the audience on a musical journey with stories about flight and homelessness. Human history has experienced recurring periods of conflict, oppression and alienation. The première performance of Lebanese composer Zad Moultaka’s “Mon ami le vent” based on a poem by Renée Vivien is one of many highlights of this powerful concert.

For more than 90 years the Swedish Radio Choir has been a steward of the Swedish a cappella tradition and the legendary choral sound created by Eric Ericson.  It also presents enterprising and culturally diverse repertoire, from early music to contemporary works.

More details about the concert are here.

Justin Doyle conducts RIAS Kammerchor New Year’s Day concert: Messiah

On 1st January 2020 Justin Doyle conducts the RIAS Kammerchor, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and soloists Julia Doyle Soprano, Tim Mead Altus, Thomas Hobbs Tenor and Roderick Williams Bass in a celebratory performance of Handel’s Messiah. Always a wonderful occasion, the New Year’s Day concert takes place in Berlin’s Philharmonie to a packed audience.

Justin introduces the concert on YouTube here.

Find our more about the concert from the RIAS website here.

Justin Doyle conducts RIAS Kammerchor in Haydn Mass album

Justin Doyle conducts the RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in a new album release on the Harmonia Mundi label of Haydn’s Missa Cellensis.

Described by Nicholas Kenyon, reviewing the album in the Guardian newspaper, as “a glorious new recording” you can buy the album here and listen on spotify here.

Justin Doyle and RIAS Kammerchor new season

The RIAS Kammerchor and it’s chief conductor and artistic director Justin Doyle have begun their season 2019-2020. It’s a season with much to offer and many composers featured. The repertoire extends from Schütz, Handel, J. S. Bach, Brahms and Ernst Krenek to Arvo Pärt and Giya Kancheli, whose 85th birthdays will be celebrated at the end of the season. In addition, Pärt’s fellow countryman Jüri Reinvere will write a new work which will be premiered with Ensemble Resonanz. It’s the next larger-scale composition the choir has commissioned, joining other pieces by Roderick Williams and Lera Auerbach.

Concerts take place in various locations in Berlin as well as across the country from Dresden to Dortmund and from Hamburg to Ludwigsburg. International touring will see the ensemble in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain and for the first time in Dublin, Ireland.

The season brochure is here.

The first Abonnement concert is on September 26th in the Kammermusiksaal of the Berlin Philharmonie and features Justin conducting music by Schütz, Gabrieli, M. Praetorius and Bassano, with Cappella de la Torre.

See Justin explaining more about that concert here.

Justin Doyle and RIAS go large with Biber’s Missa Salisburgensis

Sold Out Berliner Dom concert

The Missa Salisburgensis is a highlight in the world of polyphonic music, and will be performed on 4th July by the RIAS Kammerchor, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Akamus) and Justin Doyle. It seems perfect for the Berliner Dom which resembles the Salzburg Cathedral, for which the piece was built, with its numerous galleries. With 53 vocal parts in 6 choirs and with full orchestra with 8 blazing trumpets this piece from 1682 is amazing.

“This work is not performed live often because it is very complex”, says Justin. “But I think it will be one of the most exciting and spectacular evenings.”

See a Facebook item from the choir and Justin here.

With choirs and orchestra placed around the building the audience will be completely surrounded by this opulent music. Between the movements of the Missa Salisburgensis will be works by Georg Muffat and Johann Stadlmeyer as well asmore Biber and Gregorian chant.

A great preview of the event from Concerti.de is here.

See more about the event on RIAS website here.

Justin Doyle conducts Offenbach’s “Fantasio” at Garsington Opera

Garsington debut for Justin

As part of a wonderful 2019 summer season, Justin conducts Fantasio at Garsington Opera in a run of 9 shows beginning on June 14th. Celebrating the Offenbach’s bicentenary in 2019, this is the UK stage premiere with a specially commissioned new English translation by Jeremy Sams.

Aside from his Artistic Direction of the RIAS Kammerchor, Justin is in demand as a conductor of opera, in particular the works of Mozart (‘an evening of almost unadulterated Mozartian bliss’ Così fan tutte / Opera magazine), Haydn (‘hard to imagine this fizzing piece ever being better done’ L’infedeltà delusa / The Independent) and Britten (‘Justin Doyle and the Opera North Orchestra work wonders to dispatch Britten’s mischievous and miraculous chamber score with pungency and precision’ Albert Herring / The Times). He conducted Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi at Buxton in 2016 (‘The Northern Chamber Orchestra under Justin Doyle gave the best performance I’ve heard from them at Buxton; Doyle brought out the best in them’ / Bachtrack), returning in 2017 to conduct Britten’s Albert Herring (‘…a super performance under the baton of Justin Doyle’ / Mark Ronan Theatre Reviews).

Justin Doyle and RIAS Kammerchor Britten album release

The RIAS Kammerchor under the direction of Chief Conductor Justin Doyle has released a new label of choral music by Benjamin Britten, on the Harmonia Mundi label. The repertoire concentrates on some of Britten’s most challenging repertoire, and led by Justin the results have been praised by the critics. The London Times said “Under the British director Justin Doyle, the impeccably drilled (and accented) Berlin RIAS chamber choir bring to these supremely idiomatic pieces a gratifying array of rich colours.”

Deutschlandfunk Kultur gave a similarly positive review: “..wenn der RIAS Kammerchor singt, wird stimmliche Perfektion in Brittens Dienst gestellt.”

You can buy the album from Amazon here and stream via Spotify here.

See the RIAS Kammerchor’s discography on the Harmonia Mundi label here.

Rave Reviews for Justin Doyle and RIAS in New Year’s Day concert

Described as “Wunderbare wilde Oratorienwelt” by the Tagesspiegel the RIAS Kammerchor’s New Year’s Day concert of music by Handel was a huge hit. Performed at the Berlin Philharmonie with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin https://akamus.de/en and conducted by Justin, this concert of selected choruses and orchestral music was a fitting start to the year.

See and hear more about the concert here.

The concert will have a repeat on March 10th in the Auditorium Orchestre National de Lyon. Tickets available here.

Justin Doyle conducts RIAS in Berlin Philharmonie Neujahrskonzert

A celebration of Handel

(photo: Matthias Heyde)

On January 1st 2019 Justin Doyle directs the RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin for a New Year celebration of the Genius of Handel. The concert features the choir singing some of Handel’s most famous Oratorio choruses, as well as orchestral music played by the fantastic Akademie.

Neujahrskonzert Genius Händel
Georg Friedrich Händel
„How excellent thy name, o Lord – Alleluia“ (Saul)
„See, the conq’ring hero comes – March“ (Judas Maccabaeus)
„Plague choruses“ (Israel in Egypt)
„For Sion lamentation make“ (Judas Maccabaeus)
„Wanton god of amorous fires“ (Hercules)
Ouvertüre (Alexander’s Feast)
„Wretched lovers“ (Acis and Galatea)
„Envy, eldest born of hell“ (Saul)
„Save us, o Lord“ (Esther)
„Fix’d in his everlasting seat“ (Samson)
„Populous cities“ (L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato)
„Recall, o King“ (Belshazzar)
„How strange their ends“ (Theodora)
„Dances“ (Alcina)
„The gods, who chosen blessings shed“ (Athalia)
„My heart is inditing“ (Esther)

The New Year concert in the Berlin Philharmonie is a regular fixture for Justin as Chief Conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor. Tickets are available here.

Poulenc and Britten: Justin Doyle’s next RIAS Kammerchor concert

As Chief Conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor Justin will conduct the choir in the Berlin Philharmonie featuring show-stopping music by Poulenc and Britten. Poulenc’s challenging “Figure Humaine” and Britten’s “AMDG” will show the choir off at its best. Congratulations go to the choir who have won the ECHO Classik award for Ensemble of the Year 2017.

See more about the concert from a YouTube video here, and link to the concert details here.