|
|
|
|
Ex Urbe Chamber Choir Conductor: John Bayley Accompanist: Tom Henderson
Ex Urbe is a Birmingham based chamber choir, which draws its members from a wide area of the Midlands. In 1995 a group of friends from the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus got together to give a charity performance of the Fauré Requiem under Simon Halsey, the CBSC Chorus Director. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to keep going! We have performed with Nigel Morley's Midlands Sinfonia at St Lawrence Church in Alvechurch, Worcestershire. We have performed the St Nicholas Mass by Haydn, Handel's Messiah and the Messe de Minuit of Charpentier amongst others. In August 2005 we toured Poland, giving very successful a capella concerts in Zakopane, Przemysl and Krakow. We also presented Christmas concerts in Trinity Church, Lickey and Alvechurch which included music by Brahms, Mathias and Pärt alongside well-known traditional carols. In 2006 we performed a programme of English Part Songs by Moeran, Finzi, Vaughan Williams and Britten at the church of St Alban the Martyr in Birmingham, and in Meriden. In December we once again joined the Midlands Sinfonia for another performance of Messiah, conducted by Nigel Morley. Early in 2007 we repeated the English Part Song programme at Lickey and Alvechurch. In July 2007 we performed the Missa Choralis by Liszt in Brecon Cathedral. In 2008, we presented "By Arrangement", a lighter programme which included such jazz standards as Ain't Misbehavin', In the Mood and Tea For Two, folk song settings and music by Bob Chilcott. The Major work for 2009 was James MacMillan's Missa Brevis along with some Mendelssohn Motets and a couple of the Coronation Anthems by Handel. In 2010 we joined the Hampton Singers and the Solihull Chandos Choir for The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins and Poulenc's Gloria, and presented our by now traditional Christmas Concert in Lickey in December. This year saw us returning to Finzi and Moeran, along with Rutter and Shearing and our party pieces, Eric Whitacre's Animal Crackers - Volumes 1 & 2, at Temple Balsall and Great Alne. The actor David Vann joined us to recite some English poetry and Belinda Morley, Mezzo Soprano, sang at Great Alne. At Temple Balsall we joined the church choir for Evensong. See our EVENTS page for our forthcoming concerts.
Ex Urbe is proud to be a member of Making Music which represents and supports over 2,400 voluntary music groups throughout the UK, including choirs, orchestras, and music promoters.
|
