history>Concerts in 2008
- Christmas concerts
- Saturday 6th December: in previous years, we have sung in Rosslyn Chapel,
but that was closed for the construction of a new visitors' centre, so
the Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile made an attractive (and warmer) alternative
- attractive enough to bring in an audience of about the same numbers
as would have crammed Rosslyn. We were joined by a brass group from the
Music Department of the University of Edinburgh, and we had Anne's clarsach
accompaniment to our Gaelic carol Taladh Chriosda. What's more,
this was the launch of our new CD what are they doing?
- Wednesday 10th December: in Priestfield Church, in support of their
restoration fund. Warmly welcomed and enthusiastically received, as always.
- Sunday 14th December: three-quarters of an hour in St.
Giles Cathedral. For atmosphere, acoustics, and a large audience,
this event never disappoints, and once again it evoked one of our best
performances.
- Saturday 20th December: a one-hour concert in Longformacus Church in
the Borders, followed by excellent mulled wine and mince pies in the village
hall.
- Thursday 13th November: a private engagement, singing at a reception for
a conference of tissue bank specialists, in Edinburgh's Merchants'
Hall.
- Wednesday 8th October in the National Library
of Scotland: a concert of Scottish music from the library's collection,
complementing the exhibition "Imprentit: 500 Years of the Scottish printed
word". This included our first public performance of Robert Carver's
motet O bone Jesu, which dates from around 1513. Carver wrote this
for for nineteen separate voices, but we use a six-part transcription by Mick
Swithinbank - all the original notes, but each singer has to sing more of
them! That makes for eleven very energetic minutes striving to create the
same kind of varied and complex choral textures that you will find in Tallis'
Spem in alium. I don't write reviews here, but I can claim that (a)
the audience liked it, and (b) we finished on pretty much the same pitch where
we began.
- Sunday 17th August: St. Giles - a free concert in the "St Giles at
6" series, packed with an audience of tourists and festival-goers escaping
for an hour from the street performers and flyer-distributors who infest the
Royal Mile at this time of year.
- Saturday 21st June in the Smetana Hall in Sušice (Czech Republic):
a joint concert with Svatobor
choir, received with a standing ovation by a generous and enthusiastic
audience. Svatobor were our wonderfully welcoming hosts for a memorable three-night
stay which included a reception in the Town Hall, a tour of the Šumava
forest, two (!) lavish parties, fine Czech beer and diverse less identifiable
drinks, and of course much music and singing ...
- Tuesday 15th April: a private booking for the University of Edinburgh
in the magnificent Playfair Library.
- Thursday 3rd April: a short free concert at 6pm in the National Portrait
Gallery. This was, within two days, the tenth anniversary of our first performance
in what has become a regular venue, and our repertoire and style has, of
course, changed enormously over those years. Even so, we managed to include
Gaelic, Estonian, Armenian, French, Latin, and contemporary American pieces.
The audience crowded in and much extra seating had to be found.
