Saint Peter's Singers of Leeds
Encyclopedia
Saint Peter's Singers is a chamber choir
associated with Leeds Parish Church
, Leeds
, West Yorkshire
, England
.
(St Peter-at-Leeds), achieving very early recognition and subsequent not inconsiderable national as well as local acclaim as one of the North of England's very finest chamber choirs. Saint Peter's Singers is a Registered Charity - No 507174 - and a member of Making Music, formerly the National Federation of Music Societies. SPS receives much appreciated annual support from the Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church
, Leeds City Council
, the Rector
and Churchwardens of the Parish of Leeds
City, the Charles and Elsie Sykes Trust and other charitable bodies and private individuals.
Founded in the high summer of Silver Jubilee Year, 1977, by the late Harry Fearnley, then senior alto lay clerk in the Choir of Leeds Parish Church
, SPS has been directed since its formation by the Leeds organist and conductor Dr Simon Lindley
, FRCO, FRSCM, the church's Master of the Music since 1975. Simon's organist
colleagues at the Parish Church have also contributed, invaluably, to the development of the Singers as did the late Sybil Chambers (1938-1998), the Choir's first Principal Soprano soloist who taught singing to many members in the first twenty years of the Choir's history. Organists associated especially with the Choir over a number of years include Dr Francis Jackson CBE
, Dr Donald Hunt OBE, Carleton Etherington, Jonathan Lilley and David Houlder.
The Singers' Music Director, Dr Lindley is also the Leeds
City Organist; he is a Vice-President of the Royal College of Organists
and served as the College's President from 2000 to 2002. Additionally, Simon Lindley serves as Conductor of Sheffield
Bach
Society and of Doncaster
Choral Society. In Spring of this year Dr Lindley was invested for a second successive annual term as Grand Organist of the United Grand Lodge of England
and of the Masonic Province of Yorkshire
West Riding
.
The majority of SPS concert performances and recitals are given in the Leeds
area, including regular appearances at the Leeds International Concert Season Monday lunchtime recital series held at Leeds Town Hall
under the auspices of Leeds City Council
, and other celebrated Yorkshire
venues including Fulneck Moravian Church, Denton Hall
near Ilkley
, the Parish Church of All Saints in Cawthorne
near Barnsley
and the Friends' Meeting House at Ackworth
near Pontefract
. During the Spring and Summer of 2010, the Singers presented recitals at Dewsbury Minster and Doncaster Minster.
St Peter's Singers is distinctive in that most of the principal vocal soloists for its concerts are drawn from the ranks of present or former members of the choir or of the Parish Church's choral foundation - these include, currently, Kristina James, Sarah Kelly, Claire Strafford, Anita Wiencelewski, Kathryn Woodruff, Lucy Appleyard, Paul Dutton, Stephen Newlove and Quentin Brown. A number of the present choir members, including some of the solo team, are former alumini of the University of Leeds
and Leeds College of Music
. David Houlder is Principal Organist and SPS Accompanist/Repetiteur for St Peter's Singers. The Choir's Chairman is Timothy Burleigh; its Secretary is Patricia Rose; Concerts Secretary is Quentin Brown; Treasurer is Jonathan Morrish; Orchestral Librarian is Barbara Hicks; Choir Librarian is James Carter and the Library, Publicity and Publishing Director is David Hawkin.
The choir has also undertaken a number of favourably-received visits in recent years to venues including St Paul's Cathedral, London, Worcester Cathedral
, York Minster
, Derby Cathedral
and Ely Cathedral
. In November 2007, by special request, SPS gave its first overseas concert tour in Romania
, with recitals in Sibiu
(the joint 2007 European Capital of Culture
) and Bucharest
.
In Autumn of 2009, SPS visited Mallorca
by special invitation of a number of former Leeds
citizens now living there. Concert venues included the Basilica of San Francesc and the Cathedral
in the Capital City Palma de Mallorca
.
Brittany
was the venue for the choir's most recent tour, at the end of May 2011 - with visits to Vannes
, Quimper
and Josselin
. Evensong
was sung at Guildford Cathedral
on the way down through the South of England
en route for Brittany Ferries
at Portsmouth
.
St Peter's Singers is committed to regular presentations at historic Leeds Parish Church
and at The Venue, Leeds College of Music
. December of 2008, 2009 & 2010 have seen, respectively, rare complete performances at The Venue of Handel
's Messiah
. J S Bach's Christmas Oratorio
and Advent
Cantatas to much critical and audience acclaim. The Good Friday Concert on 2 April 2011 at the Parish Church comprised music by Dvořák
- the Stabat Mater
and Parry
Blest pair of sirens.
in honour of the Choir's tenth anniversary in 1987 - Genesis & A Secular Anthem - and a fine setting of the Stabat Mater
was commissioned from Dr Francis Jackson CBE
, Organist Emeritus of York Minster
, for the Singers' 20th Anniversary in 1997. The choir has established an enviable reputation for its performances of the music of Bach
and Handel
, many in conjunction with Saint Peter's Chamber Orchestra. In recent years SPS has pioneered performances of the two acclaimed monodramas with music by Francis Jackson - Daniel in Babylon and A Time of Fire. Both works have been recorded commercially by Amphion to critical acclaim. Recent highly acclaimed performances by St Peter's Singers have involved Messiah
(Handel
) at Leeds College of Music
in December 2008 with soloists led by the brilliant young treble William Dutton and The Dream of Gerontius
at Leeds Parish Church
on Good Friday
, 2009 when the Choir welcomed former members as friends as guests and were accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra.
The Singers are closely concerned with the annual Fulneck Baroque
Weekend held at August end each season in the beautiful setting of the 18th century Moravian Church at Fulneck, just south of Pudsey
at the confluence of the West Riding rural and industrial heartlands, and have performed major works by Bach
and Handel
there each year since 2007.
The choir visited Birmingham Town Hall
in March 2010 to perform a programme of 'Sacred Choral Classics' as special guests of City Organist Thomas Trotter
in his Monday Lunchtime Concert
Series. Israel in Egypt by Handel
with St Peter's Chamber Orchestra and Soloists was presented at Leeds Town Hall
in February 2011. On Bank Holiday 2011, the Singers presented an acclaimed account of Mass in B minor by J S Bach
with soloists including Kristina James, Lucy Appleyard, Toby Ward - an alumnus of Fulneck School
and Quentin Brown. Instrumental soloists included violinist Mary Huby, flautist Michael Short and horn Robert Ashworth from Opera North
. Next year, 2012, the Town Hall Lunchtime Concert by the Singers is on Monday 13 February when music by Yorkshire born composers George Oldroyd
and George Dyson
will feature alongside works by Sir Edward Bairstow
. St Peter's Singers again participates in Summer 2012 at the Fulneck Baroque weekend at the famous Fulneck Church at Fulneck Moravian Settlement
, Pudsey
, presenting at 3.00 pm Church Music Classics by Haydn and Mozart including Haydn's Nelson Mass and motets by Mozart on Bank Holiday
27 August.
and, in 2011, Dvořák
's Stabat Mater
and Blest Pair of Sirens, John Milton
's Ode At a Solemn Musick by Parry
. The National Festival Orchestra will be returning in the upcoming 2011/12 season to accompany Handel
's Messiah
on Good Friday
8 April 2012 at 7.00 pm i the Parish Church.
Recent examples of choral collaborations have included concerts in 2006 with The Chapter House Choir of York
and their conductor Stephen Williams in honour of that Choir's Fortieth Anniversary, and a number of especially memorable collaborations with the Elgar
Chorale of Worcester
under their conductor Donald Hunt, Organist & Director of Music at Leeds Parish Church
from 1957 to 1975; St Peter's Singers were particularly honoured to be invited by Dr Hunt and the Elgar Chorale to participate in the Elgar 150th Birthday Concert in June 2007 in Worcester Cathedral
. The Singers renewed acquaintance with the Elgar Chorale for a further hugely enjoyable collaboration in a special Elgar Concert The Music Makers at Worcester Cathedral in the week of the 75th anniversary of the composer's death in February, 1934. A further visit to Worcester Cathedral took place on Saturday 8 May 2010 when Donald Hunt conducted Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and his own edition of Elgar's In Proud Thanksgiving as part of the Bromsgrove
Festival in which St Peter's Singers again participated along with the Elgar Chorale of Worcester and Chamber Choir of Bromsgrove School.
In October 2008, the Singers presented a special concert in York Minster
in celebration of the 60th birthday of their conductor, Simon Lindley
; music by Donald Hunt, Francis Jackson, Philip Moore
and Lindley himself was sung.
The Singers sustain close and happy relationships with individual members of other significant local cultural groups including Leeds Philharmonic Society
, Leeds Festival Chorus
, Doncaster
Choral Society and with Ecclesia, a newly-formed chamber choir established in 2008 and based at historic St Aidan's Church, Leeds
, home of some of Britain's greatest mosaics - the panorama
of the life of Saint Aidan
in the Apse
by the great Sir Frank Brangwyn
- and of one of the finest organs built by James Jepson Binns
Chamber choir
A chamber choir or group of chamber singers is the choral equivalent of a chamber ensemble, using voices instead of instruments. This prestigious choir will usually consist of 20-40 elite and dedicated singers. Several chamber choir formats exist, ranging from barbershop groups to exclusively...
associated with Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Background
Saint Peter's Singers (SPS) is a choir of approximately forty mixed voices. It forms a key component of the choral foundation of the famous Leeds Parish ChurchLeeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
(St Peter-at-Leeds), achieving very early recognition and subsequent not inconsiderable national as well as local acclaim as one of the North of England's very finest chamber choirs. Saint Peter's Singers is a Registered Charity - No 507174 - and a member of Making Music, formerly the National Federation of Music Societies. SPS receives much appreciated annual support from the Friends of the Music of Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
, Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...
, the Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
and Churchwardens of the Parish of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
City, the Charles and Elsie Sykes Trust and other charitable bodies and private individuals.
Founded in the high summer of Silver Jubilee Year, 1977, by the late Harry Fearnley, then senior alto lay clerk in the Choir of Leeds Parish Church
Choir of Leeds Parish Church
The Choir of Leeds Parish Church was founded by Vicar Richard Fawcett probably as early as 1815, and was certainly in existence by 1818 . The Choir of Leeds Parish Church - Boys and Men - was, from its origins, a charge on the Church Rate; and, in what was then a largely Non-conformist town, a...
, SPS has been directed since its formation by the Leeds organist and conductor Dr Simon Lindley
Simon Lindley
Simon Lindley is a British organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He has been organist at Leeds Town Hall since 1976 and Master of the Music and organist of Leeds Parish Church since 1975. Senior Lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic from 1976 to 1987, Lindley held the post of Senior...
, FRCO, FRSCM, the church's Master of the Music since 1975. Simon's organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
colleagues at the Parish Church have also contributed, invaluably, to the development of the Singers as did the late Sybil Chambers (1938-1998), the Choir's first Principal Soprano soloist who taught singing to many members in the first twenty years of the Choir's history. Organists associated especially with the Choir over a number of years include Dr Francis Jackson CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
, Dr Donald Hunt OBE, Carleton Etherington, Jonathan Lilley and David Houlder.
The Singers' Music Director, Dr Lindley is also the Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
City Organist; he is a Vice-President of the Royal College of Organists
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...
and served as the College's President from 2000 to 2002. Additionally, Simon Lindley serves as Conductor of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
Society and of Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
Choral Society. In Spring of this year Dr Lindley was invested for a second successive annual term as Grand Organist of the United Grand Lodge of England
United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England is the main governing body of freemasonry within England and Wales and in other, predominantly ex-British Empire and Commonwealth countries outside the United Kingdom. It is the oldest Grand Lodge in the world, deriving its origin from 1717...
and of the Masonic Province of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
West Riding
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
.
The majority of SPS concert performances and recitals are given in the Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
area, including regular appearances at the Leeds International Concert Season Monday lunchtime recital series held at Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall was built between 1853 and 1858 on Park Lane , Leeds, West Yorkshire, England to a design by architect Cuthbert Brodrick.-Background:...
under the auspices of Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...
, and other celebrated Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
venues including Fulneck Moravian Church, Denton Hall
Denton Hall, Wharfedale
Denton Hall is an English country house located to the north of the River Wharfe, at Denton between Otley and Ilkley in North Yorkshire, England, and set within a larger Denton estate of about , including a village, church, and landscaped gardens....
near Ilkley
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...
, the Parish Church of All Saints in Cawthorne
Cawthorne
Cawthorne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village was once the centre of a localised iron and coal mining industry, though today it is the centre of a very affluent commuter belt, west of Barnsley...
near Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
and the Friends' Meeting House at Ackworth
Ackworth, West Yorkshire
Ackworth is a village and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, situated between Pontefract, Barnsley and Doncaster on the small River Went. The village consists of four parts, High Ackworth, Low Ackworth, Ackworth Moortop, and Brackenhill...
near Pontefract
Pontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
. During the Spring and Summer of 2010, the Singers presented recitals at Dewsbury Minster and Doncaster Minster.
St Peter's Singers is distinctive in that most of the principal vocal soloists for its concerts are drawn from the ranks of present or former members of the choir or of the Parish Church's choral foundation - these include, currently, Kristina James, Sarah Kelly, Claire Strafford, Anita Wiencelewski, Kathryn Woodruff, Lucy Appleyard, Paul Dutton, Stephen Newlove and Quentin Brown. A number of the present choir members, including some of the solo team, are former alumini of the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
and Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music, located in Leeds’ Quarry Hill cultural quarter, is the largest music college in the United Kingdom, with over 1,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time students. The college is best known for its leading role in jazz education and started one of the first jazz degrees in Europe...
. David Houlder is Principal Organist and SPS Accompanist/Repetiteur for St Peter's Singers. The Choir's Chairman is Timothy Burleigh; its Secretary is Patricia Rose; Concerts Secretary is Quentin Brown; Treasurer is Jonathan Morrish; Orchestral Librarian is Barbara Hicks; Choir Librarian is James Carter and the Library, Publicity and Publishing Director is David Hawkin.
The choir has also undertaken a number of favourably-received visits in recent years to venues including St Paul's Cathedral, London, Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
, York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
, Derby Cathedral
Derby Cathedral
The Cathedral of All Saints , is a cathedral church in the City of Derby, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Derby, and with an area of around is the smallest Anglican cathedral in England.-History:...
and Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
. In November 2007, by special request, SPS gave its first overseas concert tour in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, with recitals in Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
(the joint 2007 European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
) and Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
In Autumn of 2009, SPS visited Mallorca
Mallorca
Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
by special invitation of a number of former Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
citizens now living there. Concert venues included the Basilica of San Francesc and the Cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in the Capital City Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
.
Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
was the venue for the choir's most recent tour, at the end of May 2011 - with visits to Vannes
Vannes
Vannes is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2000 years ago.-Geography:Vannes is located on the Gulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin. It is around 100 km northwest of Nantes and 450 km south west...
, Quimper
Quimper
Quimper is a commune and capital of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Administration:Quimper is the prefecture of the Finistère department.-Geography:...
and Josselin
Josselin
Josselin is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:St Meriadek is said to have founded a chapel there during the 4th century...
. Evensong
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
was sung at Guildford Cathedral
Guildford Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England.-Construction:Guildford was made a diocese in its own right in 1927, and work on its new cathedral, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, began nine years later, with the foundation stone being laid...
on the way down through the South of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
en route for Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
.
St Peter's Singers is committed to regular presentations at historic Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
and at The Venue, Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music, located in Leeds’ Quarry Hill cultural quarter, is the largest music college in the United Kingdom, with over 1,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time students. The college is best known for its leading role in jazz education and started one of the first jazz degrees in Europe...
. December of 2008, 2009 & 2010 have seen, respectively, rare complete performances at The Venue of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
. J S Bach's Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
and Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
Cantatas to much critical and audience acclaim. The Good Friday Concert on 2 April 2011 at the Parish Church comprised music by Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
- the Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
and Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
Blest pair of sirens.
Repertoire
SPS has an extensive repertoire of sacred and secular choral music spanning five centuries from sixteenth century English and Continental polyphony to works by contemporary composers. New works were composed by Michael HurdMichael John Hurd
Michael John Hurd was a composer and musicologist principally known for his choral music.He was born in Gloucester on 19 December 1928 and educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester and Pembroke College, Oxford.He was also a composition pupil of Lennox Berkeley...
in honour of the Choir's tenth anniversary in 1987 - Genesis & A Secular Anthem - and a fine setting of the Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
was commissioned from Dr Francis Jackson CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
, Organist Emeritus of York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
, for the Singers' 20th Anniversary in 1997. The choir has established an enviable reputation for its performances of the music of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, many in conjunction with Saint Peter's Chamber Orchestra. In recent years SPS has pioneered performances of the two acclaimed monodramas with music by Francis Jackson - Daniel in Babylon and A Time of Fire. Both works have been recorded commercially by Amphion to critical acclaim. Recent highly acclaimed performances by St Peter's Singers have involved Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
(Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
) at Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music
Leeds College of Music, located in Leeds’ Quarry Hill cultural quarter, is the largest music college in the United Kingdom, with over 1,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time students. The college is best known for its leading role in jazz education and started one of the first jazz degrees in Europe...
in December 2008 with soloists led by the brilliant young treble William Dutton and The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
at Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, 2009 when the Choir welcomed former members as friends as guests and were accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra.
The Singers are closely concerned with the annual Fulneck Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
Weekend held at August end each season in the beautiful setting of the 18th century Moravian Church at Fulneck, just south of Pudsey
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once an independent town, it was incorporated into the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in 1974, and is located midway between Bradford and Leeds city centres. It has a population of 32,391....
at the confluence of the West Riding rural and industrial heartlands, and have performed major works by Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
and Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
there each year since 2007.
The choir visited Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
in March 2010 to perform a programme of 'Sacred Choral Classics' as special guests of City Organist Thomas Trotter
Thomas Trotter
Thomas Trotter is a British concert organist. He is Birmingham City Organist and organist of St. Margaret's, Westminster and visiting Professor of Organ at the Royal College of Music, London....
in his Monday Lunchtime Concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
Series. Israel in Egypt by Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
with St Peter's Chamber Orchestra and Soloists was presented at Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall was built between 1853 and 1858 on Park Lane , Leeds, West Yorkshire, England to a design by architect Cuthbert Brodrick.-Background:...
in February 2011. On Bank Holiday 2011, the Singers presented an acclaimed account of Mass in B minor by J S Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
with soloists including Kristina James, Lucy Appleyard, Toby Ward - an alumnus of Fulneck School
Fulneck School
Fulneck school is a small, independent boarding school, situated in the Fulneck Moravian Settlement, in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England. It provides education for pupils between the ages of 3 and 18.-History:...
and Quentin Brown. Instrumental soloists included violinist Mary Huby, flautist Michael Short and horn Robert Ashworth from Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
. Next year, 2012, the Town Hall Lunchtime Concert by the Singers is on Monday 13 February when music by Yorkshire born composers George Oldroyd
George Oldroyd
Dr. George Oldroyd was an English organist and composer of Anglican church music. He was organist of St. Alban's Church, Holborn from 1919 to 1920, and then of St Michael's Church, Croydon from 1920 until his death in 1956. Both are churches firmly rooted within the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the...
and George Dyson
George Dyson (composer)
Sir George Dyson KCVO was a well-known English musician and composer. His son is the physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson and among his grandchildren are the science historian George Dyson and Esther Dyson...
will feature alongside works by Sir Edward Bairstow
Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow was born in Huddersfield on 22 August 1874 and died in York on 1 May 1946. He was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition....
. St Peter's Singers again participates in Summer 2012 at the Fulneck Baroque weekend at the famous Fulneck Church at Fulneck Moravian Settlement
Fulneck Moravian Settlement
Fulneck Moravian Settlement is a village in Pudsey in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1744. It is named after Fulneck , the German name of a town in Northern Moravia, Czech Republic....
, Pudsey
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once an independent town, it was incorporated into the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in 1974, and is located midway between Bradford and Leeds city centres. It has a population of 32,391....
, presenting at 3.00 pm Church Music Classics by Haydn and Mozart including Haydn's Nelson Mass and motets by Mozart on Bank Holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
27 August.
Collaborations
SPS has engaged in a number of collaborations with other chamber choirs and orchestras other than St Peter's Chamber Orchestra, though the St Peter's Chamber Orchestra, for many years under the leadership of Christine Brown and, from August 2011, to be led by Mary Huby, is always featured several times each season. In addition, the Singers regularly invite the National Festival Orchestra, led by Sally Robinson to join them for concerts with more extensive orchestration such as performances of The Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
and, in 2011, Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
and Blest Pair of Sirens, John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Ode At a Solemn Musick by Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
. The National Festival Orchestra will be returning in the upcoming 2011/12 season to accompany Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
8 April 2012 at 7.00 pm i the Parish Church.
Recent examples of choral collaborations have included concerts in 2006 with The Chapter House Choir of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and their conductor Stephen Williams in honour of that Choir's Fortieth Anniversary, and a number of especially memorable collaborations with the Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
Chorale of Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
under their conductor Donald Hunt, Organist & Director of Music at Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
from 1957 to 1975; St Peter's Singers were particularly honoured to be invited by Dr Hunt and the Elgar Chorale to participate in the Elgar 150th Birthday Concert in June 2007 in Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
. The Singers renewed acquaintance with the Elgar Chorale for a further hugely enjoyable collaboration in a special Elgar Concert The Music Makers at Worcester Cathedral in the week of the 75th anniversary of the composer's death in February, 1934. A further visit to Worcester Cathedral took place on Saturday 8 May 2010 when Donald Hunt conducted Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and his own edition of Elgar's In Proud Thanksgiving as part of the Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 with a small ethnic minority and is in Bromsgrove District.- History :Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century...
Festival in which St Peter's Singers again participated along with the Elgar Chorale of Worcester and Chamber Choir of Bromsgrove School.
In October 2008, the Singers presented a special concert in York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
in celebration of the 60th birthday of their conductor, Simon Lindley
Simon Lindley
Simon Lindley is a British organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He has been organist at Leeds Town Hall since 1976 and Master of the Music and organist of Leeds Parish Church since 1975. Senior Lecturer in Music at Leeds Polytechnic from 1976 to 1987, Lindley held the post of Senior...
; music by Donald Hunt, Francis Jackson, Philip Moore
Philip Moore (organist)
Philip Moore is an English composer and organist.-Career:After studying at the Royal College of Music, he became Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral in 1968. He was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedral in 1974...
and Lindley himself was sung.
The Singers sustain close and happy relationships with individual members of other significant local cultural groups including Leeds Philharmonic Society
Leeds Philharmonic Society
Leeds Philharmonic Chorus is a leading choir in Europe, regularly performing to professional standards with internationally renowned soloists, orchestras and conductors....
, Leeds Festival Chorus
Leeds Festival Chorus
The Leeds Festival Chorus is based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has 170 singing members in soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections. Presenting classical choral music of a professional standard in Yorkshire and elsewhere in Britain, including at the BBC Proms and Manchester Arena, the Chorus...
, Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
Choral Society and with Ecclesia, a newly-formed chamber choir established in 2008 and based at historic St Aidan's Church, Leeds
St Aidan's Church, Leeds
St Aidan's Church in Harehills, Leeds, West Yorkshire is a Church of England parish church built in 1894. It is a large Victorian basilica-type red-brick building which is Grade II* listed. A church hall is adjacent. The architects were Johnson and Crawford Hick of Newcastle. The apse is...
, home of some of Britain's greatest mosaics - the panorama
Panorama
A panorama is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model....
of the life of Saint Aidan
Aidan of Lindisfarne
Known as Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Aidan the Apostle of Northumbria , was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the Anglicised form of the original Old...
in the Apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
by the great Sir Frank Brangwyn
Frank Brangwyn
Sir Frank William Brangwyn RA RWS RBA was an Anglo-Welsh artist, painter, water colourist, virtuoso engraver and illustrator, and progressive designer.- Biography :...
- and of one of the finest organs built by James Jepson Binns
James Jepson Binns
James Jepson Binns was a pipe organ builder based in Leeds-Organs:Pipe organs at the following locations were either built or rebuilt by James Jepson Binns or his JJ Binns company. A number of these buildings have been demolished and the organs broken up or destroyed...