Ulster Youth Chamber Choir
UYCC Review
UYC Summer Activities 2008
UYC Appoints New TC Conductor
UYC Launches Conductor Apprenticeship Scheme
On Friday 25 April 2008, the Ulster Youth Chamber Choir met for the first time to rehearse and perform under conductor Greg Beardsell. With funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, National Lottery Fund, 25 singers selected from the ranks of UYC rehearsed over a 48 hour period to perform in the fabulous surroundings of Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast to a packed capacity audience. Repertoire for the weekend:
When David heard, Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
A good night, Richard Rodney Bennett (b. 1936)
Birthday sleep, John Tavener (b. 1944)
Bushes & briars, arr. Donald James
O waly waly, arr. John Rutter (b. 1945)
She's like the swallow, arr. Edward T Chapman (1902-1981)
Dashing away with the smoothing iron, arr. Joh Rutter (b. 1945)
Londonderry Air, arr. Percy Grainger (1882-1961)
The aim of UYCC is to meet 3-4 times throughout the year to rehearse and perform in smaller venues throughout Northern Ireland to provide its members with a more intense choral experience working at a higher level.
UYCC Review - Culture Northern Ireland
Graeme Stewart visits the Ormeau Baths Gallery for the Chamber Choir's inaugural concert
Formed almost ten years ago, the Ulster Youth Choir’s revered reputation among singers across the UK is well deserved.
The educational and musical value of the group is made even more apparent with the creation of their new ensemble - the Ulster Youth Chamber Choir.
Under the direction of UYC artistic director and conductor Greg Beardsell, the best singers have been selected from the 120-strong choir. Tonight they prove their worth, performing a challenging programme of eclectic styles.
Eric Whitacre’s epic setting of 'When David Heard' opens the concert with the choir singing from behind the audience, in the centre of the gallery. Particularly effective, the music soars above the audience's heads, creating an effervescent glow around the audience.
In the past few years Whitacre’s profile as a choral composer has gone from strength to strength, and his writing evokes a sense of the ‘symphonic choir’.
Seemingly treating the singers as a large string section, his music evokes much emotional conflict and angst, as the following lyrics attend: 'When David heard that Absalom was slain, He went up into his chamber over the gate and wept, My son, my son, O Absalom my son…'
The effect is remarkable. Focusing on the words 'my son', this repeated mantra has variations and is unique for its poignant use of silence.
Indeed, after this first performance, Beardsell tells us that the venue of the Ormeau Baths Gallery informed his choice of repertoire when he came to programme the concert. Much of the music that follows wouldn't seem out of place in similarly reverberant spaces.
Richard Rodney Bennett’s 'Good Night' is another piece with warm harmonies and a strong traditional ancestry. Written in memory of Linda McCartney, and using the 17th century prose of Francis Quarles, this is a requiem to an individual described by Bennett as a 'remarkable woman'.
The choir’s performance of the work is sensitive and solemn in tone, bringing out Bennett’s beautiful renaissance-styled harmonies with great clarity.
The theme of sleep is then carried through into the next work, John Tavener’s 'Birthday Sleep', written to mark the millennium and first performed in December 2000.
From a sonic point of view, this piece certainly benefits from the gallery’s acoustics, having originally been written for performance at Edinburgh's St Giles' Cathedral.
Tavener’s reputation as Britain’s leading composer of sacred music is built upon some of contemporary choral music’s great works, including 'The Lamb' and 'Song for Athene'.
Here the composer utilizes a nativity text by Vernon Watkins, set in three verses. Each verse seems to be broken into three sections, each with a different musical personality. Particularly striking is the rising motif set the middle lines, intensifying into a fortissimo chord.
For this performance, the choir move to a room adjacent to the main stage which, although still providing a sense of distance and atmosphere, doesn't work as well as Whitacre’s opening piece.
To wrap up the evening the audience is treated to five traditional arrangements starting with 'Bushes and Briars', an English folk song arranged by Donald James. The choir’s instinct for the nuances of this type of chamber music is fantastic, with beautiful solo singing at the beginning and end.
This is followed by John Rutter’s arrangement of the Somerset folk song 'O Waly Waly'. Rutter creates a set of variations which all work fantastically well across the five verses, each performed with its own unique setting and character.
A folk piece from Newfoundland, 'She’s like the Swallow' is also well executed, followed with another Rutter arrangement of 'Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron'. Although his arrangements are often performed, it’s always great to hear one that brings smiles to the singers - and audiences - faces, with a cheeky ending to boot.
In current times the arts in Northern Ireland have been under pressure to deliver programmes and performances of a high standard while funding and financial assistance become ever more difficult to find.
The calibre of singing and musical sensitivity displayed by the Ulster Youth Chamber Choir vividly displays the importance of nurturing creativity (particularly the abundance of local talent), and providing a platform where it can be shown for all to enjoy.
Plans are now taking shape for UYC's 9th annual summer residential course and concerts.
After province-wide auditions, a 67-strong UYC and 48-strong UYTC will come together from 20-27 July in Garron Tower, Carnlough, Co Antrim for the summer course and activities. To find out more about what happens in the summer course click here
Ulster Youth Training Choir, under the direction of Dominic Peckham, will perform in Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena on Friday 25th July at 7.30pm.
UYC and UYTC will perform together in Newry Town Hall on Saturday 26th July at 8.00pm.
UYC will conclude the summer performances on Sunday 27th July in Belfast (venue to be confirmed).
UYC will reconvene to participate in a very exciting project with BBC Northern Ireland.
On Friday 29th August and Friday 5th September, UYC will perform with the Ulster Orchestra in two of the BBC Summer Invitation Concerts featuring music by Stanford, Vaughan Williams and a new work by British composer Steven McNeff. These concerts will be broadcast on both BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Northern Ireland.
UYC appoints new Training Choir conductor
Ulster Youth Choir is delighted to welcome Dominic Peckham as director of Ulster Youth Training Choir in 2008.
Dominic is currently Artistic Director of iSing UK, Assistant Conductor for the National Youth Training Choir of Great Britain, Guest Conductor for The National Youth Training Choir of Scotland, Musical Director of The Merchant Voices at The Glasgow City Halls, The Edinburgh Youth Choir, The Edinburgh Singers and has recently been appointed Assistant Chorusmaster of The Royal Scottish National Orchestra as The Alexander Gibson Memorial Fellow.
UYC launches Conductor Apprenticeship Scheme
Through funds from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's National Lottery Fund, UYC is launching a conductor apprenticeship scheme to provide hands-on training for one conducting apprentice during the main UYC summer residential course. The successful apprenticeship will work with the UYC Artistic Director and Conductor, Greg Beardsell, and the UYC staff on all aspects of preparing a choir for performance.
The deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 2nd June 2008. Further information and an application form can be downloaded here