s
Choirs from Holy Trinity Church, Holy Trinity School and Tormead School rehearse for their concert at Guildford Cathedral.
Massed choirs make
for a musical delight
MUSIC lovers filled Guildford
Cathedral at the weekend to
hear the world premier of a
specially commissioned contemporary jazz piece.
On Saturday, a large audience listened to the Vivace
Chorus and Surrey children
interval were staggered by the
excellence of the performance
and there was a real atmosphere of excitement in the air.
The children I spoke to were
also thrilled to have taken
part.”
She added: “This was a landmark event for Guildford.”
by Guildford composer Will
At the end of the performTodd.
ance Will Todd,
Bethany
The chorus was made up of . Halliday, the Jazz Trio and both
adult and child choruses were
children from Tormead School,
a standing ovation.
Holy Trinity School and St " ‘given
" Mary’s Parish Youth Choir. The
Describing his work the
piece also involved the Will © Guildford composer said: “My
Todd Jazz Trio and soprano
new Te Deum is a work of
Bethany Halliday.
grandeur and jazzy energy. The
Latin Te Deum text is interVivace Chorus’ Hilary Minor
spersed with new words by Ben
said: “It was an exciting and
Dunwell and Psalm texts. The
exhilarating event and the
five movement work is at times
cathedral was packed. The
massive, rhythmic, lyrical and
children’s chorus of 107 singers
heartfelt.”
performed brilliantly well.
;
Parents I spoke to during the
Other items on the properforming Te Deum, written
gramme included works by
John Tavener and by lesserknown composers such as
Morton Lauridsen.
Elsewhere, soprano Bethany
Halliday and saxophonist Paul
Fawcus impressed with gripping solo turns.”
In a review of the event,
Steve Goss called the programme “refreshingly imaginative” and the performances
He added: “The Vivace
Chorus
were
excellent
throughout the concert, making light work of a challenging
‘compelling’.
programme.
He said: “While it was good
to hear fine performances of
some familiar modern classics
by John Tavener and John
Rutter and to be introduced to
works by Morton Lauridsen
and Eric Whitacre, Todd’s brilliant new piece was the highpoint of the evening.
“Pupils from Holy Trinity
School, Tormead School and
Holy Trinity Church Choir
joined forces in a touching performance
of
the
4th
movement; a beautiful setting
of the Lord is my Shepherd.
“Conductor
Jeremy
Backhouse had the chorus’s
undivided attention; his hard
work on detail in rehearsals
paying dividends in a slick,
professional performance.
“Vivace’s bold programming
transformed this concert into
an event. I eagerly await their
next commission.”
Todd’s
other
large-scale
vocal works include Mass in
Blue, also recently performed
by the Vivace Chorus, which
has recently been recorded on
_ Signum Classics.