The English composer Judith Weir (b 1954) played the oboe with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and studied composition with John Taverner while still at secondary school. She went on to study at King’s College in Cambridge. After graduating, she worked as a music teacher and was attached to several universities as well as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

She has composed numerous operas, choral and orchestral works. She has also written a lot of commissioned music for leading orchestras, choirs and renowned singers such as Jessye Norman and Dawn Upshaw. In recent years, in particular, she has significantly expanded her choral catalogue.

In July 2014, Judith Weir was appointed to the 395-year-old royal post of ‘Master of the Queen’s Music’, succeeding Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, currently of course ‘Master of the King’s Music’. This position includes supporting music teachers in schools, amateur orchestras and choirs, and national festivals. In this function, she has also composed a great deal of music for national and royal occasions, including Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday celebrations and the UK’s official commemoration of the 1918 Armistice. Judith’s music has been widely recorded, and is published by Chester Music and Novello & Co. (Source: www.judithweir.com)

We will be singing Judith Weir’s:
Indelible miraculous
Leaf from leaf Christ knows

Cecilia McDowall (1951, Engeland) kreeg haar muzikale opleiding aan de universiteit van Edinburg en Londen. Tijdens haar studie aan Trinity College ontving ze al prijzen voor haar muziek.

Music Opinion schreef over haar: ‘Cecilia McDowall is one of the leading choral and vocal composers of her generation.’ The Birmingham Post roemt haar bijzondere gave voor het schrijven van koormuziek.

Ze heeft in opdracht voor vele vooraanstaande koren koorwerken geschreven. In 2021 kreeg McDowall de jaarlijks begeerde opdracht van King’s College, Cambridge, om een kerstlied te schrijven voor het koor van King’s College, als onderdeel van het Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols dat op kerstavond wereldwijd wordt uitgezonden. Dat kerstlied, ‘There is no rose’, is gepubliceerd door Oxford University Press.

In 2013 ontving Cecilia McDowall een ‘Honorary Doctorate’ van de universiteit van Portsmouth en in 2017 werd McDowall geselecteerd voor een ‘Honorary Fellow award’ door de Royal School of Church Music. Ook ontving zij een eredoctoraat van de West London University en kreeg de prestigieuze Ivor Novello Award voor haar ‘outstanding music collection’ en ‘consistently excellent body of work’. (Bron: www.ceciliamcdowall.co.uk)

Van Cecilia McDowall zingen we:
A Gaelic Blessing
A prayer of St Columba

English composer Oliver Tarney (b 1984) was introduced to choral singing in his parish church at a young age. From that moment, choral singing became his greatest inspiration and remains so to this day. After studying music at the University of Manchester and earning a master’s degree in composition, he worked as Head of Composition and Singing at Winchester College. He has written a lot of music for children and adults, amateurs and professionals. Major works include his acclaimed ‘Magnificat’, recorded for Convivium Records, and his ‘St Mark Passion’, commissioned by the St Endellion Easter Festival. Oliver has worked widely to promote singing in communities, choirs and classrooms. His great passion is to inspire people to sing. (Source: www.olivertarney.co.uk)

We will be singing Oliver Tarney’s:
Under the Starlight
The Wise Men and the Star

Philip Lawson sang for 18 years with The King’s Singers, performing more than 2,000 concerts with the world-renowned ensemble and appearing on many CDs, DVDs and in radio and television programmes worldwide. Philip contributed more than 50 arrangements to the repertoire of The King’s Singers, including 10 for the2008  CD “Simple Gifts” which won the GRAMMY for Best Classical Crossover Album in 2009.

 Prior to his time with The King’s Singers, he was music director at a school in Salisbury and attached to the cathedral choir. Before that, he worked in London as a freelance baritone, performing regularly with The BBC Singers, The Taverner Choir, The Sixteen and the choirs of St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Philip has over 200 published arrangements and compositions to his name. He is a singing teacher at Wells Cathedral School, Salisbury Cathedral School, the University of Bristol and is also musical director of The Romsey Singers. Philip divides his time between arranging, composing, conducting and leading choral workshops in Europe and the United States. (Source: www.philiplawson.net)

We will be singing Philip Lawson’s:
If Music Be The Food of Love

Hayo Boerema (b 1972, Groningen) studied organ, church music and improvisation at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and choral conducting at the Rotterdam Conservatory. He specialised in improvisation and in the French symphonic organ repertoire. He has won many prizes at various competitions and festivals. Since December 2005, he has been organist of the Grote or St Laurenskerk in Rotterdam. He teaches improvisation at the Codarts School of Music in Rotterdam. Hayo performs as a soloist at home and abroad, and regularly collaborates with choirs and instrumental ensembles. He is also approached to write commissioned compositions. One of his larger compositions, ‘Messe Solennelle’ for organ, choir, percussion and soloists was recorded on CD. Since 2003, Hayo has recorded several award-winning CDs.

 (Source: www.hayoboerema.com)

We will be singing Hayo Boerema’s:
Magnificat
Nunc dimittis

Pärt Uusberg (b 1986) is an Estonian composer and conductor. Uusberg graduated from the Georg Ots Tallinn Music School in choral conducting, where he also studied composition. He was chief conductor of the chamber choir Head Ööd, Vend, which he founded himself to participate in the play ‘Head ööd, vend’(‘Goodnight, brother’) directed by his brother Uku Uusberg. As a choral conductor, Uusberg has also conducted the Estonian Student Mixed Choir and choirs of Riinimanda Choir Studio.

Most of Pärt Uusberg’s oeuvre consists of choral music, but he has also written works for ensemble, piano, orchestra and film music. His choral songs are mainly written on liturgical texts or poetry by various Estonian authors, with a tuneful and captivating meditative atmosphere full of simplicity, tenderness and emotional climaxes. Pärt Uusberg is recognised as a composer both in Estonia and abroad and has won many prizes. (Source: www.emic.ee)

We will be singing Pärt Uusberg’s:
Muusika