Ely Consort - Sing a New Song

Ely Consort is a Chamber choir of about 40 voices. We perform music in a wide variety of styles; our performance venues include Ely Cathedral as well as other local churches. Ely Consort has built up a performing reputation over the last 30 years, to be known as one of the premier Chamber Choirs in East Anglia. A reputation we are very proud of maintaining!

Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel will be the magnificent venue for a concert in which we pair old and new settings of familiar texts. Works will include Bob Chilcott’s Silver Swan, an imaginative integration of Orlando Gibbons’ well-known part-song with brand new music, and Eric Whitacre’s stunning setting of When David Heard, an incredible piece which captures the meaning of this text in an extraordinarily powerful and emotional manner.

We are delighted to have commissioned the exciting British contemporary choral composer, Ben Ponniah, to write a new work for us for this concert, and we will give the world premiere of his setting of the words ‘Sing, O heav'ns’, alongside a seventeenth century version by the Ely composer John Amner. We will be joined by guest flute soloist, Cherry Blanchard, who will also the pairings theme, by playing the first movement of two sonatas from different eras, and two pieces based on the same 'thing' - Pan.

Do come along and enjoy the Lady Chapel's superb acoustic resounding to some superb choral, and flute, works, including a world premiere!

Musical Director/Conductor: Matthew Rudd

Piano: Anne Reece

Flute: Cherry Blanchard

Full programme:

Thomas Weelkes / Eric Whitacre: When David heard

Claudio Monteverdi / Ko Matsushita:  Cantate Domino

Thomas Tallis / James MacMillan: If ye love me

John Amner / Ben Ponniah (World premiere - Ely Consort commission): Sing, O heav'ns

Orlando Gibbons / Bob Chilcott: The Silver Swan

Marek Raczynski / Peter Philips: Gaudeamus omnes

Flute solos - Cherry Blanchard:

JS Bach: Adagio ma non tanto (from Sonata in E minor)

Roussel: Pan (from Joueurs de flûte)

Francis Poulenc: Allegro malinconico (from Sonata in E minor)

Christopher Ball: Pagan Piper (from Invocations of Pan) (unaccompanied)