Older News Stories — 2009
Below are the new stories for last year, featuring our performance of Eternal Light by Howard Goodall with the Rambert Dance Company, our tour in the Highlands of Scotland and our Christmas concert with the Point of Ayr Colliery Band. For other years, please select from the following links.
Amici del Canto and Point of Ayr at Christmas
St. Paul's Church, Craig-y-Don – 19th December 2009
Amici del Canto & Point of Ayr
Since our inception, we have made a habit of giving local Christmas performances. This year, however, we were extremely fortunate to be able to colloborate with The Point of Ayr Colliery Band, a fabulous brass band with a rich history.
On the Saturday before Christmas we gathered at St. Paul's Church in Craig-y-Don near Llandudno, where – in the first half – we performed Haydn's Mariazellermesse a work that we are fast making our own. The second half was largely given over to the Point of Ayr Band who played a brilliant programme of pieces including the witty Posthorn Gallop by Herman Koenig, complete with sound effects!
As far as we were concerned the highlight of the performance was joining with Point of Ayr for a performance of Edward Elgar's So Many True Princesses which had been arranged for brass band by William Shaw, the 18 year old son of our music director Nigel Shaw, and who also plays with Point of Ayr. A video recording of the performance is available on our music page.
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A Highland Adventure
Dornoch & Brora, Scottish Highlands – 24th to 27th July 2009
Following an extremely busy season that saw us perform no less than three Requiem masses, we headed northward to the spectaculor Highlands of Scotland. Our destination was the historic area of Sutherland in the extreme north west of the country and our base was the remarkably captivating coastal town of Dornoch.
Amici del Canto in perfomance at Dornoch Cathedral
Our first day took us to Dunrobin Castle, a fabulous stately home a few miles from Dornoch, set in beautiful grounds and amazing scenery. We paid a visit to the grand house and gardens and took in the falconry display before some of our musicians sampled the delights of the stunning Steinway grand piano. It was then time to return to Dornoch for an afternoon's rehearsal for the concert that evening at Dornoch Cathedral when we performed two pieces by Scottish composer, James MacMillan, Give Me Justice and Data Est Mihi Omni Potestas; a piece by Henry Purcell, Blessed Are They That Fear The Lord; the haunting Miserere by Gregorio Allegri; as well as a remarkably little-performed mass by Franz Joseph Haydn, the Mariazellermesse. The concert was extremely well-received and we thoroughly enjoyed performing in such a beautiful cathedral.
Church of Scotland at Brora
After a busy first day, we took the opportunity for some well-earned leisure time by taking in a visit to the Glenmorangie Whisky Distillery in Tain. The guided tour was most enlightening and the free sample at the end of it was more than welcome. However, we had to retain our sobriety as we headed up to Brora later that day to begin rehearsals for our second concert. The Church of Scotland in the town is a charming and intimate venue and the welcome we received from the townspeople was overwhelming. We had been led to believe that there would be "refreshments" after the performance but we were amazed at the extensive array of homemade hospitality on offer; it was incredibly touching and something that we will never forget.
Eternal Light and the Rambert Dance Company
Venue Cymru, Llandudno – 13th & 14th February 2009
In the orchestra pit at Eternal Light
The year 2008 has begun with a frenetic period of rehearsals as we've prepared for the two performances of Eternal Light at Venue Cyrmu. Eternal Light is a beautiful setting of the traditional Requiem Mass together with war poems by British poets which was written by Howard Goodall, the theme music composer of The Vicar of Dibley and Blackadder. It was beautifully performed by The Rambert Dance Company together with – for the Llandundo dates – Amici del Canto as the guest choir.
The music was extremely challenging in places, especially the two movements entitled Revelation, an almost free-time piece with very little time to think. Despite that, the work was always beautiful and incredibly uplifting, and we are sure that it will become a classic in its own right in the years to come.
It was an incredibly important and exciting engagement for us and afforded us the opportunity to work with some dynamic and very charasmatic music professionals. It was also interesting to work in a very different setting given that we sang from the orchestra pit. We were especially gratified to receive much positive feedback from both our collaborators and audience alike.