Stories

June 2018

Summer concert  soloists

Our soloists for this concert are:

Amy Moore (soprano)

Louise Crane (mezzo-soprano)

Justin Lavender (tenor)

Ben Davies (bass)

Their bios are shown below

Amy Moore -soprano

Amy is a Histon girl now living in Australia having had a successful career as a soloist and ensemble singer focusing on early and contemporary music. In Australia, she made her solo debut in 2016 with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Mozart's Requiem, performing Handel's Gloria later the same year. Last year she was soloist in Bach's St John Passion with the Choir of St James King Street. She sings regularly as a guest with The Song Company, and performs as a soloist with Salut!Baroque, Queensland Baroque,Thoroughbass,the Emeralds Viol Consort and Willoughby Symphony Orchestra. Amy is thrilled to return to perform Le Laudi once again with Choir 2000. 

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Louise Crane -mezzo soprano

studied at the Guildhall School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music and the National Opera Studio. Louise began her singing career at Glyndebourne and has since moved on to perform many and varied roles with English National Opera, English Touring Opera, the Aldeburgh Festival, Chelsea Opera Group,Brussels opera, Opera de Lyon and European Chamber Opera.

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Justin Lavender -tenor

Justin is a Professor of Vocal Studies at the Royal College of Music, and Vocal Consultant to the Choir of Kings College Chapel Cambridge. In 2016, he co-founded 'Arcadian Opera', of which he is the Musical Director. The ompany has established itself as a considerable musical presence in the Buckingham area. They have staged Puccini's La Boheme,Donizetti's The Elixir of Love and in October will peform Ethel Smyth's masterpiece opera The Wreckers to celebrate the centenary of women's suffrage, Dame Etherl having been a prominent suffragette. This project has already attracted much attention and Justin was invited to inspect and comment on the composer's original manuscript for the BBC R4 'Tales from the Stave' broadcast in May this year.

Ben Davies -bass

studied at the Royal Academy of Music.

Recent concert performances include the Monteverdi Vespers, King Arthur the Brahms Requiem, The Fairy Queen, Messiah,Bach's Christmas Oratorio, the Faure Requiem and both the St Matthew and St John Passions for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.

March 2018

Spring concert  soloists

Our soloists for this concert are:

Anna Marmion (soprano)

Caitlin Goreing (mezzo-soprano)

Stephen Watson (tenor)

Richard Hooper (bass-baritone)

Their bios are shown below

Anna Marmion - soprano

After graduating from Durham in 2016 with a 2:1 in French, German and Italian, Anna has since worked in Cambridge, while studying voice with Amanda Roocroft.

Her operatic roles include Queen of the Night ('The Magic Flute') and Belinda ('Dido and Aeneas') for Cambridge Youth Opera, Second Woman/First Witch ('Dido and Aeneas') and Isabel ('Pirates of Penzance') for Rocket Opera, Mystery ('The Fairy Queen') and Soloist ('The Voyage') for Durham Opera Ensemble, for whom she has also appeared in 'The Seven Deadly Sins' and 'The Merry Widow'.

Chorus roles have included 'The Rake’s Progress' for Cambridge University Operatic Society, Un Ballo in Maschera' for InterOpera, 'Iolanthe' for Rocket Opera, and 'The Magic Flute' for Canterbury Cathedral Garden Opera.

Anna competed in classes for Opera, French Song and Oratorio at the Ryton Music Festival in 2016 and won first or second prizes in all categories.

She sang regularly with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, was the Fairhaven Singers Scholar for 2011 and held scholarships with both University College and St. John’s College Chapel choirs at Durham University

Caitlin Goreing (mezzo-soprano)

sang her first operatic role (Dido, in Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas') when she was sixteen with Cambridge Youth Opera. Since then her roles include the title characters in 'Carmen' and Giulio Cesare in 'Egitto', The Witch ('Hänsel und Gretel'), The Old Lady ('Candide'), and Czipra ('Der Zigeunerbaron').

Caitlin has sung with the Choirs of King's College London and Exeter College, Oxford, and was a participant on The Sixteen's young artist training programme, 'Genesis Sixteen', from 2013-14.

She has recently graduated from King's College London where she read mathematics

Stephen Watson (tenor)

is an experienced choral singer, and currently sings with Ian de Massini in Cambridge Voices and Ralph Woodward in the Fairhaven Singers.

In the past he has sung with Richard Marlow in the Cambridge University Chamber Choir, and Michael Smedley in the Oxford Pro Musica Singers.

Perhaps his most memorable experience was singing with Peter Pears in Schütz’s 'St Matthew Passion' on Belgian Radio! It was interrupted by a power cut – but fortunately, not while he was singing

Richard Hooper (bass)

was raised in Cambridge and graduated with an MSci in Materials Science from Gonville and Caius College, where he was also a choral scholar under Geoffrey Webber, touring widely and making several well-received recordings. He has studied singing under Susan Waters, David Lowe, and James Ottaway.

He is currently a Lay Vicar at Salisbury Cathedral, providing music for eight services each week, as well as tours and recordings, and combines professional singing with a career in IT as a freelance software developer.

Richard sings with a number of vocal ensembles, notably Consortium and Sarum Voices, and is a founder member of close harmony group Sarum Six. He is often engaged as a soloist, with recent performances including Purcell's 'Ode to St Cecilia' with Amici and Brahms' 'Requiem' for the St John Singers.
 

June 2017

We're pleased to welcome our soloists - they are:

Lily Bravery (soprano)

Jessica Lawrence-Hares (mezzo-soprano)

Stephen Lawrence (tenor)

Joseph Kennedy (bass-baritone)

        We have pictures and short bios of our soloists below:

Lily Bravery - soprano

Lily is 17 years old and currently studying A Levels at St Mary's School, Cambridge.

Lily has been singing since she was 8 and first won the Cambridge Festivals Young Singer of the Year at the age of 9. She is a member of her schools select Allegro Choir and was also a member of the National Youth Choir. She attends the Royal Academy of Music in the junior department and is planning to further her career in music at one of the Conservatoires.

Jessica Lawrence-Hares - mezzo -soprano

began her vocal training while attending the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D. C. She went on to become Head Chorister of the inaugural Girls Choir at the Washington Cathedral where she was awarded the St. Alban medal for excellence in choral singing. She received her BM magna cum laude and her MM from Boston University while studying with Sarah Arneson and Phyllis Hoffman. While at Boston University, she sang the role of the Lady with a Hat Box in the Opera Institute’s production of Dominick Argento’s Postcard from Morocco and appeared as the Sea in the second act premiere of Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls. Other Opera Institute productions include La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Die Fledermaus, and Beatrice and Benedict. She has sung Mercedes in Carmen and Nicklaus in Hoffmans Erzählungen with the Komische Kammeroper München and has also performed with the College Light Opera Company and the Opera Theatre of Lucca. Jessica has been featured soloist in performances of Aaron Copland’s In the Beginning and the Mozart Requiem in the Boston area. She served on the vocal faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute for two summers. Since moving to the Cambridge area, she has given recitals at many of the Cambridge Colleges, including an all-American programme at Clare Hall as part of their America Week cultural celebration. She also appeared in Ruddigore (Mad Margaret), Fiddler on the Roof (Frumah-Sarah), The Magic Flute (3rd Lady) and The Marriage of Figaro (Marcellina) with the Cambridge Operatic Society and was alto soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on CUMS’ 2009 tour of Tuscany. She has performed in the premieres of several new operas: two by Kate Waring, Are Women People? (Mother) in 2014 and Porcelain and Pink (Lois) in 2015 and one by David Earl, Strange Ghost (Ka Cox), also in 2015. She recently sang Sea Pictures with the Cambridge Sinfonietta.

Stephen Lawrence - tenor

has been, since returning from St Petersburg Conservatoire, where he studied conducting, a singing teacher and in the last seven or so years has turned his focus toward solo singing. He has sung Bach's Evangelists, the title roles of Albert Herring and Tom Rakewell, Schubert’s Winterreise. He also conducted the Cambridge University Opera Society in Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas) and the Cambridge Youth Orchestra. He studies with John Upperton, Katharina Megli and Ashley Stafford, and has frequent concerts in Cambridge, often featuring Russian songs and lately works by Joe Conway. He assists the St. Augustine’s Singers in Cambridge with vocal technique, and he also teaches Violin and Piano. He is a vegan cook with an interest in meditation, philosophy - particularly the philosophy of consciousness – and psychology. He speaks Russian fluently.

Joseph Kennedy - bass-baritone

began his studies at Birmingham Conservatoire where he won the Cecil Drew Oratorio Prize and graduated with first class honours. He went on to postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) under the tutelage of Prof. Susan McCulloch, graduating with distinction. Performance highlights include; Footman in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier (CBSO-Symphony Hall); a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 'In Tune' singing operatic excerpts; Haydn Creation (RPO). Most recently, Joseph performed the role of Don Giovanni for Hampstead Garden Opera, where he was described as “a perfect fit, from his towering physical presence and air of inviolable privilege to his sensitive voice”. As a concert soloist Joseph has performed Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Faure Requiem, Haydn Nelson Mass, Handel Messiah, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, Monteverdi Vespers, Britten War Requiem, Orff Carmina Burana, and Puccini Messa di Gloria. In opera, roles include Forester The Cunning Little Vixen, Noye Noye's Fludde (Operamus), Indian The Bartered Bride (BYO), Adonis Venus and Adonis (La Nuova Musica), Le Podestat Le Docteur Miracle (Pop-Up Opera), Death Savitri (Operaview), Kouravar Lakme (OHP), Guglielmo Cosi fan Tutte (Pop-Up Opera, Greek Tour). Joseph was also a Christine Collins Young Artist at Opera Holland Park in their 2015 summer season. Joseph is currently touring the role of Geronimo Il Matrimonio segreto.

March 2017

We asked some of our members what it means to them to be a member of Choir 2000

(Click on the image on the left

to run the video)

March 2017

Our soloists for  our  next concert are:

Elise Fairley (soprano)

Phillipa Thomas (mezzo-soprano)

Nicholas Bewes (tenor)

Adrian Powter (baritone)

We are pleased to welcome back Phillipa, Nicholas and Adrian, with whom we've worked before. We're looking forward to meeting Elise and hopes she enjoys working with us.

We have pictures and short bios of our soloists below:

Elise Fairley -soprano

Elise is s currently in her final year of study at the Birmingham Conservatoire under the tutelage of Louise Crane. During her time at the Conservatoire she has had the opportunity to perform many roles including Le Rossignol L'enfant et les sortiléges, Truth Ava's Wedding (World Premiere), First Flower Maiden Parsifal and has been in the ensembles for many operas and scenes including Otello, La Boheme, Dialogue des Carmelites and Macbeth. Most recently, for Birmingham Conservatoire Elise performed the role of Susanna in their production of Le Nozze di Figaro directed by Michael Barry. In August 2016 she performed the title role in John Blow's Venus and Adonis for Beechwood Opera in Hampshire. 2014 saw Elise chosen to represent the Birmingham Conservatoire at the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Young Singers Bursary Competition, she has twice been a finalist in the Cecil Drew Oratorio Prize, finalist in the Birmingham Conservatoire Singing Prize and in 2016 competed in the final of the Corton-Hyde Early Music Prize. Elise has sung as soprano soloist at many oratorio engagements performing works including Mozart's Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Handel's Messiah and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. Elise hopes to continue onto post-graduate study in Europe.

Phillipa Thomas -mezzo soprano

Phillipa studied music at the University of York, winning the York University Concerto Prize. Following her MA, she continued her vocal training at Birmingham Conservatoire where she was a prize-winner in the Edward Brooks English Song Competition, a finalist in the Cecil Drew Oratorio competition and winner of the Birmingham Conservatoire Singing Prize. In 2014, she was a finalist at the John Kerr Award for English Song. In 2016 Phillipa performed the roles of Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Fulham Opera, Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Dulwich Opera Company and Giovanna in Rigoletto for Nevill Holt Opera. Past operatic credits include Carmen (cover) (Carmen, Nevill Holt Opera), Meg (cover) (Falstaff, Fulham Opera, Grimeborn Festival), Olga (Eugene Onegin, Aylesbury Opera), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro, Opera Seria), Sorceress (Dido and Aeneas, Opera Up Close), Carmen (Carmen, Guildford Opera and Opera at Bearwood), Mercedes (Carmen, Choir 2000), Ino Semele, Jackdaws Young Artists) and Dido (Dido and Aeneas, Operamus). Recent solo engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No.2 (Kings College Cambridge under Stephen Cleobury), Duruflé's Requiem (Rushmoor Choir), Dvořak’s Mass in D (Ceramic City Choir), Handel’s Dixit Dominus (Dorking Choral Society), Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium (Newark Choral Society) and Mozart’s Requiem and Vespers (Aberdeen Bach Choir).

Nicholas Bewes -tenor

Nicholas began his musical training at Kings College Choir School in Cambridge. He studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Arthur Reckless and from there went to sing at Christchurch Cathedral Choir in Oxford and appeared as a guest soloist with many of the local choirs and choral societies. During his time in Oxford, he became a founder member of ‘Opera Exchange’, an Oxford-based Opera Company established to perform both contemporary and traditional opera. He performed lead operatic roles in La Traviata, Tosca, La Bohème, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. Nicholas spent a number of years as a freelance tenor performing as a soloist throughout the UK and overseas. During this time he was a regular singer on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Daily Service’. He has also undertaken several concert tours and recitals in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Song recitals have included programmes by Delius, Finzi, Britten, and Schumann, Schubert and Brahms song cycles. He has been a frequent guest soloist with many choral societies throughout the UK. And in 2009 appeared as a soloist in St John’s Smith Square in a concert to mark the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell’s birth conducted by Grayston Burgess. Nicholas has been the soloist in a number of Choir 2000 concerts in works by Bach, Handel, Purcell and Mozart.

Adrian Powter -baritone

Adrian was born in Cambridge and trained at the RNCM, Manchester and began his career at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In 2000 he created the role of Philip in Harrison Birtwistle's The Last Supper at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, a production later presented by Glyndbourne Festival and Touring Opera. He has since performed a wide variety of operatic roles. Recent/current engagements include Bartolo (The Barber of Seville) and Elviro (Xerxes) for ENO, Major General Stanley in Mike Leigh’s new production of The Pirates of Penzance in Luxembourg & Caen, Bartolo (The Marriage of Figaro) for West Green Opera and in 2016 he returns to sing the role of the Sacristan (Tosca) for ENO. Concert work has taken Adrian worldwide, with performances of Songs of Travel by Vaughan Williams, Bach's St Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, A German Requiem by Brahms and most recently Bach’s B Minor Mass in Dublin.

November 9th 2016

A special rehearsal with a friend of the Choir - Stephen Varcoe

Pictured left-right Beatrix Bown, Stephen Varcoe, Douglas de Lacey and Bertie Baigent.

A very lively and enteraining rehearsal! Stephen came along to offer insight and tips to improve our performance of the programme pieces. He was very complimentary on our 'bright' tone in the Haydn and helped us sort out how to distinguish between various grades of 'humming' needed in the Vaughan Williams 'Fantasia'. Thank you, Stephen!

Here is a link to Stephen Varcoe's website 

Advent concert 2016 - Our soloists

We are looking forward to working with our soloists for this concert. They are all new to us (as are we to them!).

They are:

Rosalind Dobson (soprano)

Hamish McLaren (countertenor)

Oliver Clarke (tenor) and

Gareth Thomas (bass/baritone)

and you can read a bit more about them below:

Rosalind Dobson -soprano

Originally from Oxford, Rosalind started singing at a young age, performing regularly with the Oxford Girls’ Choir. When she left school she spent her gap year singing in Schola Cantorum of Oxford under James Burton as well as spending a month in Florence studying the History of Opera, Neapolitan Song, and Italian, before going up to Cambridge in 2013 to study English Literature at Magdalene College. Alongside her academic studies Rosalind sang as a choral volunteer with the chapel choir of Sidney Sussex under David Skinner for her first two years, touring to Austria, Germany, Rome and America. Rosalind is an experienced soloist, whose solo oratorio appearances include Bach’s John Passion and Magnificat, Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Brahms’ Requiem. Operatic roles include Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), Cunegonde (Candide), Fiordiligi (Cosí fan Tutte), Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Nella (Gianni Schicchi).

She is now in the first year of her masters in performance at the Royal College of Music, where she studies under Sally Burgess. Rosalind is a RCM scholar generously supported by a Drapers Company Award.

Hamish McLaren -countertenor

Hamish McLaren was born in London and grew up there and in North Wales. Having been educated at Eton College with a music scholarship, he graduated from St. John’s College Cambridge with a BA and MPhil in History and Early Modern History in the summer of 2016. During his time as an undergraduate and graduate student at St. John’s, Hamish sang both as a choral scholar and as a lay clerk in the Choir of St. John’s College Cambridge under Andrew Nethsingha, and was taught by David Lowe and Ashley Stafford. Away from the choir stalls Hamish took on numerous and varied roles in operas around Cambridge. Between 2013 and 2016 he appeared as Oberon (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Marcellina (Mozart’s La Nozze di Figaro), Damon (Rameau’s Les Sauvages), and even as Vava, a lurid and petulant mistress in Shostakovich’s satirical operetta Cheryomushki Moscva. At Cambridge Hamish was a finalist in the Clare College Song Competition (2015) and in the Lady Frances Song Competition (2015), he also performed in masterclasses with Michael Chance, Lawrence Zazzo, and Iestyn Davies. In his more flippant moments Hamish sang and recorded an eclectic range of close harmony up and down the country as a member of The Gentlemen of St. John’s. Hamish is now studying for a MMus in Performance at The Royal Academy of Music where he learns with Alexander Ashworth and Audrey Hyland. Hamish is generously supported by the Josephine Baker Trust.

Oliver Clarke -tenor

Oliver graduated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in June 2015. He started his singing career at the age of 8 as a chorister at Tonbridge School. Since then he has sung with a number of groups including: Magdalena (The Alamire Scholars); the City of London Choir; the Carice Singers; the Façade Ensemble and the Choirs of Sidney Sussex College and Trinity College, Cambridge. His choral work has ranged from Byrd at Carnegie Hall, through Bach's B Minor Mass at St John's, Smith Square to Stockhausen's rarely performed Stimmung. Since 2015 Ollie has been taught by Ann de Renais. On stage, his Cambridge performances include: Samuel in 'The Pirates of Penzance' (2014); Sergei in Shostakovich's 'Moscow, Cheryomushki' (2014); Don Curzio in 'The Marriage of Figaro' (2015); and Narrator in Owain Park's 'The Snow Child' (2016) - a role which he created. As well as singing, Ollie is a keen rugby player, an enthusiastic FIFA player and the reason Trivial Pursuit is banned on Clarke family holidays.

Gareth Thomas -bass/baritone

Gareth read Music and was a choral scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge. Upon graduating in 2013, he spent a year singing with Hereford Cathedral Choir and teaching at the Cathedral School. Since moving to London in 2014, he has been a regular performer with groups such as Siglo de Oro, Illuminare Choir, The Portrait Choir and The Erebus Ensemble. Recent highlights include Vaughan William’s Serenade to Music (Academy of St Martin in the Fields), Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw at the BBC Proms (Philharmonia Voices) and recording a choral audio guide for the National Portrait Gallery (The Portrait Choir). He regularly sings with some of London’s leading church choirs (including St Peter’s Eaton Square, St James’s Spanish Place and The Chapel Royal HM Tower of London) and is increasingly in demand as a soloist. Recent solo work has included Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Purcell’s Come ye sons of art. Forthcoming engagements include Bach’s St John Passion and Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem.

Gareth recently completed the National Youth Choir of Great Britain’s inaugural Fellowship programme. During an intensive year of training, performances included Bach’s Singet dem Herrn (one-to-a-part) and Magnificat in Snape Maltings as well as recitals at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham and St James the Greater, Leicester. He was also fortunate to participate in masterclasses with James Gilchrist, Neil Ferris and Harry Christophers, as well as tours to China and Malta. In addition to his singing work, Gareth is active as an editor and typesetter and teaches for ForeSound of Music.

Advent concert posters are back from the printers

Look out for our posters in and around Histon, Impington and the surrounding villages.

Tickets are now on sale at rehearsals (and have been printed in suitably seasonal colours)

An energising day of latin rhythms (and chocolate buttons**)..

Many thanks to Ralph Woodward for his energy, humour and enthusiasm leading us safely and surely through this exciting piece.

Thanks also to our soloist, Eleanor Cramer for providing a soaring and serene soprano line; to David Warham, our accompanist and to the orchestra members who joined us in the afternoon.

**Chocolate buttons were available as rewards for the most 'joyously' wrong notes. We all promise not to wimp out in future!

We have a link below to a write up of the day giving more details and also some pictures take during the day,

Join us - next year's choral day will be led by Ghislaine Morgan and will feature Mozart's 'Coronation Mass' - May 20th 2017, keep the date!

  STOP PRESS: 'The Choir'

29 May 2016

Material recorded in February this year was broadcast as the 'Meet my Choir' feature. The broadcast episode is available until the end of June from the BBC's iPlayer, or you can download a clip of the Choir 2000 feature using the link below.

Many thanks to Douglas deLacey for organising this and to everyone who contributed to this feature.

  A generous and useful gift - April 2016

We have just learned that a Patron of the Choir has very kindly donated some traffic cones to us.

The gift comes from Richard Stebbings of Histon and we are very grateful for them. The front-of-house team has to place these alongside the kerb outside the Church as part of the parking controls which we have for our performances. Previously, we've had to borrow cones to do this. .

This is a very generous and really very useful gift to us. Thank you!

'Meet my Choir' - February 2016

One dark and dreary evening in February, a group of volunteers came together before rehearsal started  to make a recording to send in to the 'Meet my Choir' spot on BBC Radio 3's 'The Choir'.

Everyone taking part said their own piece, umprompted and it was interesting just how many of the comments contained the word 'joy'.

We don't know if the BBC will choose to feature our entry, but here's a link to the material so that you can hear for yourself some of the thoughts that people came up with in answer to the question 'what makes Choir 2000 special?'

'Happy 15th birthday Choir 2000'

January 2015

We celebrated our 15th birthday with a special cake for everyone at rehearsal, a special lunch and a very welcome special guest, Grayston Burgess.  .

It was wonderful  to welcome him to the celebration. Here's what he wrote to us afterwards:
Dear Beatrix,

I am writing to thank you so much for including me in the Luncheon party and to say how mightily impressed I was with the organisation and presentation on the occasion of the Choir's 15th Anniversary. It has grown into a powerful, confident and, best of all, keen and exuberant body of singers which seemingly will tackle anything!
Well done to all and especially to you, Peter and David.
What a team!! I hope I am still around for our 21st!!
With much love. Grayston

Here are a few more photos from the celebrations: