Choral weekend 2

Choral concert 2 was a veritable biggie in more ways than just musical.  Kings College Cambridge Choir was in town for Musica Viva.  Once again we hosted 2 singers from the choir for a few days so we had youth in the house and chatter on Cambridge and England and not just the choir.  Our guests were Tom Pickard, now bass but once a chorister, and William Rodgers, alto.  The sections in the choir are Choristers (18, presumably boy sopranos, as young as 8) and the Kings College students and staff who make up the lower voices, altos (4), tenors (5) and basses (5) and organ scholars (2).  Canberra was their penultimate location after Melbourne (Hamer Hall and Recital Centre), Brisbane, Sydney (Opera House and Recital Hall) and Adelaide.  After Canberra, they were off to Perth for one day with one gig.  Canberra got in a free day so somewhat a last fling before the final gig and the long flight home.  We got to the concert at Llewellyn.  They performed their Program 2: Garbielli, Bull, Tallis, Grandi, Durufle, the local work of Damien Barbeler's music to Judith Nangala Crispin's poem Charlotte, Laruidsen and a final Stravinsky mass interspersed with Judith Weir Psalm 148 and movements from Vertue.  This post-interval set featured a wonderful Australian chamber combination of wind players (2xoboe, cor Anglais, 2xbassoon, 2xtrumpet, 3x trombone), from Melbourne and Sydney, gathered by Nigel Crocker, of our own Canberra Symphony Orchestra.  So what of the music?  This is one of the famed choirs of the world so I expected the blissful consonance and harmony that we got.  I lean to earlier works rather than later, but all was superb as expected.  The winds were similarly superb.  The Aussie original by Damian Barbeler and Judith Nangala Crispin was much more contemporary, the words of JNC's poem On finding Charlotte in the archeological record sung a capella.  It's on Spotify and released 19 July 2024 so presumably for this tour by this group.  Enough said; have a listen.  This was awe-inspiring music and a pleasant international visit all in one.  Loved it.

The Kings College Cambridge choir performed at Llewellyn Hall under Daniel Hyde (musical director).  A chamber wind group gathered by Nigel Crocker (trombone) accompanied for much of the second set.  We billetted two singers, William Rodgers (alto) and Tom Pickard (bass).