The Waynflete Singers return to Winchester Cathedral on October 16th under the baton of Andrew Lumsden, in what will no doubt be an emotionally charged occasion, together with the illustrious English Chamber Orchestra, with whom they have developed a close relationship over recent years.
Parry’s uplifting coronation anthem ‘I Was Glad’ opens the concert. An appropriate piece to celebrate the re-opening of musical concert life after the pandemic, the Parry will be preceded by a fanfare specially composed by a member of the choir.
This concert includes the premiere of their 50th anniversary commission from Roderick Williams, based upon Keats’s poem Ode to Autumn, written after a walk by the poet along the River Itchen in Winchester.
Fittingly, the major choral piece in this concert is Bruckner’s Mass in F minor, a work composed in 1867 as a thanksgiving for his return to health after a long-term illness. This sumptuous work is suffused with lyrical grandeur and an intense spirituality.
The soloists include mezzo-soprano Claire Barnett-Jones, Finalist and Winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2021. Two Waynflete Prizewinners from the 2019 Grange Festival International Singing Competition will make their long-awaited debut with the choir, tenor Jaeil Kim and bass-baritone Jerome Knox. Welsh soprano Elin Pritchard completes the line-up, another favourite at the Grange Festival who has starred in the role of Puccini’s Manon this season.
Before the Bruckner, the choir is delighted to welcome the internationally renowned cellist Natalie Clein, who will perform Haydn’s uplifting and joyful Cello Concerto no. 1 in C, with the ECO in lively accompaniment.
The Waynflete Singers
English Chamber Orchestra
Andrew Lumsden, conductor
Eves: Waynflete! (fanfare)
Parry: I Was Glad
Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C
Natalie Clein, cello
Roderick Williams: To Autumn
First performance – Waynflete Singers 50th Anniversary Commission
Bruckner: Mass No. 3 in F minor
Elin Pritchard, soprano
Claire Barnett-Jones, mezzo-soprano
Jaeil Kim, tenor
Jerome Knox, bass
Ticket prices: £42, £35, £27, £22, £15 + £1.25 booking fee per ticket