Anthony Ritchie Gallipoli to the Somme | Léonce de Saint-Martin Paraphrase du Psaume 136 | Jeanne Demessieux Te Deum
Celebrating experiences of ordinary people
Anthony Ritchie’s secular cantata Gallipoli to the Somme had a rapturous world premiere last October in Dunedin, and has so far been broadcast twice on RNZ. Premiering in this concert, Anthony Ritchie has prepared a version with an ensemble and organ. Against the backdrop of a horrific war, Ritchie celebrates the experiences of ordinary people from their songs, diary entries, letters, and poems, all brought into irresistible musical life. The Otago Daily Times reviewer was ecstatic. “After the final chord,” she said, “complete silence held the audience before prolonged applause and a standing ovation rewarded this brilliant new work.”
Jenny Wollerman soprano
Jarvis Dams baritone
Philip Smith organ
Uwe Grodd conductor
Pipers Sinfonia Ensemble
Saturday, 14 April, 7.30pm
Holy Trinity Cathedral
$56, concession available
eventfinda.co.nz / 0800BUYTIX / 09 365 2342
Elizabeth Thomson Caldera (detail), 2012
Courtesy of the Artist and Two Rooms, Auckland
Like so many contraltos, I first got put in the alto section as a school girl because I could read music and manage to sing a line of harmony. I joined Auckland Choral when I was in high school and now I’ve been a member for 40 years! I started singing with my mum as a toddler, sitting on her knee while she played the piano and sang soprano and tenor Messiah arias. I used to come to Auckland Choral’s Saturday dress rehearsals in the Town Hall and follow the score in my early teenage years, and it was a natural step to join Mum in the choir when I was 15. I remember Choral Hall in Airedale Street where we used to meet (before Mayoral Drive was built). It was a dusty old building and freezing in winter, but the ladies in the alto section were very kind to me and welcomed me into the back row. Nothing really changes in that respect; the Auckland Choral altos today are a great bunch of people as well!
With a long history in music and performance, Josephine was singing in choirs from the age of 5. She has had the privilege of singing under Dr Raymond White, Sir David Willcocks (Kings College, Cambridge) and was a member of the New Zealand National Youth Choir with Professor Peter Godfrey from 1985 – 1988.
Jim Allardyce here from Whangarei. Commuting to Auckland for work, down on a Tuesday and back on a Friday, has opened up a new side to my social calendar. Rehearsals at the choir have become my weekly highlight forming a natural part of my week. Joining only this year, I remember going for my first visit to "check it all out" - I sat at the back amazed at the choir sight-reading Mendelssohn in German (as it was their first reading and performance of the piece). Very soon I was in the thick of it - rolling my r's in Mendelssohn's tongue with the other singers in my bass one section. My inaugural concert in the Auckland Town Hall was unforgettable as the choir was stupendous.