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PAST EVENTS
2022 Concerts, celebrating Vaughan Williams' 150th Anniversary
26 FEB
GREAT MALVERN PRIORY
Featuring Victoria’s Requiem Officium Defunctorum, 1605 and the world premiere of a Requiem Mass by Derek Smith, composed in memory of his wife during the 2020 lockdown.
9 APR
ST LAURENCE'S CHURCH, LUDLOW
We began our celebration of Ralph Vaughan Williams' 150th Anniversary with a concert at Ludlow English Song Weekend, showcasing his legacy on female composers and featuring the world premiere of Ina Boyle's Caedmon's Hymn.
8 MAY
Newbury Spring Festival
ST JOHN'S CHURCH, NEWBURY
We were delighted to present a festival service with music by Tallis, Vaughan Williams and Imogen Holst.
14 MAY
Chiltern Arts: Choral Music Discovery Day
Our day at St. Mary's Church, Princes Risborough began with a singalong workshop on the music of Vaughan Williams, and we were joined by Annika Lindskog, guiding us through the Swedish language and context around music by his contemporary Hugo Alfvén. The afternoon's concert featured works by Vaughan Williams along with composers who had similarly strong responses to the outdoors.
22 MAY
Programme:
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Silence and Music
Ina Boyle - Hymn
Ralph Vaughan Williams - folksong arrangement: The springtime of the year
Hugo Alfvén - Aftonen (The evening)
Jean Sibelius - Män från slätten och havet (Men from plain and sea)
Ralph Vaughan Williams - folksong arrangement: Just as the tide was flowing
Gustav Holst - This have I done for my true love
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Mass in G Minor
Vaughan Williams at Hill Barn in the Cotswolds
Hill Barn is a stunning new venue for Carice Singers in the Cotswolds, nestled on a hill just west of Stow-on-the-Wold. We were so pleased to fill the venue with singing in our very first performance there. Our audience enjoyed amazing views of the surrounding countryside, paired with a programme celebrating Vaughan Williams and composers who shared his love of the great outdoors. After the concert, we enjoyed meeting our audience and supporters, and sharing the panoramic views with a drinks reception.
4 JUNE
HARK TO THOSE SOUNDS
ST MARTIN'S CHURCH, WORCESTER
We made our debut at the Elgar Festival with a programme paring the choral songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor side-by-side with Elgar’s and viewing how both composers engaged with the difficult issues of class, gender, and race.
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Elgar - The shower

Coleridge-Taylor - By the lone sea-shore

Elgar - The fountain
Elgar - 5 Part-songs from the Greek Anthology
Coleridge-Taylor - Summer is gone
Elgar - My love dwelt in a northern land, Death on the hills
Coleridge-Taylor - Dead in the Sierras
, The fair at Almachara

Rebecca Clarke - Music, when soft voice die
Elgar - Serenade

Elgar - Love’s tempest
Coleridge-Taylor - All my stars forsake me, The lee-shore
26 JUNE
DELIUS SOCIETY
60th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
5 Carice Singers appeared at the Angela Burgess Hall, Royal Academy of Music for the premiere of a new work by Danish composer Bo Holten, inspired by Delius' 'Two Songs for Children', at this unique concert of chamber music to mark The Delius Society's 60th anniversary year.
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Programme:
Bo Holten - The Delian Madrigal (World Premeiere)
Delius - Two Songs for Children
6 JULY
9 JULY
LEND AN EAR
ST JOHN AT BETHNAL GREEN
We gave the London premieres of six new works by early-career composers. Two iconic pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams framed the programme, marking the composer’s tireless efforts in supporting and promoting contemporary music throughout his life.
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Programme:
Ralph Vaughan Williams - O Vos Omnes
Aileen Sweeney - Canntaireachd
Will Harmer - Loneliness
Claire Victoria Roberts - Interlude 3
James Batty - Waneth the watch, the weaker ones dwell
Electra Perivolaris - If this island…
Michele Deiana - A new center
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Mass in G Minor
SPEM IN ALIUM: 40 VOICES, 40 YEARS
LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL
Lichfield Festival celebrates 40 years with a special concert featuring two 40-part works. Tallis' iconic Spem in alium was combined with the world premiere of a brand new piece 'From Silence' by Thomas Hyde
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Programme:
Ralph Vaughan Williams - O Vos Omnes

Mass in G Minor

The Cloud-capp'd Towers
Thomas Hyde - New work in 40-parts (World Premiere)
Thomas Tallis - Spem in alium 

16 JULY
SERENADE TO MUSIC: VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 150
ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BANBURY
Conductor George Parris returned to his home town to lead Banbury Choral Society together with The Carice Singers in a special concert celebrating Ralph Vaughan Williams' 150th anniversary. The programme featured two choral masterpieces, the Mass in G Minor and Serenade to Music, with each choir also performing a selection of shorter works by Vaughan Williams and his close contemporaries.
25 JULY
HEREFORD CATHEDRAL
We made our debut at The Three Choirs Festival with a concert travelling between the British Isles and Finnish forests - with choral songs by Elgar and Sibelius, two world-famous contemporaries who, despite coming from opposite ends of Europe, share many similarities in their music. The second half featured the premiere of Scottish composer Electra Perivolaris’ If this island.., a piece influenced by the Hebridean Waulking Song tradition, followed by Finnish Matthew Whittall’s evocative choral song cycle which sets familiar poems by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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Programme:
Elgar - There is Sweet Music
Sibelius - Min rastas raataa, Saarella palaa, Rakastava
Elgar - Evening scene, The Fountain
Sibelius - Venematka, Sydämeni laulu
Elgar - Owls, O Wild west wind!
Perivolaris - If this island...
Whittall - Songs of Travel
12 OCT
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS:
150th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
We were thrilled to return to Kings Place, London for a concert showcasing Vaughan Williams choral classics, alongside amazing pieces by his students, and his Swedish contemporary Hugo Alfvén.
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Programme:
Ina Boyle - Hymn
Hugo Alfvén - Aftonen (The evening)
Elizabeth Maconchy - A Hymn to God the Father
Imogen Holst - A Hymne to Christ
Gustav Holst - This have I done for my true love
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Silence and Music
Ralph Vaughan Williams - Mass in G Minor
24 NOV
Arvo Pärt Festival, Music at Oxford
VIGILIA ESTONIAE
ST. BARNABUS CHURCH, OXFORD
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Our visit to Oxford presented a rare chance to meet and work with two of Estonia's most prominent female composers. We gave the UK premieres of music by Evelin Seppar and Galina Grigorjeva. It was a pleasure to meet and work with them as we prepared for this performance.
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Our programme celebrated Galina Grigorjeva’s 60th birthday with her 2017 work Vespers and commemorated the recent passing of Ester Mägi who would have been 100 in 2022.
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Programme:
Pärt - Which was the son of...
Mägi - Siin mu rõõmumaa
Schnittke - 3 Sacred Hymns
Pärt - Virgencita
Seppar - Psalm 129 (UK Premiere)
Grigorjeva - Vespers (UK Premiere)
Grigorjeva - In Paradisum
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2021 Events, Celebrating our 10th Anniversary
Christmas with the Carice Singers
Programme:
Ešenvalds - O Emmanuel

Dove - Welcome, all wonders in one sight! 

Victoria - O Magnum Mysterium

Berlioz - The shepherd’s farewell
Rutter - Shepherd’s Pipe Carol
Sibelius - Nyt seimelle Pienoisen Lapsen

Mäntyjärvi - Ave Maria d’Aosta
Whittall - Christmas hath a darkness


Friderici - Aetas carmen melodiae
 Puer natus in Bethlehem

Howells - Three Carol Anthems

arr. Darlington - Stile Nacht 

Gardner - Tomorrow shall be my dancing day

Warlock - Bethlehem Down

18 DEC
Eton College Chapel
21 DEC
Leamington Music
A Bridge of Song: Tenth Anniversary
Concerts 2021
Programme:
Edward Elgar Go, Song of Mine
Veljo Tormis Laulusild (Bridge of Song)
Jean Sibelius Venematka (The boat journey)
Einojuhani Rautavaara Sommarnatten (The summer night)
Alex Freeman Calle sin nombre (Street with no name) (UK premiere)
Undine Smith Moore We shall walk through the valley in peace
Matthew Whittall Songs of Travel
8 SEPT
Newbury Autumn Festival
9 SEPT
St. Sepulchre, London
Cheltenham Music Festival 2021
We are immensely proud to have been Ensemble in Residence at the 2021 Cheltenham Music Festival.
3 JULY
Songs of Travel
CHURCH OF ST GREGORY THE GREAT, CHELTENHAM
Programme:
Two settings of poems by Ernst Viktor Knape:
Jean Sibelius Män från slätten och havet (Men from plain and sea)
Einojuhani Rautavaara Sommarnatten (The summer night)
Arnold Bax Five Greek Folksongs
Alex Freeman Calle sin nombre (Street with no name) (UK premiere)
Undine Smith Moore We shall walk through the valley in peace
Matthew Whittall Songs of Travel (World premiere)
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4 JULY
In the Footsteps of Hubert Parry
HIGHNAM PARISH CHURCH
George Parris led a guided tour of the Highnam Estate, once home to the composer Hubert Parry.
5 JULY
Classical Mixtape
GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL
In the glorious setting of Gloucester Cathedral we performed alongside cellist Clare O'Connell and trumpeter Aaron Diaz and gave the world premiere of Lillie Harris's 'The Dusk of Thee'.
6-9 JULY
Composer Academy
We worked alongside composer Daniel Kidane bringing new works by six early-career composers to life. The week ended with six world premiere performances in the Pittville Pump Room as part of the Composium event.
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Aileen Sweeney Canntaireachd
Electra Perivolaris If this island...
Will Harmer Loneliness
Claire Victoria Roberts Interlude
James Batty Waneth the watch, the weaker ones dwell
Michele Deiana A new centre
3 JUNE 2021
KINGS PLACE, LONDON
Programme
Elgar
Sibelius
Elgar
Sibelius
Elgar
Sibelius
Elgar
Sibelius
Whittall
My love dwelt in a northern land
Min rastas raataa (What the thrush toils)
Män från slätten och havet (Men from plain and sea) Evening Scene
The Fountain
Rakastava (The lover)
Love
Serenade
Sortunut ääni (The broken voice)
Saarella palaa (Fire on the island)
Owls (An Epitaph)
O Wild west wind!
Sydämeni laulu (Song of my heart)
Venematka (The boat journey)
Lauantaisauna (Saturday sauna)
RICHMOND CONCERT SOCIETY &
ST JAMES CHURCH,
CHIPPING CAMPDEN
Programme
Elgar
Delius
Sibelius
Madetoja
Ireland
Langaard
Elgar
Vaughan Williams
Pärt
Parris
Edwards
The Shower & The Fountain
On Craig Ddu
Sydämeni laulu (Song of my heart)
Onnelliset (The Happy Ones)
Spring, the sweet Spring
Lokkende Toner (Enticing tones)
Owls & O wild west wind!
Silence and music
The Deer's Cry
Now welcome somer
Sacred kingfisher psalms
HELSINKI
Saturday 22nd Feburary 2020
Sibelius Academy Concert Hall
PAST PROGRAMMES
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Hover over the pictures for more information.
PROGRAMME:
Icelandic Hymn Heyr, himna smiður (Hear, smith of the heavens)
Edvard Grieg Hvad est du dog skjøn (How fair thou art)
Wilhelm Stenhammar September
Jean Sibelius Rakastava (The Lover)
Kaija Saariaho Nuits, Adieux (Nights, Farewell)
David Wikander Förvårskväll (Spring evening)
Matthew Whittall Lauantaisauna (Saturday sauna)
Per Nørgård Maya Danser (Maya Dances)
Arr. Ørjan Matre Halleluja, vår strid er endt (Halleluja, our struggle ends)
Karin Rehnqvist I himmelen (In Heaven's hall)
Premiered in 2018 at the Oxford Lieder Festival.
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Subsequent performances at:
Cheltenham Music Festival
Swedish Church in London
St Mary's, Warwick
(July 2019)
TWELFTH
NIGHT
PROGRAMME
Samuel Barber Twelfth Night
Walter Lambe Nesciens Mater
Herbert Howells Here is a Little Door
Sing Lullaby
A spotless rose
Nicholas Ludford Ave Cujus Conceptio
Francis Poulenc Un Soir de Neige
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Per Nørgård Winter Hymn
Robert White Christie qui lux es et dies
Gustav Mahler Um mitternacht (arr. Gottwald)
Peter Warlock The Rich Cavalcade
Bethlehem Down
Sergei Rachmaninov Bogoroditse Devo
London & Warwick
January 2019
In Memoriam
A special Remembrance Day concert in aid of
St Martin's Church Fabric Fund, the Royal British Legion, and Armed Forces Charity SSAFA.
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Music included Parry's Songs of Farewell,
Howells Requiem, Jackson's Justorum Animae,
and Pearsall's Lay A Garland.
Barcheston, Warwickshire
SUNDAY 11th NOVEMBER, 2018
Commemorating the centenary of Hubert Parry's death and the end of the First World War.
Eternal Be The Sleep
PROGRAMME:
Ivor Gurney Since I believe in God the Father Almighty
C. Hubert H. Parry Sorrow and pain
Cecilia McDowall I know that my redeemer liveth
C. Hubert H. Parry Love is a sickness
Edward Elgar They are at rest
Herbert Howells Psalm 121
Requiem aeternam (2)
Gustav Holst Nunc Dimittis
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C. Hubert H. Parry Songs of Farewell
A special performance of Hubert Parry's poignant Songs of Farewell and other British choral works to mark the release of our new disc for BBC Music Magazine.
CD LAUNCH
ST. PAUL'S KNIGHTSBRIDGE, LONDON
5th OCTOBER 2018
Performed at Cheltenham Music Festival (July 2018), St. Peter's Bournemouth (October 2018), Music at Pinner (November 2018)
PROGRAMME:
Edward Elgar There is Sweet Music
Johannes Ockeghem Kyrie from Missa Prolationum
Johannes Brahms Einförmig ist der Liebe Gram
Josquin Des Prez Inviolata integra es
Guillaume Dufay Nuper rosarum flores
György Ligeti Lux aeterna
Arvo Pärt Nunc Dimittis
Per Nørgård Maya Danser (Maya Dances)
Benjamin Britten Hymn to St Cecilia
The choir returned to Chipping Campden for a programme inspired by music's close connection to mathematics, including a piece supposedly written to reflect the proportions of Brunelleschi’s Duomo in Florence.
MUSIC'S MEASURE
PROGRAMME:
Icelandic hymn Heyr, himna smiður
C. Hubert H. Parry There is an old belief
Wilhelm Stenhammar September
Leevi Madetoja Kevätunta
(Dreaming of Spring)
C. Hubert H. Parry Never weather-beaten sail
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Edvard Grieg Ved Rondane (At Rondane)
Percy Grainger A Song of Värmeland
Frederick Delius The splendour falls on castle walls
arr. Eyvind Alnaes Jeg lagde mig så sildig
(I lay down so late)
Toivo Kuula Nuku (Sleep)
Ina Boyle Gaelic Hymns
Arnold Bax This Worldes Joie
The Celtic North
The 'Celtic North' - a term used by the composer and poet Sir Arnold Bax in a radio interview of 1932 - refers to the atmosphere evoked by the landscapes of Ireland's Western seaboard, the Scottish Highlands, and parts of Fennoscandia which, for some at the turn of the twentieth century, proved inescapable.
27th APR
2018