Monday 19 March 2018

Ten contemporary composers, nine works: JAM at St Bride's Church

Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, France.
Vimy Memorial, on Vimy Ridge, France.
JAM (the John Armitage Memorial) starts its 2018 season with a programme which features work by ten contemporary composers performed by the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College (Cambridge), Onyx Brass, Simon Hogan (organ), Molly Parsons-Gurr (cello), with soloists Claire Seaton (soprano), Roderick Morris (counter-tenor) Ashley Catling (tenor), Edward Grint (bass), conducted by Michael Bawtree at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street on 22 March.

The concert includes the first London performances of Voices of Vimy, a work for choir and cello which was commissioned by JAM in 2017 to commemorate the centenary of World War I Battle of Vimy Ridge, fought between the forces of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the German 6th Army (comemorated in the Canadian National Vimy Memorial). Voices of Vimy is a collaboration between two composers, Tom Harrold (British) and Stuart Beatch (Canadian), setting words by the poet Grahame Davies (Welsh); a co-commission with the Canadian choir Pro Coro Canada, the work was premiered by the BBC Singers at JAM in the Marsh last year and received its North American premiere in November 2017 when Pro Coro Canada performed it.

JAM's concert will also include its 2003 commission, The Far Theatricals of Day, a setting of texts by Emily Dickinson by Jonathan Dove; Dove describes it as 'a cycle of songs starting before dawn and ending at midnight, and one which includes an element of theatre in performance'.

The programme also includes seven works from JAM's recent call for works, with pieces by Cecilia McDowall, Kerensa Briggs, Angela Slater, Judith Ward, Michael Short and Richard Peat.

Full details from the JAM website.

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