Mar
Chamber Choir wins trophy at 91st annual Southampton Festival of Music and Drama
Our Chamber Choir society has won a trophy for the Class 130 – Open Adult Choir in the 91st annual Southampton Festival of Music and Drama on Thursday 16 March in Thornden Hall, Eastleigh.
The group performed a twenty-minute recital of four varied pieces including: “Ah, Sun-flower!” and “Adieu! Farewell Earth’s bliss” by Jonathan Dove, from his fantastic “The Passing of the Year” song cycle; “E si fussi pisci” by Berio – a light-hearted Sicilian love song; and “Crossing the Bar” – a poem by Tennyson, arranged for four-part harmony by Arbo.
The society’s PR Officer, Hannah Donald, comments, “We are delighted to say that we won the class, and the Eling Rose Bowl Trophy! We would like to thank the adjudicators (Ben Costello and Shelagh Lee) and organisers of the Festival, the audience on the night, and last but not least, our fantastic Music Director George Richford for moulding us into the choir we are today – thank you!
“This was a very special performance for us, as Tennyson wrote this poem after crossing our very own Solent, and we worked incredibly hard on our blending and dynamic interest in order to remind the audience of waves and the tides of the sea. We were particularly commended on this piece.
“We also loved getting the chance to listen to our competition (Simply Singers and Romsey Voices) who performed some incredibly moving renditions of well-known songs and really engaged the whole auditorium. “.
Hannah adds, “I’ve found that a lot of people assume that only music students can audition for chamber choir, but we have very few music students as members – we have a few medics and engineers, and a good mix of scientists and Humanities and Arts students”.
If you are interested in joining Chamber Choir and you have a strong classical vocal or choral background, the society are looking for students to audition. Check out their website for audition sign-ups from July at www.chamber-choir.com, like them on Facebook, and keep an eye out for the group at The Bunfight: Student Groups Fayre in September. Alternatively, you can enjoy their singing by attending their summer concert coming up shortly.
Watch the choir’s performance of ‘The Passing of the Year’ at Portsmouth Cathedral at www.chamber-choir.com/succsoundbites.
