VOCES8, Ola Gjeilo and the Carducci Quartet will perform in a Late Night “Mindful Mix” Prom at the Royal Albert Hall on August 9th. Although VOCES8 has performed at the Proms before this is the first time they appear at the Proms in its iconic Albert Hall venue. Ola Gjeilo is performing for the first time at the Proms, playing his chart-topping piano music as well as other pieces “Serenity”, “The Rose”, “Ubi Caritas” and piano improvisation.
Included in the programme will be the premiere of “Floral Tribute” by Roxanna Panufnik, a setting of a poem written by the UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, which marks the end of her time as Composer-in-Residence with VOCES8. She is succeeded by Ken Burton, whose piece “A Prayer” will be included.
Tickets to the Prom are here.
Premiere of James Burton’s “The Lost Words” at Tanglewood
James Burton’s latest work, “The Lost Words”, gets its premiere at Tanglewood on July 21st, with inclusion also in the ever-popular Tanglewood on Parade concert on July 23rd. The 30 minute 12-movement work written for upper voices and orchestra is a co-commission between the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra, and is based on the phenomenally successful book by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. Each movement takes its text from one of MacFarlane’s poems, or ‘Spells’. In Tanglewood the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir will perform the work with piano, and in July of 2020 the Hallé Children’s Choir will premiere the full orchestral version. Both premieres will be conducted by James.
Read more about the Tanglewood performance here.
Before the full Hallé premiere, two Spells will be performed on 25th August at the BBC Proms in a concert dedicated to the Lost Words, performed by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by Jessica Cottis.
James’s catalogue with Edition Peters is here.
VOCES8 to make BBC Proms debut
VOCES8 will make its debut at the BBC Proms in a lunchtime concert Cadogan Hall on 22nd July. This year’s Monday-lunchtime “Proms at … Cadogan Hall” series takes listeners through over 800 years of musical history over the course of just eight concerts. The group’s programme ranges from the supple chant melodies of Hildegard of Bingen to the sophisticated choral polyphony of Palestrina and William Byrd. It will also include the wonderful “Vadam et circuibo civitatem” by current composer-in-residence Jonathan Dove, and a world premiere by Alexia Sloane called “Earthward”.
Click here to link to the Proms page.
Eriks Esenvalds BBC Proms premiere
Eriks Esenvalds has his debut Proms premiere today in front of a sell-out Royal Albert Hall. The concert features the Proms Youth Choir and Academy, conducted by Simon Halsey who will start the concert with “A Shadow”, a piece for a cappella choir. The concert continues with music by Britten and Beethoven.The picture shows Eriks and Simon Halsey in rehearsal with the Proms Youth Choir.
A Shadow will be available to purchase after the premiere, published by Musica Baltica.
