history>Concerts in 2012
- Thursday 16th February, in the National Portrait Gallery: a programme
including John Tavener, Rheinberger, Tormis, the pseudo-raga Desh,
the Arabic Fog elna khel and more. Two entrées de ballet from Lully's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme featured Tamsin on harp, Sebastian on cello and Nikos on guitar, to great effect. We had not sung in the
Gallery since April 2009, when we gave their last concert before a lengthy
closure for renovation. We then moved on to Vittoria's for a farewell dinner
for Jenny - leaving us after 18 years to pick up her cornet again - and
Anne - without whom, after fourteen years of reliance on her organisational
skills and absolute pitch, we will be as lost sheep bleating in the wilderness.
- Saturday 26th May, in Edinburgh University's Reid Hall: not a concert, but a recording session for our new CD Serendipity. We were joined by Sarah Whiteside, with Tamsin on harp and Anne on piano and harpsichord. Ali Murray did the recording.
- Saturday 25th August in St Giles Cathedral: our final concert under Ollie Singleton's direction, and something special to remember. A huge and enthusiastic lunchtime audience enjoyed a programme ranging from Tallis to Górecki, with the première of Luci Holland's lovely setting of Carl Sandburg's Evening Waterfall, some of our favourite pieces by Eric Whitacre and Morten Lauridsen, Arno's astonishing solo in Fog elna khel matched by Max in Zikr, and some very lively Polish in the sopranos' and altos' Mateusz. Helen, AnnaLauren and Jenny joined us to sing, Anne returned again as our pianist. Thanks also to Hilary, Emma and Liz for exotic drumming and beautiful violin and cello parts in Evening Waterfall and Five Hebrew love songs.
- Wednesday 5th December: we opened our Christmas season at Priestfield Church with Ciara's first concert as our director. First, and very successful.
- Saturday 8th December in Rosslyn
Chapel: a concert of Christmas music for charity, which raised £270 for The MS Society and New Life Nyambene. A full and enthusiastic audience, a fine acoustic, lovely music, mince pies and mulled, er, fruit juice in the interval - this is why Rosslyn is a fixture in our Christmas calendar year after year.
- Sunday 16th December: a free concert of 45 minutes of Christmas music for an audience of hundreds in St Giles Cathedral. Ciara, with her back to the audience, could not see how much they were enjoying it until the very end.
