I Fagiolini
‘We’re not dead yet’ – I Fagiolini at 40
In 1986 another student vocal group gave its first concert with an eclectic a cappella mix of Monteverdi, Grieg, and the Fairy Liquid jingle. 40 years on Monteverdi has remained a constant and Robert Hollingworth and I Fagiolini have gone on to rethink exactly what a vocal group does, from unstageable a cappella to cross-cultural projects, world première recordings, the podcast Choral Chihuahua – and plenty of film. In an age of AI, I Fagiolini is a hand-painted original. Join them for this anniversary programme of ‘the best vocal ensemble music we know’. Music by Victoria, Wilbye, Weelkes, Vecchi, Monteverdi, Howells, Lesur, Ferré, and more.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: 20 mins
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £29 full price | £3 child/student
Rear Nave: £19 full price | £9.50 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £14 full price | £3 child/student
Ex Cathedra Scholars
Jeffrey Skidmore – Conductor
The Grand Tour – Burney at 300
Handel Zadok the Priest
Purcell Jehovah quam multi sunt hostes mei
Charpentier Transfige dulcissime Jesu
Haydn The heavens are telling (The Creation)
Allegri Miserere
Lotti Crucifixus
Mozart Ave verum
Bach Komm, Jesu, komm
To mark the 300th anniversary of Dr Charles Burney, England’s great eighteenth-century music historian, Ex Cathedra’s Scholars Ensemble invites you to take a musical Grand Tour, inspired by the man whose vivid diary provides some of the clearest portraits of musical life in 18th-century Europe.
Beginning in London and travelling through Paris, Vienna, Rome, Venice and Germany, this programme traces Burney’s remarkable journeys, with glorious music by Purcell, Handel, Rameau, Haydn, Monteverdi, Mozart and Bach, together with the iconic Miserere by Allegri, whose publication by Burney in London in 1771 helped extend its fame and enhance the legend.
From Handel’s Zadok the Priest to Mozart, Beethoven and Bach’s magnificent double-choir motet Komm, Jesu, komm, this is a rich panorama of European choral music, framed by the insight and wit of Shropshire-born Burney, whose work brought the sounds and stories of this music to British audiences.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: 20 mins
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £29 full price | £3 child/student
Rear Nave: £19 full price | £9.50 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £14 full price | £3 child/student
The Choir of Royal Holloway
Rupert Gough director
The King, the Archbishop, a Spy, and the English Exiles
A programme of early music built around the trials and tribulations of English composers surviving the religious upheavals of 16th and 17th century England. This programme compares the dangerous dual life of William Byrd with three composers who were forced into exile. Exploring the music of Byrd, Bull, Dering, and Philips provides an opportunity for the telling of many stories about accusations of spying, plotting against the king, and travels around 17th century Europe.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: 20 mins
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Daniel Blaze & Evie Perfect organ
Graham Ross conductor
Bethlehem Star
Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge return to Leamington Music with Bethlehem Star, a sumptuous festive programme of carols and motets including choral works by Rheinberger, Arvo Pärt, Reena Esmail, James Whitbourn, Cecilia MacDowall, Jonathan Dove, and Christmas’s favourite choral composer, Clare College alumnus John Rutter.
What better delight could there be at Christmas than wonderful choral music in St Mary’s with our traditional mulled wine and mince pies included?
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: 20 mins
Estimated finish: 9.30pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
The Binchois Consort
Matthew Farrell and Tom Lilburn altos
Dominic Bland, Tom Castle, Mark Dobell and George Pooley tenors
Andrew Kirkman director | Jamie Savan slide trumpet
‘In the Midst of Death there is Life’:
Celebrating 550 years of the Afterlife of Guillaume Du Fay
The 550th anniversary of the death of Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume Du Fay (the dominant figure in European music of the second half of the 15th century) provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the composer’s virtuosic contribution to music. Jamie Savan’s addition of the slide trumpet to the line-up brings a local connection too, as some of the earliest evidence of the instrument relates to trumpeters in the service of the Earl of Warwick.
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 7.45pm
Interval: None
Estimated finish: 9.45pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
The Gesualdo Six
Owain Park director, Guy James and Alasdair Austin countertenors
Joseph Wicks and Josh Cooter tenors, Michael Craddock baritone
Queen of Hearts
A selection of Motets and Chansons from the French Court, focusing on European Queens: Anne of Brittany, Margaret of Austria, Anne Boleyn, and Mary Tudor. Reflecting on these earthly regencies, devotional motets for the Queen of Heaven are interwoven with texts from the Song of Songs, appropriated to venerate the Blessed Virgin, alongside specially written chansons and motets commemorating key moments in the reign of Europe’s Queens. Music by Brumel, Compère, Festa, de Févin, Gombert, L’Héritier, Mouton, des Prez, Prioris, Ninfea Crutwell-Reade, & Owain Park.
Concert generously supported by John & Jean Morgan
The finer details…
‘Behind the Music’ FREE pre-concert talk: 6.45pm
Interval: None
Estimated finish: 8.45pm
Tickets
Front Nave: £28 full price | £3 child/student
Middle Nave: £18 full price | £9 under-35s | £3 child/student
Sides: £13 full price | £3 child/student
Stile Antico
Dante: A Divine Hope
Dante Alighieri’s Comedia (Divine Comedy) is considered one of the greatest works of literature ever written. Its enduring imagery has shaped our western culture’s views and understanding of the afterlife for more than 700 years. With this programme, Stile Antico descends with Il Divino into Hell, journeys together through Purgatory, and finally arrives at the gates of Heaven. Renaissance madrigals and sacred music by composers such as Victoria, Palestrina, and Morales illustrate the way, and texts by Dante himself, set to music by Lazzaschi and Merulo, also narrate the story. At the pinnacle of Heaven we meet the Virgin Mary in Giovanni Gabrieli’s glorious 12-part Magnificat.
£29 | £19 | £14
(£1 children / students)
Ex Cathedra
Jeffrey Skidmore director | Martha McLorinan mezzo-soprano | James Robinson tenor
Rachmaninoff All Night Vigil (‘Vespers’)
Audience favourites Ex Cathedra and Jeffrey Skidmore return to St Marys with Rachmaninoff’s most-loved choral work to round off a season celebrating the composer’s 150th year. Powerful, passionate, hypnotic – in a time of turmoil and amid the shock of war, Rachmaninoff turned to the choral heritage he held dear, and created one of the most awe-inspiring vocal masterpieces. With its luminous choral tapestry, mesmeric melodies and some of the lowest notes you’ll ever hear sung, there is little wonder it is beloved by audiences and singers alike.
Concert generously supported by Helen & Stan Ireland
£29 | £19 | £14
(£1 children / students)
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
Julian Wilkins & Jeffrey Skidmore conductors
Summer Concert
The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir comes to St Mary’s to take part in the second Warwick Choral Festival, conducted by Julian Wilkins (CBSO Choruses) and Jeffrey Skidmore (Ex Cathedra).
This beautiful and uplifting programme brings together works by Arbeau, Britten, Debussy, Fauré, Finzi, Howells, Le Jeune, Lalande, de Lassus, Machaut, Messiaen, Monteverdi, Saint-Saëns and Whitacre for a true June evening’s delight.
Tickets: £20 and £15 unreserved (students/children £1)
Ex Cathedra
directed by Jeffrey Skidmore
with Andrew Skidmore cello
Baroque Passion
Music by Bach, Purcell, Lotti, Domenico Scarlatti, Kuhnau, Monteverdi, Carissimi, and Charpentier.
Ex Cathedra returns with a programme of sublime music telling of the sacrifice, heartbreak and healing of the Easter story – heartrending as Mary weeps at the foot of the cross to Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater but concludes with optimism in Bach’s glorious motet Komm, Jesu, komm.
“…a heady mix of gloriously rich polyphony” – BBC Music Magazine
£26 | £18 | £12
(£1 children / students)