Ipswich Choral Society and their music director, Stephen Rumsey, return to Snape to present 'Mozart Magic', a delightful programme from the great composer. Joined by their President, international conductor, Cem Mansur, the Society are delighted to perform Mozart's Requiem with the talented young musicians of the Suffolk Youth Orchestra (SYO) and specially invited soloists, Fiona Hammacott, Clarissa Meek, Nicholas Ransley and Timothy Dawkins.
Ipswich Choral Society are thrilled to also welcome former SYO member, Ipswich pianist Erdem Misirlioğlu to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor. Erdem was a prizewinner in the International Rachmaninov Competition for Young Pianists in 2006 and won the piano section of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2008. His recent recital at Wigmore Hall was broadcast on Radio 3.
Ipswich Choral Society Chair, Maureen Fell, is delighted that Cem Mansur is visiting Suffolk to conduct the choir again, having previously worked with the choir at Snape with the Britten Sinfonia, the City of London Sinfonia, and at the Istanbul International Music Festival. Maureen says "The choir always enjoy working with Cem and are enthusiastic about performing at Snape with him in April. Being joined by Erdem and SYO adds to the excitement and highlights the quality of the talent we have locally. With wonderful soloists too, the concert is definitely not to be missed!".
Ipswich Choral Society presents 'Mozart Magic: Requiem & Piano Concerto No. 20'
5pm, Sunday 22 April 2011
Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk IP17 1SP
Ticket prices: £12, £15, £18 (students half price)
Box Office, Tel: 01728 687110
Book online at www.aldeburgh.co.uk
Coach
Ipswich Choral Society presents "Ipswich Sings Christmas!"
Ipswich Choral Society's annual Christmas community concert returns with a sparkling festive extravaganza!
Performing a festive mix of traditional carols and Christmas songs, Ipswich Choral Society and their Musical Director, Stephen Rumsey, will be joined this year by compère Lynne Mortimer from the East Anglian Daily Times to introduce the special guest performances. Local band, Suffolk Phoenix Brass, return to perform their Christmas favourites and accompany the traditional carol singing with the audience.
Ipswich Choral Society are delighted to welcome Suffolk Soul Singers to add extra Christmas sparkle to the evening. As usual, children from local schools are taking part and this year Ipswich Choral Society welcome choirs from Grundisburgh Primary School, Hintlesham and Chattisham CEVC Primary School and Rushmere Hall Primary School to enchant everyone with their joyful performances.
Ipswich Choral Society use their community concert to raise money for a worthy local cause. This year, we will be raising money for the Woolverstone Wish appeal this year. The Woolverstone Wish Fund is raising money to refurbish the Chemotherapy outpatient clinics and day-unit in the Woolverstone Wing of Ipswich Hospital. The aim is to increase the available space, improve privacy for patients and provide a more comfortable treatment area.
Come along and help Ipswich Choral Society spread some Christmas cheer and also help raise money for a good local cause. Tickets are available from the Corn Exchange Ticket office so contact them on 01473 433100 to join in the fun!
Ipswich Choral Society presents 'Ipswich Sings Christmas!'
7.30pm Saturday 17 December 2011
Grand Hall, Corn Exchange, Ipswich IP1 1DH
Ipswich Choral Society return to The Great School, Ipswich School for their autumn concert on 6 November. The programme features pieces by composers from the German Romantic period culminating in 'Ein deutsches Requiem' by Johannes Brahms as the finale.
The arrangement of the Brahms Requiem chosen by the choir is accompanied by a piano duet. Following the successful "America" concert back in April, Ipswich Choral Society is delighted to welcome back internationally renowned solo pianist John Paul Ekins, who will perform the duet with pianist Christopher Guild. Both pianists will also perform solo pieces by Franz Liszt – 'Vallée d'Obermann from Années de pèlerinage' and 'Mephisto Waltz No.2'.
Also returning to perform the Requiem with the choir are Soprano Fiona Hammacott and Baritone Nick Fowler. Fiona will be delighting the audience with 'Csárdás and 'Mein Herr Marquis (Laughing Song) from Die Fledermaus' by Johann Strauss and Nick will be performing 'O du, mein holder Abendstern from Tannhäuser' by Richard Wagner. The choir will complete the programme by singing a selection from 'Liebeslieder Walzer op. 52' by Brahms.
Refreshments of delicious cakes and other home-made goodies will be available during the interval, provided by Creative Cooks.
Brahms 'Ein deutsches Requiem'
3.30pm Sunday 6 November 2011
The Great School, Ipswich School, Ivry Street, Ipswich IP1 3QW
A few weeks ago we received a programme from Graham Wild for a recital of Handels Messsiah on 4th December 1946 in which his father Ronald Wild played trumpet for the London Orchestra.
Of note on page 2 of the programme is a subsequent recital of Mendelssohn's "Elijah" on February 12th 1947 featuring Soprano Isobel Baillie and Contralto Kathleen Ferrier.
Many thanks Graham
Ipswich Choral Society and their Musical Director, Stephen Rumsey, are hosting an exciting afternoon concert of American music on 3rd April, 3.30pm at Ipswich School.
A compelling collection of pieces including negro spirituals from 'A Child of our Time' by Michael Tippett and excerpts from Leonard Bernstein's 'West Side Story'. In addition we will perform a choral arrangement of Samuel Barber's haunting 'Agnus Dei' and 'Sloop John B', originally performed by the Beach Boys. The concert would not be complete without some pieces from 'The Tender Land' by Aaron Copland and some traditional American folk songs, arranged by John Rutter.
We are delighted that John Paul Ekins, internationally renowned solo pianist, will be able to join us at Ipswich School. He will be playing a selection of his favourite American music, including George Gershwin.
Ipswich Choral Society presents America!
3rd April 2011, 3.30pm at The Great School, Ipswich School, Ivry Street, Ipswich IP1 3QW
Tickets from ICS ticket line: 01473 735878
Adults £9, Concessions £7, Children £3
Whitton & Whitehouse
Why not do something outrageous in 2011 – no talent required! You don't have to be able to sing just come along make new friends, have fun and learn how to develop your voice & singing techniques.
If you are aged 20 years and over, live in Whitton or Whitehouse and like singing, then why not come and join the Town & Bridge Project & Ipswich Choral Society at five free singing workshops. Funded by the Suffolk Foundation, the two organisations are working together to take music out into the community for people to 'have a go' and find out more about community singing.
Sessions start on Saturday 22nd January, then every Saturday for 5 weeks.
10.30am – 12.30pm,
Whitton Baptist Church, 209 Highfield Road, Ipswich, IP1 6DH
Refreshments available
Contact Julie Stokes on 01473 261112 for more information and to book a place.
Click here for further details on the Nightingale Project
The Nightingale Project is Ipswich Choral Society's response to the BBC's Choral Ambition Scheme, an opportunity to obtain funding for developing the activities of choirs in their community. The Nightingale Project received the maximum possible grant, making Ipswich Choral Society the only choir in the Eastern Region to be so fortunate.
The past few months have been busy with groups of folk with little or no singing experience taking part in professionally led creative singing workshops, exploring the expressive and life enhancing activity that is vocal music making.
June 27th saw the culmination of their efforts with an outdoor performance on the Cornhill Ipswich of specially written works by Jim McWilliam and Bridget Cousins for choir, workshop groups and audience as part of the 2010 Ip-art Festival.
About the Composers
Jim McWilliam
"Ipswich Choral Society approached me to write a piece or several pieces on the subject of Home. I have written 2 original compositions and one arrangement all of which offer different perspectives on this idea using texts from a variety of sources. The first piece 'Home, My Little Children, Hear Are Songs For You' is a poem by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and deals with the subject of Home from an innocent childlike viewpoint. The second piece 'I AM' is a poem by the English writer John Clare for whom the idea of Home was central to all of his work. Throughout his life Clare struggled with his own identity and once declared that he was infact Shakespeare. He died in the Northamptonshire County Asylum in 1864 shortly after writing 'I AM', possibly his most famous poem. The third piece is an arrangement of the well known folk tune, 'Sloop John B',covered by many artists but made famous by the Beach Boys in 1966. Originally a traditional West Indies song titled, 'The John B. Sails', the American writer Carl Sandburg included it in his 1927 collection of folk songs. The song tells the story of the John B., an old sponger boat whose crew were notorious for drinking and fighting whenever they reached port. The boat was sunk in the Bahamas in about 1900."
James McWilliam is a composer and arranger living in London. As well as writing for the concert hall he has worked as an orchestrator on films such as Harry Potter, written string arrangements for many pop artists and has recently composed the score to a new BBC One series, Tronji. James was music editor on all 100 episodes of the BAFTA winning Children's show 'In The Night Garden' and in March 2010 the London Philharmonic Orchestra gave the World Premiere of his arrangement of the 'In The Night Garden' opening theme at the Festival Hall. James was Ipswich Choral Society's adopted composer in 2006.
Bridget Cousins
"The piece I've written for ICS weaves three quotes about the idea of 'home' by three very different writers : TS Eliot, Emily Dickinson and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The quotes are all from American writers - Ipswich has a strong connection with the Americas being one of the first ports of call for the Mayflower before she set sail from Plymouth in 1620. Eliot writes 'Home is where you start from', whereas for Dickinson 'where thou art,that is home'. Wendell Holmes combines these ideas in one lovely phrase : 'Where we love is home, that our feet may leave, but not our hearts' . The three phrases are woven together using canon and countermelody to form a flowing piece reminiscent of the river at the heart of Ipswich. It also reminds us what home means, and meant, for those leaving and arriving in this city, from the Anglo-Saxons who created this port to the Caribbean islanders who came in the 1950s and more recent arrivals from Portugal and Poland."
Bridget Cousins is a community musician who enjoys writing choral pieces for those who have no previous experience of singing or reading music. She works with groups in various community settings including schools to create compositions and recently completed a project sponsored by the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia to write four songs inspired by their roving artefact collection with elderly residents at an old people's home. This resulted in a performance which featured the residents themselves on stage (several of whom were over 90) as part of a community choir.
She has written 2 song-cycles inspired by the Blyth Valley for Halesworth community choir - 'Singing the River' and 'Ballads of Blything Hundred' both of which have been performed to packed audiences and warm reviews at the Cut Arts Centre and other venues, including Snape Maltings as part of the Ebb and Flow festival 2008.
By using the links below Ipswich Choral Society will receive a small commission.
Ipswich Music Day
Sunday 1st July 2012 3:00pm
St Margarets ChurchIP4 2BT
ICS Autumn Concert
Sunday 18 November 2012 3pm
Rutter: Gloria | Chilcott: The Making of the Drum
The Great School, Ipswich School, Ivry Street, Ipswich IP1 3QWICS Christmas Concert
Saturday 15 December 2012 7.30pm
Ipswich Sings Christmas!In support of the Woolverstone Wish Appeal
Corn Exchange, Ipswich
IP1 1DH
Tickets from:
Members
Or
ICS Ticket Line
01473 738324
Or
Music World,
Queen Street,
Ipswich,
IP1 1SS