Published by CultureNI, Graeme Stewart reviews the Ulster Chamber Choir's inaugural concert at the Ormeau Baths Gallery April 2008:

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. 

Ruth McCartney 2006 – Not Printed

“I sleep but my heart waketh” was the permeating theme for the Ulster Youth Choir’s Clonard Monastry concert on Sunday evening.  With intermittent readings by Noel Thompson, the UYC performed a host of pieces from different eras, all related to the theme of sleep. New conductor Greg Beardsell at the helm, the singers began by processing from the west end of the monastery singing the famous Before the ending of the day plainsong.  This was a good way to bring the choir on-stage and the spatial choral effect worked well.  Two choruses from A Midsummer Night’s Dream were well rehearsed and exciting and soprano soloists, Elspeth Jennings and Maeve Johnston, soared effortlessly to the higher notes in perfect tandem.  Set me as a seal upon my heart  by Walton was magical and suited the line-up of voices perfectly but the highlight of the first half was easily Sleep by Eric Whitacre.  Whitacre is flavour of the month at the moment particularly in America and it is easy to see why.  The luscious harmonies and numerous dynamic contrasts were judged well by Beardsell and there was a good balance of voices throughout.

In the second half Wachet auf from Cantata No 140 by Bach kept us all awake as this energetic performance resounded round the fabulous Clonard acoustic.  This was beautifully done.  It was lovely to hear the Cloud-capped towers, the second of Three Shakespeare Songs by Vaughan Williams. This was energetic and well-paced although generally the sopranos projected less well than the other parts.  Although there were insecurities in the intonation of Taverner’s Birthday Sleep, the singers kept the vitality of right to the end.  Beardsell had a very focused team in this year’s Ulster Youth Choir and we look forward to hearing more programmes of this high standard next season.

Andrea Rea – Newsletter (12th September 2006)

Varied programme from enthusiastic young singers:

The Ulster Youth Choir gave the last of three concerts in its summer/autumn season in Clonard Monastery, Belfast on September 3.  This series of performances have been the first with their new conductor Greg Beardsell, an enthusiastic and articulate addition to the UYC’s staff.

The concert began with plainsong directed by Beardsell processing down the aisle of Clonard, the choir following up the two side aisles.  This was a very effective use of the beautiful space and surroundings of Clonard.  Indeed, the whole programme made good use of the acoustic, and the church itself was a stunning backdrop.

The concert was carefully designed to include examples of music from all periods of music history and most styles as well.  There was some dialogue and poetry included, the latter delivered by BBC broadcaster Noel Thompson.  Text was printed and this was just as well, because the one drawback of the Clonard acoustic is the wide echo that tended to swallow up text, especially that spoken by choir members. 

Two choruses from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Schutz’s Ego Dormio followed the opening plainchant and provided evidence of the choir’s facility with differing styles of music.  The soprano line in the Mendelssohn tended towards sharpness, but this settled later.  Walton’s glorious Set Me as a Seal Upon Thy Heart began with a gentler vocal quality with strong soloists and solid choral passages later.  Conductor Beardsell has an energetic and youthful approach and appears completely at ease with the progress of each piece as he corrects balance and encourages these eager singers.

They are very focused and a pleasure to watch, singing with their eyes as well as their mouths, occasionally seeming to sing from the very soles of their feet as well.

A four-part canon by Haydn entitled Death and Sleep was the picturesque backdrop to Noel Thompson’s (slightly too fast?) reading of John Donne’s Death be not proud and Eric Whitacre’s Sleep demonstrated the choir’s flair for that important world of contemporary choral works and again, their conductor’s concept of light and shade in the music as well as delivery of text came across clearly.  For the most part, the Ulster Youth Choir makes a very pure choral sound.  The only time this changed was in Bach’s Wachet Auf when the tone approached harshness in an attempt perhaps to present an unbroken wall of choral sound.  At times, the different singing sections seemed to be competing and the line was in danger of being lost.

A smaller group from the choir sang Victoria’s Una Hora with a mysterious, clean sound and very clear Latin.  There was Tavener, Vaughan Williams and Verdi to follow, each illuminating a slightly different kind of choral writing and each set of demands met by the choir in turn.  The final three pieces were contemporary arrangements of popular songs, Billy Joel’s Lullaby and the standards Dream a Little Dream and Mister Sandman.  These were well presented, although the setting of Clonard was inevitably at odds with this content.  Still, it showed the choir in yet another musical context and rounded off a wonderfully varied programme. 

Pianist Oliver Chesser was impressive in his mastery of the often demanding accompaniments, with an orchestral grasp of the instrument. 

The Ulster Youth Choir were featured performers for Proms in the Park at the City Hall, Belfast on Saturday evening, an essential and polished part of that big programme.  Their singing of Bob Chilcott’s Danny Boy for live network television was a highlight, as was their performance of the finale O Fortuna from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Rathcol – Belfast Telegraph (6th September 2006)

New conductor going back to basics

With performances at Christ Church, Derry and here at the Clonard Monastery in Belfast, I sleep, but my heart waketh, saw the introduction of the Ulster Youth Choir’s new conductor and artistic adviser Greg Beardsell.

The dates provided a fascinating insight into the man, much hyped and, after the departure of the highly-thought-of Christopher Bell, regarded as the saviour of the choir in its attempt to regain the cutting edge.

Beardsell has taken over at the beginning of a natural cycle with a band of very young and mostly inexperienced singers.  Understandably he concentrated on the basics – tuning and beauty of sound.  And on the whole these were achieved.  Projection and sustainability will have to be worked at.

The concert was at its most engaging when conductor and singers experimented with space – the opening procession to the plain song Before the Ending of the Day was affecting and Victoria’s Una Hora, withdrawn from the main channels of the church, emerged cloaked in mystery.

There were many delightful moments in this programme but the overall result despite the umbrella theme of sleep, was patchy.  Remember: the singers’ counterparts at the Ulster Youth Orchestra had tackled Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony just a week before.

The Ulster Youth Choir is at a vital juncture.  It has a new conductor with the enthusiasm and sense of adventure needed to take the ensemble to the next level; it also has an eager band of young, new voices.  It now needs some musical meat on its bones