Join the Canterbury Cantata Trust for a celebration of song and community
Raising vital funds for the Parkinson's Centre for Integrated Therapy
The Canterbury Cantata Trust is hosting a joyful musical event on Saturday 22nd June at 3.00pm in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall, University of Kent. This special concert is not only a celebration of the Trust’s amazing work, it is also helping to raise vital funds for the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy (PCIT) and we are most grateful to the Trust for their support.
Join us for a wonderful afternoon, which will be attended by Professor David Wilkinson (Director of PCIT) and the Sheriff of Canterbury, to enjoy the combined talents of all the Canterbury Cantata Trust singing groups under the inspiring leadership of their new Artistic Director, Emily Renshaw-Kidd. This concert marks a historic moment, bringing together various choirs including Skylarks’ Sing to Beat Parkinson’s, Amici, Monday Music, Canterbury Cantata and the Simon Langton Boys’ Chamber Choir for the very first time for a mass performance of Zimbe by Alexander L’Estrange. The Trust believes singing is for everyone, regardless of experience or financial limitations.
This uplifting concert promises to be a delightful event for all ages and will be a chance to:
be captivated by a vibrant and diverse musical experience
show your support for the PCIT and their invaluable work
celebrate the power of music and community togetherness.
Tickets are just £10 and are selling fast! Get yours now through the Gulbenkian website.
Let’s raise our voices and celebrate the joy of singing, all for a good cause. A collection will take place during the event and all donations will be given to PCIT, directly supporting those living with Parkinson’s in our community.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amici Chorus Present Music for Easter
Dvořák Stabat Mater (original 1976 version).
Directed by Stefan Catto with Accompanist Christopher Gower.
Soloists: Catherine Futcher (Soprano), Elizabeth Green (Alto), Zachary Smith (Tenor) and Sonny Fielding (Bass).
Tickets £10 on the door. Free to students.
Wednesday 20th March 2024 at 7pm
St Pauls Church, Church Street St Pauls, Canterbury, CT1 1NH
French Impressions: An Evening of French Choral Music
An evening of French choral music featuring the rarely performed Poulenc Gloria with its distinctive style of harmony moving between dissonance and lush chord progressions and a colourful musical palette being used to express a wide range of emotions from lyrical serenity to unashamed glee. The choir is joined for these performances by Adrian Bawtree and Helen Crayford and vocal soloists Helen Vincent (Canterbury Cathedral choir) and Joseph Morris (Royal Holloway Choral Scholar).
Lili Boulanger's Hymne Au Soleil is perhaps reminiscent of an impressionist painting, Claude Monet’s painting Sunrise. The rich, sometimes blurred harmonies of Boulanger’s piece evoke the colours of Monet’s clouds, while the ostinato quarter notes throughout the piece suggest the infinite waves that envelop the harbour in the painting.
Like his fellow Frenchman Fauré, Duruflé intended the mood of his Requiem to be largely contemplative, though there are moments of fire and brimstone too, not least when it is performed in the original version for choir and full symphony orchestra. The superb setting of the Requiem Mass by organist and composer Maurice Duruflé mixes Gregorian chant and splendid harmonies, to make what is without doubt, one of the most moving religious works from the 20th Century.
Following graduation, Stephen Barker studied for a Post Graduate Certificate in Education and qualified as a secondary teacher of Music. Composition remains an enjoyable passion, and while not having the time to be particularly prolific, Stephen tries to write two or three significant pieces a year, along with a wide range of smaller pieces of music suitable for liturgical use. Much of his music is available on his website.
Canterbury Cantata, with around 26 singers, is the chamber choir of Canterbury Cantata Trust, a charity whose guiding principle of Caring through Singing supports the creation of singing groups for many around the country.
Event date:
Saturday, 16 March 2024 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Monday Music on Tour: Sounds Beaney, Canterbury, 12th December 2023
Monday Music Canterbury and Folkestone groups joined together to raise the roof at the Beaney in Canterbury for Sounds Beaney, a music for wellbeing session. Returning to their pre-COVID venue, they demonstrated the enjoyment, camaraderie and feel-good sensation engendered by singing with others. The well-known tunes such as Amazing Grace and Little Liza Jane soon had everyone on their feet, blending their voices in harmony.
Phil Self, the ‘pied piper’ of the Canterbury group and Grenville Hancox who inspires Monday Music Folkestone, led the songs familiar to these singers in the wonderful surroundings of the Explorer’s and Collectors Gallery at the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge.
Both groups meet at 11am on Monday mornings in Folkestone and Canterbury. Anyone can join and there is no need to be able to read music as they use lyric sheets for the songs, and no other musical knowledge is required with the repertoire built around familiar songs, new ones, and simple fun rounds.
More than sixty attended and filled the beautiful gallery, splitting into three groups to sing in canon, following the familiar and well-trodden path of their weekly workouts.
What a wonderful way to lead up to Christmas and celebrate the joy given by singing together in harmony!
