Back to choral gigs to record. This was excellent. Luminescence Chamber Singers with Apeiron Baroque with the Luminescence Children's Choir and the Children's Choir holiday program. So, the best local voices with wonderful local baroque players and up-and-coming singers. The Children's Choir is for ages 10-17; the holiday program is for ages 7-12. Now all this offers many possibilities and variations. Suffice to say, they indulged to the hilt. There were two sets. The first set had Apeiron up the steps with the choir singing Monteverdi, and Cavalli and a Folia from Reali by Apeiron. Apeiron moved off stage for the second set leaving room many kids and all manner of jokey performance. John Ma introduced segments of a walk in the woods by Biber called Sonata Representativa. John is ever entertaining to add to his immense baroque chops. Then to finish, a comic cantata by Fehre featuring a schoolmaster and his Singschule with kids even indulging in dressups. The concert was called Magnificat and featured Popora Magnificat Amin and the theme was "stories or vignettes of musical mentorship and tutelage" with reference to Basilica San Marco, Monteverdi teaching Cavalli, the Venetian Ospedali and the comic opera. The singing by the choir was just divine, precise intonation, clear expression, beautifully aware and responsive. This after the Kings College Choir the night before, so high praise. Apeiron were a wonderful match as capable and accurate and historically apt and often amusing to boot, thanks to John. The older kids were well on a similar path, obviously well tutored, and the young ones were entertaining just in their presence, not least in donkey ears and tails. This was a gig of great quality and energy and aptness and humour and just a huge pleasure.
Luminescence Chamber Singers, Apeiron Baroque, Luminescence Children's Choir and Children's Choir holiday program appeared at Wesley.
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