SUNDAY 25 NOVEMBER:  MONTEVERDI 1610 VESPERS 

                                            Matthew Wadsworth  (lute)         Claudio Monteverdi           Philip Moore

The Ebor Singers return to the National Centre for Early Music for their now popular annual St Cecilia Gala concert on Sunday 25 November at 7.30pm, with a performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610.  This glorious Venetian masterpiece bridges Renaissance and Baroque styles and is considered the grandest piece of religious music before Bach.  The Vespers is contained in a publication that was designed as a (very extravagant) musical CV, and Monteverdi displays that he is highly versatile, writing in the older polyphonic style of sacred music, or bang up to date in the new expressive writing that up to this point had only been heard in opera.   

While many performances of this work use instrumentalists, Monteverdi allowed for different performance options in his score. This performance will be without instruments, although there will be organ and lute in support.  The choir are delighted to be joined by celebrated lutenist Matthew Wadsworth.  Matthew studied lute at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Nigel North, after which he spent a year at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague. Working in the UK, Europe and North America as a soloist and chamber musician, Wadsworth has appeared at most major concert halls and festivals, and can often be heard on radio, both in live performance and recordings. Most recently, in 2018 he gave the first performance of a theorbo concerto being written for him by Stephen Goss, with a premier in Hong Kong, and then a tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Alongside the Vespers, the choir will be performing a new work by the choir’s president, and organist emeritus of York Minster, Philip Moore. It seemed appropriate to ask Philip to write the choir's St Cecilia commission for this year, as he celebrated his 70th birthday in October.  As Monteverdi’s Vespers include hymns and motets devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Philip’s setting of the hymn Virgin born, we bow before Thee fits perfectly.

When  Sunday 25 November 2018 at  7.30pm 
Where  National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret's Church, Walmgate, YO1 9TL
Tickets  £15 |  £12 concessions |  £5 student available on the door or in advance from 
web:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/st-cecilia-gala-concert-monteverdi-1610-vespers-tickets-50401037861

FORTHCOMING EVENTS - A LITTLE NIGHT-MUSIC
The choir's concert season this year is subtitled A Little Night-Music, and as well as Monteverdi's Vespers, we will be performing Victoria's Tenebrae Responsories by candlelight (Saturday 23 March) and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landings with Alex Roth's 40-part work Earthrise, alongside other 40-part pieces by Tallis and Striggio (Saturday 20 May) - both in the Chapter House of York Minster - and another setting of music for Vespers, Mozart's Vesperae solennes de Dominica (K.321) (Saturday 29 June, St Olave's Church). More details and how to book tickets will follow soon, but please save the dates in your diary!

Before that, we look forward to celebrating Christmas with our popular seasonal concert on Sunday 16 December at the NCEM, with a programme to include Britten's A Ceremony of Carols.

Tickets, priced at £15 |  £12 concessions |  £5 student are available on the door or in advance from Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-ceremony-of-carols-2018-tickets-50401771054 

OTHER NEWS
Following on from our concert Songs of Farewell in October, we uploaded several tracks to our Youtube channel for Remembrance Sunday:
Elgar: They are at rest
Parry: Never weather-beaten sail
Moore: Holy is the true light

For updates on choir events, please follow us at www.facebook.com/eborsingers and www.twitter.com/eborsingers