Alnwick's Chamber Choir summer concert will include tribute to Ukraine

Rock Festival Choir’s summer concert this Saturday will feature music by composers from the 16th to the 21st Century.
By Joshua Wright
Published 29th Jun 2022, 14:39 BST

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Also known as the Alnwick Chamber Choir, the singers will perform work by composers Claudio Monteverdi and Johann Sebastian Bach, and a contemporary piece written by County Durham composer Will Todd.

Todd is claimed to be one of the UK’s leading composers and his piece, ‘The Call of Wisdom,’ was commissioned for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, when it was performed at St Paul’s Cathedral as part of the Service of Thanksgiving.

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The concert programme has been curated by musical director Peter Brown and includes compositions representing 600 years of choral work.

The choir sings the anthem ‘I was glad’ for the Platinum Jubilee, on June 5 at St Michael’s Church, Alnwick.The choir sings the anthem ‘I was glad’ for the Platinum Jubilee, on June 5 at St Michael’s Church, Alnwick.
The choir sings the anthem ‘I was glad’ for the Platinum Jubilee, on June 5 at St Michael’s Church, Alnwick.

Some pieces are a cappella, and others will be accompanied by the organ, played by Alan Gidney.

The programme also includes a ‘Prayer for Ukraine’, a new piece written in March by John Rutter.

Shocked at the Russian invasion, he heard a simple Ukrainian prayer at a late-night service in his old college chapel and decided to set the words to music.

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He has waived his rights to fees from the publishing and performance of the piece, inviting choirs to download and perform it and donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Appeal (DEC Ukraine Appeal).

Rock Festival Choir has made a donation, joining many thousands of choirs and singers around the world which have done the same.

The Rock Festival Choir Summer Concert will be held at 7.30pm at St Paul’s Church, Alnwick and entry costs £10.

For more information, visit www.rockfestivalchoir.org or go to the choir’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rockfestivalchoir for event details.

To donate to the DEC Ukraine Appeal, visit www.dec.org.uk.

Related topics:AlnwickCounty Durham