Will Todd’s Mass in Blue and Passion Music are very different from our usual repertoire, but we’re really loving those jazz rhythms and blues harmonies! Listen to our singers and Music Director talking about the Will Todd music we’re learning for the concert at the Ruddock Performing Arts Centre on 26th March.
We’re delighted that Will Todd is coming to our choir workshop on Sunday. We’ll be rehearsing ‘Passion Music’ and ‘Mass in Blue’ , and it will be a real treat to hear insights from the composer of these wonderful pieces. They are challenging to learn, but it’s so rewarding to sing those complex rhythms and gorgeous blues harmonies.
In this 25 minute video, Will Todd gives us an insight into choosing the words for ‘Passion music’ and setting them to music. His fusion of choral, jazz and blues styles brings out the meaning of the story of Christ’s passion with spiritual sensitivity.
Rehearsals are well under way for a wonderful concert of Will Todd’s choral jazz music on Saturday 26th March.
Those who came to the Birmingham Festival Choral Society concert in July 2018 will remember the excitement of Mass in Blue, with its blend of energetic rhythmic jazz movements and gorgeous slow reflective pieces. Hannah Davey, our soprano soloist was the star of the show, and we’re delighted that she is able to sing with us again.
Passion Music was premiered in 2018 . Will Todd uses the same fusion of sacred choral music and jazz idoms to highlight different events in the Christian Passion story with spiritual sensitivity. The choir and soloist will be accompanied by a jazz ensemble consisting of piano, drums, double bass and saxophone.
PASSION MUSIC
Will Todd: Mass in Blue
Will Todd: Passion Music
Birmingham Festival Choral Society, conductor David Wynne,
Saturday 26th March 7.30pm
The Ruddock Performing Arts Centre, King Edward’s School,
Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham, B15 2UA.
Our Christmas concert on Sunday 5th December will be a real treat! It will include Christmas music, ranging from sacred to popular, from an adult choir, a children’s choir and a brass ensemble. It is also rumoured that a certain gentleman in red might make an appearance!
The adult choir is, of course, Birmingham Festival Choral Society, and the children’s choir is Eversfield Preparatory Singers – both led by David Wynne and accompanied by Kevin Gill. A dash of sparkle will be added by the Midland Brass Ensemble. With families in mind, the concert will start at 4.30pm and will be no longer than 75 minutes long. Christmassy refreshments will be provided after the concert.
We are looking forward to singing the lovely carol ‘From the Stable Floor’ in the presence of the local composer, EA Walker.
There will be an opportunity to donate to Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice, the very worthwhile charity chosen by the singers of Eversfield School.
The Christmas concert will also take place in a new venue – Our Lady of the Wayside Church, 566 Stratford Road, Shirley, B90 4AY. Click for map. The church is noteworthy for its architecture and works of art. Details of the church, the artworks and their symbolism can be found in this article on their website.
We look forward to sharing the best of the Christmas season with you!
Our Rossini concert on 30th October was a great occasion. It was wonderful to be performing live again – the first concert for 2 years.
BFCS had been ready to perform Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in March 2020 when the pandemic caused the cancellation of the concert. We’ve been keeping it going during our Zoom rehearsals, so it was very well prepared! It was really enjoyable to sing it with such talented professionals – our soloists, Mimi Doulton, Rachel Gilmore, Ed Harrisson and Joe Kennedy, our accompanists, Ben de Souza and Kevin Gill, and our conductor, David Wynne. We were also very pleased to see so many of our friends and family in the audience.
Thank you to Alfred White for these lovely photos – a great souvenir of a wonderful evening.
Birmingham Festival Choral Society singers. Click the arrows to see all four photos.
Our loyal audience.
After a break of nearly two years, Birmingham Festival Choral Society is delighted to invite you to a live concert! On 30th October 2021 we will be performing Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle – the concert we were about to perform when everything was stopped by the pandemic.
Our venue is the Ruddock Performing Arts Centre at Kings Edward’s School, Edgbaston. The Centre is following Covid-19 protocols to provide a safe environment. Tickets will be online only, so that the spacing of the seating can be controlled.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was written for performance at one of the very popular weekly musical salons held by Rossini and his wife at their Paris home. As such, it was originally scored for a small choir, accompanied by two pianos, with harmonium or accordion. We are looking forward to singing with piano and accordion accompaniment.
Our performers:
Ben de Souza, Accordion. Kevin Gill, Piano
Mimi Doulton, Soprano. Rachel Gilmore, Mezzo-soprano
Edward Harrisson, Tenor. Joe Kennedy, Baritone
Birmingham Festival Choral Society,
David Wynne, Conductor
Rossini achieved superstar status early in life, having written over 40 operas by the age of 37. The William Tell Overture is one of the pieces for which he is best known in popular culture today. There followed a period of 25 years of ill health, during which he didn’t compose any new music.
In 1855 Rossini ‘returned to life’ on moving to Paris with his second wife, and their musical salons became internationally famous. These salons included music by many composers, and they inspired Rossini to write over 150 small works for performance by different soloists and ensembles.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was Rossini’s last major work , written in 1863. The opera composer’s beautiful melodies , colour and drama make this one of the most popular works in the choral repertoire. We love singing it, and we’re sure that you will enjoy listening to it too!
We hope that you will enjoy listening to the beautiful Kyrie by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, sung by the Birmingham Festival Choral Society virtual double choir.
The Kyrie is the first movement of Rheinberger’s most famous choral work, the Mass for double choir in E flat, (Cantus Missae) Op 109. Written in 1878, it recalls the old compositional style of alternating unaccompanied choirs , as used in late Renaissance Venice. Listening through stereo headphones is the best way to appreciate the full double choir effect .
Music Director: David Wynne
Rehearsal accompanist: Kevin Gill
Video Editor: Michael Cullen
Audio Editor: Gareth Howell
A fun setting of the ever popular “Jingle Bells”, in pictures and music. Sing along with the Birmingham Festival Choral Society virtual choir!
Happy Christmas from BFCS.
We hope that you will enjoy the images and music on this recording of Paul Fincham’s ‘Ring the Bells’, from the BFCS virtual choir. Hear the swinging bells in the different voice parts!
The composer wrote this Christmas piece in 2019 to raise money for ‘Crisis’, the charity for homeless people. Birmingham Festival Choral Society sang it at last year’s Crisis Carol Service in St Martin’s in the Bull Ring, and this year we’ve sent them this recording for their use.
“Ring the Bells for Christmas”!
Birmingham Festival Choral Society is pleased to present our recording of the beautiful ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’, by Gabriel Faure.
This composition won the 19 year old Faure first prize in a competition at his school of Church music in Paris, in 1865. The French text, “Verbe égal au Très-Haut” (Word, one with the Highest), was written by Jean Racine in 1688.
We hope that you will enjoy the Paris connection through images of the medieval stained glass in Sainte Chapelle.
This virtual performance was put together by Gareth Howell, using individual recordings sent from home by our singers. We look forward to a time when the pandemic is over and we can sing together in real life.
Wikipedia photo credits: Sam67Fr, Javi Masa, Oldmanisold, Grunt XIII.
