A Women's Voice Chamber Choir in Stamford, Lincs, UK
Previous Concerts
2005
21st December 2005 - First Christmas Concert
* John Rutter - The Angel's carol
* Humphrey Clucas - Pro Nobis for unaccompanied female choir
* Jean-Michel Damase - Sicilienne Variée for harp
* Benjamin Britten - Ceremony of Carols
Solo parts were taken by Anna Belson, Tina Morrell, Karen Philpott, Sarah Brown and Sophie Tate.
One of England's best young harp players, 16 talented female singers, an experienced musical director and a programme of 20th century music - this was a heady mix for a Christmas concert.
Was it the tunefulness of the Rutter carol, the intensity of the Pro Nobis by Clucas, the virtuosity of Eleanor Turner playing the Damase or the sheer variety in the Britten that made it so special? It's hard to say, but the clarity of the singing and the combination with the harp were stunning.
A member of the audience commented 'this is a new sound for Stamford'. How right. This concert was a gem.
John Pye 22 Dec 2005
2006
22nd July 2006 - French Summer Concert
with Christopher Brown Organ, Nicola Wiggin and Rory Fitzpatrick, flutes.
A French theme, including works by de la Halle , Couperin, Delibes and Poulenc took us on an 800-year tour of French music.
The group of 16 talented female singers really use the acoustic at St Martin's to wonderful effect. The Couperin Mass, with organ played by Fergus gave a wonderful sense of 17th Century French Church music, while the Poulenc brought us firmly into the 20th Century.
20th December 2006 - Second Annual Christmas Concert
St Martin's Singers directed by Fergus Black
With Eleanor Turner Harp, Amy Turner Oboe
Programme:–
* John Taverner - A Nativity
* Peter Maxwell Davies - 5 Carols
* Benjamin Britten - Six Metamorphoses after Ovid
* Ralph Vaughan Williams - Three English Traditional Carols
* John Rutter - Dancing day, with Eleanor Turner harp
Amy Turner gave a delightful and sensitive solo performance of a series of transformations on the oboe.
2007
20th December 2007 - Third Annual Christmas Concert "Virgin and Child"
St Martin's Singers Christmas Concert
Conducted by Fergus Black
Guest Artists:
Eleanor Turner, Harp
Kate Osborne and Nicola Wiggin, flutes
A celebration of the Virgin and Child, through the music of Hildegard of Bingen, Gavin Bryars, Helmut Walcha, Giuseppe Verdi, Zoltan Kodaly, Hector Berlioz, Howard Goodall, Malcom Sargent, Suzanne Palmer-Holton.
The highlight of the concert was Howard Goodall's beautiful new song-cycle, Winter Lullabies, for which the singers were joined by harpist, Eleanor Turner.
2008
Saturday 19th July 2008 – Music from Burghley
The concert featured the first modern performance of Dies Irae by Salvador Pazzaglia , a remarkable find in the Burghley House Music Library that was transcribed especially for this concert.
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Comment from members of the audience
It was delightful; a rare treat, one of those concerts that make you glad still to be around.
We look forward to hearing about any future St Martin's concerts.
Stuart and Monika Rising
18th December 2008 – An English Christmas
The centrepiece of the St Martin's Singers' programme was the cycle of six carols by Karl Jenkins (of Adiemus fame) with traditional carol words (Silent Night, In Dulci Jubilo etc) but with new music by Jenkins for women's choir, recorder and piano.
Other works by Britten (the fabulous Corpus Christi Carol), Vaughan Williams and Holst, together with solos from various members of the group made this a very special event.
2009
Saturday 25th April 2009 - A Flavour of Russia
Conducted by Fergus Black
with Chris Brown, organ
Choral music by Russian composers in the first half (Chesnov and Bortniansky - his setting of the Divine Liturgy), then Mendelssohn's the three motets for upper voices, Op.39, which are wonderful. To finish, Schubert's 23rd Psalm.
16th December 2009 - Fifth Annual Christmas Concert "Joyeux Noël"
Our own acclaimed choir of female voices in its fifth annual Christmas Concert.
The choice of music spans a thousand years, from the early works of the Notre-Dame school, through some charming carol arrangements, and culminating in the (rather lush) Grand'Messe de Noël by François-Auguste Gevaert, who, like many famous Frenchmen was actually Belgian. No matter!
2010
15th December 2010 - Sixth Annual Christmas Concert "Stille Nacht "
STILLE NACHT!
St Martin’s Singers’ Annual Christmas Concert - at St Martin’s Church
Following the success of their Joyeux Noël concert last year, the St Martin’s Singers presents a concert of German Christmas music: Bach, of course, and
other German baroque composers, some carols - both familiar and unfamiliar - and a few surprises!
Ticket prices: £10 Tickets from Stamford Arts Centre 01780 763203 or at the door
2011
18th December 2011 - Seventh Annual Christmas Concert
with Eleanor Turner (harp)
and William Fowler (treble)
Christmas 2011
at Stamford Arts Centre
Sunday 18th December at 7.30pm
Tickets: £11 (£8 concessions)
Stamford’s women’s voice choir lights the Christmas candle with music for upper voices and harp, including Anthony Bolton’s “Garland of Carols”, his hommage to Britten. Conducted by Fergus Black
PROGRAMME
Thomas Hewitt-Jones Child of the Stable
solos: William Fowler and Joanna Goldspink
Bob Chilcott The Time of Snow
arr. Joseph Canteloube Voice que les Patres
solo: William Fowler
Marcel Tournier Au matin
Eleanor Turner harp
William Byrd Lullaby
arr. Lionel Salter The Coventry Carol
Peter Warlock Three Carols
Tyrley, Tyrlow
Balulalow
solo: William Fowler
The Sycamore Tree
INTERVAL
Anthony Bolton A Garland of Carols
1 - The Gloucester Wassail
solos: Hannah Sheard & Hilary Gallup
2 - The Holly and the Ivy
solos: Bridget Howarth & Laura Ward
3 - Lanterns
solo: Joanna Goldspink
4 - A Kiss for the Baby
solo: Helen Didsbury
5 - Sweet was the Song
6 - Interlude for Harp
7 - There is no Rose
solo: Bridget Howarth
8 - Cold December’s Wind
9 - Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day
solos: Helen Didsbury, Joanna Goldspink & Helen Black
10 - I Saw Three Ships
solos: Judy Blakeborough, Alison Lewis, Penny Cooper & Rachel Tucker
11 - Epilogue – The Shepherd’s Carol
solos: Bridget Howarth & Hilary Gallup
2012
19th December 2012 - Eighth Annual Christmas Concert
7.30 pm
The Court Room,
Stamford Town Hall,
St Mary’s Street,
STAMFORD
Tickets £12 (concessions £9)
from Stamford Arts Centre, 01780 763203
Programme
Gloria - Anon (Worcester Fragments)
Pro Nobis - Humphrey Clucas
Concerto for Harp in B Flat (Alexander's Feast) - Handel
Old Fox Wassail arr Hatfield
Apple Tree Wassail arr Hatfield
SHORT INTERVAL
Ceremony of Carols - Benjamin Britten
Crépuscule for Harp - William Alwyn
Three carols arranged by Malcolm Sargent:
To a Baby
Star in the South
Zither Carol
Encore: The Cowboy Carol - Sargent
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St Martin’s Singers
Eleanor Turner, harp
Fergus Black, conductor
2013
18th December 2013 - Buon Natale (e felice Anno Nuovo)
7.30 pm
The Court Room,
Stamford Town Hall,
St Mary’s Street,
STAMFORD
Tickets £12 (concessions £9)
from Stamford Arts Centre, 01780 763203
with Barbara Tomlinson piano
Programme
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PROGRAMME : ACT ONE
Palestrina - Magnificat
Stradella - Pieta Signore
Bellini - Angiol di pace
“Caccini” - Ave Maria
Monteverdi - Quam Pulchra
Monteverdi - Hodie Christus Natus Est
Mascagni - Ave Maria
Verdi - Ave Maria
Verdi - Laudi alla Vergine Maria
PROGRAMME : ACT TWO
Bossi - Hymn of Glory
Donizetti - Prayer of Mary Stuart
Menotti - All this gold (Amahl and the Night Visitors)
Leoncavallo - Musette Svaria Sulla Bocca Viva (La Boheme)
Puccini - Quando m'en vo' (La Boheme)
Extra "audience participation" item: Bobby Worth after Puccini - Don't you know
Yon - Gesu bambino
Wood - Three Italian Carols
Schubert / Mercurio - Mille Cherubini in Coro
ENCORE:
arr. MacHuff - Time to Say Goodbye
(photo by John Smith)
2014
Fauré Requiem
St John's Church, Stamford
In his seven-section Requiem, the French composer Gabriel Fauré distilled some of the most beautiful melodies he ever composed. It is often described as 'heavenly', and sounds even more like the music of the angels in Desmond Ratcliffe's arrangement for women's voices.
Also in the programme, the Cesar Franck Alleluia (Cantique de Paques)
Caroline Sharpe, soprano, Irena Radic, mezzo, and Katie Jeffries-Harris, alto, lead the St Martin’s Singers and organist Stephen Barber. Fergus Black conducts.
Running time approximately fifty minutes
Free admission - retiring collection
19:30 at the Town Hall, Stamford
St Martin’s Singers, Stamford’s women’s voices choir, presents a programme of 24 short pieces on Christmas themes - 24 jewels like an Advent Calendar. If you have ever been to one of their concerts, you will know to expect the unexpected: a renaissance motet rubs shoulders with an opera aria, a christmas carol takes on Mel Tormé.
Tickets £12 (£9 concessions), from Stamford Arts Centre, 01780 763203
2015
Songs for Survival
St Martin’s Singers, Stamford’s women’s voices choir, presents a programme of wordless music inspired by the Songs for Survival (see below). Also in the programme, other vocal pieces with no text: Kodaly’s Mountain Nights, Puccini’s Humming Chorus, and solo songs, such as Rachmaninov’s Vocalise. Also, if it doesn’t seem irreverent, Stephen Hatfield's Three Ways to Vacuum Your House! (which are filled with the nonsense syllables imitating the humming and muttering one does during housework), mostly in a Latin American vein.
Admission Free - Retiring Collection
After a year and a half of captivity, Margaret Dryburgh, with an outstanding musical memory, made the camp another great gift. She helped Norah Chambers, a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, with music for a “vocal orchestra” that would sing orchestral and piano works. On December 27, 1943, the vocal orchestra presented its first concert. The singers sat on little stools, too weak from malnutrition and disease to stand a long time. They were barefoot. Bandages covered tropical sores. Norah Chambers raised her hands. Very softly, as through a haze, the first chords of the Largo of the “New World Symphony” reached us listeners packed together in the compound. Some of us wept. We had not expected such beauty among the cockroaches, the rats, the bedbugs, the lice, and the smell of the latrines. The concert renewed our sense of human dignity. It gave us courage to go on.
During the year that followed, the vocal orchestra gave more concerts. Its final repertoire totalled thirty. But when half the singers had died, the vocal orchestra sang no more. Among the dead was Margaret Dryburgh. – Helen Colijn (from Song of Survival: Women Interned). There is also a film: Paradise Road
http://singingtosurvive.com
2016
“A mediaeval gem with a fascinating monument”
PROGRAMME
Fauré Messe Basse
Boëly,Scherzo from Douze Pièces Op. 18 (organ)
Theodore Morrison Three French Songs by Rilke
Dupré Te Splendor et Virtus from Le Tombeau de Titelouze (organ)
Poulenc Litanies de la Vierge Noire
INTERVAL
“Best bits” of Handel’s Messiah
- Overture
- Comfort ye my people
- And the glory of the Lord
- Behold, a virgin shall conceive
- O thou that tellest
- Pifa
- There were shepherds
- Glory to God
- Then shall the eyes of the blind
- He shall feed his flock
- Behold the Lamb of God
- He was despised
- Surely he hath borne our griefs
- He was cut off
- But thou didst not leave his soul in hell
- Lift up your heads, O ye gates
- I know that my Redeemer liveth
- Since by man came death
- Hallelujah Chorus
with Jeremy Lloyd organ
Fergus Black conductor
Tickets £8 including a glass of wine from Sally Hudson on 01780 740475
(Concessions £6; accompanied school children free)
Violins
St. John’s Church
off Red Lion Square, Stamford
7:30pm
Roger Stimson & Emily Holt violins
Philip Robinson piano
Fergus Black conductor
PROGRAMME
Music for women’s voices and violin(s)
Two Part Songs by Elgar
Three Sacred Songs on Czech Popular Rhymes by Martinu
Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre
Amy Beach’s Three Shakespeare Choruses
and other works.
Admission free with retiring collection in aid of The Churches Conservation Trust 
2017 - 2020
2021
Saturday 12th December 2021 at 3:30pm
for about an hour
at St. Andrew’s Church, Ufford
postcode for satnav PE9 3BH
A choir of women’s voices gives a concert of evocative Christmas music, from Gregorian Chant to John Tavener, including Michel Corrette’s Messe Pour Le Temps De Noël (1788), and a selection of traditional Christmas melodies.
Bruce Burbidge organ Fergus Black conductor
Free admission, retiring collection.
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Sorry we couldn’t really talk after yesterday’s concert, wretched COVID, but have to tell you how much we enjoyed it. So good to hear live music and the sound was just gorgeous. A lovely programme. The working adults completely unwound and the grandchildren relaxed and drifted.... I especially enjoyed the Tavener, which I had not heard before, and the Rose Tree Carol.
An Advent Responsory - Barry Rose
Duo in the seventh mode - Jacques Boyvin
Owt Of Your Slepe - Huw Morgan
Conditor Alme - Jean Titelouze
Quelle est cette odeur - A E Baker
A Nativity - John Tavener
Sweet was the song - Stanley Vann
Messe pour Noel - Michel Corrette
Lob sei dem allmaechtigen Gott from the Orgelbuechlein - J S Bach
Four Old English Carols - Gustav von Holst
Chorale Prelude on Dundee - Hubert Parry
A Christmas Carol - Charles Ives
The Rose-tree Carol - Barry Ferguson
Myn Lyking - RR Terry
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her Op 65 No 4 - Sigfrid Karg-Elert
Die Konige - Peter Cornelius
Jésus de Nazareth - Charles Gounod
We wish you - arr Hughes
2022
Sunday 8th May 6pm
Easter Evensong at St Michael's, Uffington, near Stamford
Boely Offertoire pour le jour de Pacques
A selection of Chorale Preludes by Walther, Scheidt, Bach, Telemann, Peeters, Bedford and Kittel
- Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag
- Christ lag in todesbanden
- O sons and daughters
- Mache dich, mein Geist
Hymns 100 Come Ye Faithful (t. Ave Virgo Virginum)
231 I heard the voice of Jesus say (t. Kingsfold)
80 Christ the Lord is ris'n again (t. Wurttemburg). Descant by Stephen Barber.
Introit: Introit for Easter (This joyful Eastertide) arr. Ledger
Preces and Responses: Hayward
Psalms 113, 114 (faux bourdon and Tonus Peregrinus)
Evening Canticles: Sydney Nicholson in F
Anthem: Alleluia! (Choeur de Paques) - Franck
Organ Voluntary: "Christ is arisen" (Christ ist erstanden) - Flor Peeters (1903-1986)
Readings Isaiah 63.7–14 and Luke 24.36–49
St Firmin's Church, Thurlby, near Bourne
Sunday 11th December 2022 at 3.30 p.m.
A choir of women’s voices gives a concert of evocative Christmas music, from Gregorian Chant to John Tavener's The Lamb. Including In nativitatem Domini canticum by Charpentier and a selection of Christmas melodies with flute descants.
Mulled non-alcoholic punch and mince pies served at the interval.
Guest Artists:
Julie Dearden flute
Bruce Burbidge organ
Conducted by Fergus Black
Click on image to see an A4 poster for the concert.
PROGRAMME
An Advent Responsory (Barry Rose)
Laetabundus (chant)
Vom Himmel Hoch Chorale Prelude BWV 738 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Vom Himmel Hoch canon (after Scheidt)
Magnificat 8th mode for organ (Samuel Scheidt)
The Lamb (John Tavener)
Allegretto for flute (Benjamin Godard)
L'Adieu des Bergers (Hector Berlioz)
Three Ukrananian Carols:
1 Boh Sia Rozdaje
2 Skynija zlataja
3 Carol of the Bells -Leontyvych
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INTERVAL
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Winter (Four Seasons) (Antonio Vivaldi)
Christmas Hymn (arr Charles Kennedy Scott)
Schlafendes Jesuskind (Hugo Wolf)
In Nativitate Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Canticum, H 421 (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)
When Christ Was Born (John Gardner)
Mid-Winter (Bob Chilcott)
Sweet Baby Sleep (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
Stable Carol (Vaughan Meakins)
Sunday 23rd April at 3:30pm
(two halves of about 35 minutes with a short interval)
St John's Church, Cathedral Square, Peterborough
This is a free concert, but the organisers at St John's will be dependent on your donations if they are to keep going. The suggested donation amount is £8, but don't worry if that's more than you can afford.
Please visit their Facebook page, and spread the word about this concert, and the many others they promote:
A varied selection of music to celebrate Spring, Easter, Shakespeare and St George. The choir is joined by pianist Kate Bidwell, and conducted by Fergus Black. The group was founded in 2005 for a performance of Britten's Ceremony of Carols at St Martin's Church in Stamford, and is best known for its annual Christmas concert.
Starting with three movements from Spring, the first part of Haydn's 'Seasons', the choir will proceed via a clutch of Easter songs and motets to Five Shakespeare Lyrics by Philip Lane. They are great fun (short contrasting songs in a variety of styles: a dirge, a jazz waltz, a pastorale, etc), written in 1987 for Cheltenham Ladies College. The concert concludes with Part Two and the Epilogue from Elgar's The Banner Of St. George (the bit where St George rescues Sabra, daughter of the King of Sylenë, from the dragon). If you know the Elgar, you will know that it is very dramatic and that the rousing Epilogue is the best bit. And if you don't like April in Peterborough, there will hopefully be time for a short encore: April in Paris by Vernon Duke!
PROGRAMME
Invocation to Spring - Edmund Rubbra
Spring - Scenes from Haydn's 'Seasons' - arr Whitaker
Varen (Last Spring) - Greig
Three Unaccompanied Easter Songs:
Victimae paschali laudes - Ron Jeffers
All in an April evening - Hugh Roberton
This Joyful Eastertide arr Ledger
INTERVAL
Five Shakespeare Lyrics - Philip Lane
Banner Of St. George Part 2 - Elgar
(ENCORE: April in Paris - Vernon Duke)
Annunciation • Nativity • Presentation
A late concert of Christmas music at the oldest church in Rutland
Saturday 3rd February at 7pm
(for about an hour, followed by refreshments
St Nicholas Church, Stretton, near Oakham, LE15 7QR
with Michael Overbury organ
Fergus Black conductor
Tickets £10, accompanied school-age children £5.
Please visit the choir's Facebook page, and spread the word about this concert, and the others they promote:
You may think it a little odd to be doing a Christmas concert in February. But there are good reasons: December is too busy is one reason; and also, Christmas is a season, not a day. The Christmas season ends on 2nd Feb if one takes the old view of a forty day festival, as Robert Herrick did in his poem "Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve":
Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all
Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas hall.
Programme
INTRO
Ave Maria - “Caccini” arr Arch
Annunciation
Nova! Nova! Ave fit ex Eva - James Macmillan
Visit to Elizabeth
Magnificat Octavi Toni - Johann Erasmus Kindermann
Joseph's Dream
Joseph, thou son of David - Nia Llewelyn Jones
Journey to Bethlehem
The Time of Snow - Bob Chilcott
Birth
De Virgin Mary - Calypso arr Arch
Heute ist Christus der Herr geboren - Heinrich Schutz
In Dulci Jubilo - JM Bach organ
Lullaby
Maria Wiegenlied - Max Reger
Stable
The Oxen - Benjamin Britten
Angels
Gloria from the Grand'Messe de Noël "Puer Natus est nobis" - Gevaert
Shepherds
Quittez Pasteurs - French traditional arr. Phare-Bergh
Magi
Out of the Orient Crystal Skies - William Byrd
Mary and the Wise Men - Simon Mold
Flight into Egypt
Quam Pulchra Es - Bauldeweyn
Holy Innocents
Coventry Carol - English traditional
Candlemas
Lumen ad Revelationem - Guilmant organ
Maria wallt zum Heiligtum (When to the temple Mary went) - Eccard