THE COURTS OF EARTH & HEAVEN

with Grace Davidson (soprano), Catherine King (mezzo), Nicholas Mulroy (tenor) and Stephen Hamnett (bass)

St Edmund’s Church, Crickhowell NP8 1BB

Sunday 30th April 2017 at 7.30pm

Tonight, it’s time to celebrate two First Ladies as we extol the virtues of Queen Anne in Handel’s Birthday Ode and those of Mary, the Queen of Heaven, in Delalande’s Regina coeli.

Meanwhile, in Vivaldi’s shamefully neglected Gloria RV588, we lift our gaze heavenwards, its exciting introductory solo cantata for alto exhorting us to sing with the angels.

Another hidden gem in the programme comes in Campra’s setting of the well-known psalm How lovely are thy dwellings, a reminder of our yearning for better things.

This uplifting music from across 18th century Europe features a dream team of soloists, who are all acclaimed experts in this repertoire and whose singing is sure to take us to another dimension.

Programme

The programme includes:

  • GLORIA, RV588 by Vivaldi
  • Eternal source of light divine (Birthday Ode for Queen Anne) by Handel
  • Regina coeli by Delalande
  • Quam dilecta by Campra

Soloists

Grace Davidson

Grace Davidson

Grace was born in London and pursued undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Early Music and English Song competitions, as well as being a finalist in the London Handel Competition.

Grace has sung with all the leading British vocal ensembles and particularly The Sixteen, Ex Cathedra and Tenebrae but is now becoming recognised as a popular soloist in her own right with a particular affinity to the Baroque and Renaissance periods.

She appears regularly with the saxophonist Christian Forshaw and is also the soprano soloist on Eric Whitacre’s bestselling Light and Gold album (Decca). Grace also records for many movie soundtracks, often working with prominent composers and labels.

Catherine King

Catherine King

Catherine studied at Trinity College Cambridge and the Guildhall School of Music and lives near Ross-on-Wye.

Concerts range from Verdi Requiem in Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Elgar in Krakow to medieval songs in the USA and Spain, from Bach throughout Europe, and Italian Baroque arias in Genoa to Scottish 20th and 21st Century songs in Poland.

She performs across the world with recent and forthcoming concerts in France, Germany, Spain (medieval) and nearer to home at Worcester (Sea Pictures and Gerontius), and Wagner productions at Longborough in the UK.

Nicholas Mulroy

Nicholas Mulroy

Born in Liverpool, Nicholas was a chorister at the city’s Metropolitan Cathedral before studying Modern Languages at Cambridge and voice at the RAM. He has since been in constant demand both in the UK and further afield in a wide range of concert, recital and opera engagements.

Widely known for his performances of Baroque repertoire, he has sung with some of its most noted exponents: Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort, John Butt and the Dunedin Consort. He has also sung to great acclaim with I Fagiolini, the King’s Consort, Les Musiciens du Louvre, and other famous groups and opera houses worldwide.

Nicholas is also a committed recitalist appearing at the Wigmore Hall and other major festivals. His recording achievements are equally impressive and extensive with many Gramophone Awards to his name.

Stephen Hamnett

Stephen Hamnett

Stephen was born in Lancashire long before any of the rest of Only Men Aloud were even thought of.

After gaining his music degree in Cardiff, Stephen joined Llandaff Cathedral Choir while pursuing his musical career in concerts up and down the country, including a masterclass with Sir Geraint Evans.

Stephen thought his career was going well, singing with the BBC Singers and Welsh National Opera, then a friend invited him to join a small male voice choir which didn’t perform very often, but there was something different about the sound and the camaraderie. There must have been something very special as he still sings Bass in Only Men Aloud 11 years later.