The New Choral Singers, in conjunction with Kammerkoret Nesodden/Frogn (Norway), will present a concert of sacred music at St John’s Co-Cathedral on Friday, 14 October at 7.30pm.
The concert is being held in aid of Hospice Malta and specifically to mark World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2011, which is a unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world.
The New Choral Singers need little introduction among local choral music enthusiasts. This choir frequently partners with foreign choirs as a method of broadening their musical experiences. This joint performance with the Norwegian choir is one such alliance. The Kammerkoret Nesodden/Frogn is a mixed choir of 40 members that hail from two municipalities, Nesodden and Frogn, just south of Oslo. The choir sings under the direction of Gunnar Bjerknes-Haugen, and has frequently performed in national and international choir festivals. During their tour in Malta, the Norwegian choir will be singing in their national costume.
This event will consist of individual and joint performances by both The New Choral Singers and Kammerkoret Nesodden/Frogn. The latter will be presenting a varied repertoire including music by Norwegian composers, among which I Himmel by Edward Grieg and Du er Hjemmeand Å dennekildeby by Tveit and Skeie. The New Choral Singers, under the direction of Robert Calleja, will be presenting music by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Reinmann and Perosi, among others. The choir will also be performing Bartoluci’s Ave Maria for solo and choir, where for this occasion the soloist will be mezzo-soprano Marianne E. Andersen. Ms Andersen graduated from London’s Royal Academy of Music with the highest honours, and at the National Opera Studio, and will be visiting Malta together with the Kammerkoret Nesodden/Frogn. Timothy Guntrip will accompany both choirs on the organ for this event.
The two choirs will join forces to perform excerpts by Mozart, Bach, Rutter and finally the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, the delivery of which should be quite spectacular in view of the fact that the two choirs together will add up to a 90-strong choir.
This concert is being held with the courtesy of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation, with the support of Wilhelmsen Lines Malta, Bank of Valletta, Alistair Floral Designer and Union Print.
Members of the general public are cordially invited to attend and are kindly requested to refrain from wearing stiletto and narrow heeled shoes which are prohibited in the Co-Cathedral. Entrance is free of charge however a retiring collection in aid of Hospice Malta will be held after the concert. Further information can be attained from the choir’s website www.thenewchoralsingers.com
Members of the general public are also advised that Kammerkoret Nesodden/Frogn will be presenting a second concert of sacred and secular music on Tuesday, 18 October at the St Paul’s Pro-Anglican Cathedral at 7.30pm.