Media release: Monteverdi Vespers
MEDIA RELEASE
MONTEVERDI: VESPERS OF 1610 WITH PERIOD INSTRUMENTS
David Temple conducts Crouch End Festival Chorus
With Emma Kirkby
English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble
Monteverdi String Band
24 and 25 April 2009, 8pm | St James Church, Muswell Hill
Continuing its 25th Anniversary year, Crouch End Festival Chorus will give two performances of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 April, at St James Church in Muswell Hill, North London. This represents home turf for the chorus, which rehearses nearby.
The concerts will be conducted by David Temple, and soloists will include early music legend (and fellow Muswell Hill resident), soprano Emma Kirkby. She enjoys a concert career that in 2009 takes her across Europe and the United States and to South Korea. She has made over 100 recordings.
The chorus is also delighted to welcome the acclaimed period instrument groups the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble and the Monteverdi String Band. World experts in instruments of the time, and in demand around the world, the ensembles’ inclusion promises a visual as well as aural treat. A first-rate line-up also includes soprano Miriam Allan, tenors Jon English and Roy Rashbrook and baritones Michael Bundy and Tom Appleton.
The Vespers constitute a monumental work of music, with up to 10 vocal parts in some movements, a splitting of the chorus into separate choirs in others, and music that ranges from prayerful tranquillity to sheer joy.
NOTES
In the last year, Crouch End Festival Chorus has sung at the BBC Proms and the BBC Electric Proms; in its own promotion of Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Barbican, and in its debut at the new Kings Place in a week of events curated by David Temple, the choir’s conductor and co-founder. The chorus has recently recorded albums with Ray Davies and Kate Royal. In recent months it has expanded its outreach work, including a special performance with primary schools, funded by Thornton’s Budgens. The choir celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2009, during which it has given world premieres by Matthew Ferraro, Orlando Gough and jazz composer Roland Perrin.
PERFORMANCE AND BOOKING INFORMATION
Friday 24 and Saturday 25 April, 8pm
St. James Church, St James Lane, London N10 3DB
TICKETS: £24, £19 and £12
• 20% off for CEFC Friends and Crouch End Card holders.
• 10% off for groups of 10 or more.
• Child deal: an adult paying full price may bring one child 18 or under at half price.
Card bookings:
Les Aldrich Music Shop, 98 Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, N10 3HN; Tel: 020 8883 5631; opening hours Mon-Fri 9.30-6pm; Sat 9am-5.30pm; Sun 11am-4pm
CEFC ticketline:
Phone: 0844 736 5220 | Email: tickets@cefc.org.uk