Anthony Tattersall’s Octavius chamber choir will present a Christmas concert in the Asher Hall, Napier on Saturday December 4th, at 4pm. Octavius will sing a selection of festive favourites – traditional and new, sacred and secular, fun and fabulous! There will be something to brighten everyone’s day – and don’t we need that in these strange times…. Do come along – and bring a friend!
Best regards,
Rae Towers
For Octavius Choir
After so many sad cancellations this year Christchurch City Choir is delighted to present Messiah Choruses to bring in the festive season.
We welcome Eilish Moran as Narrator, Jeremy Woodside as Organist and Conductor Dr John Linker.
With strictly limited seats you need to book early.
A French Christmas with famous music by Poulenc, Debussy, Canteloube, Saint-Saens and more, featuring Bach Musica NZ and international star soprano, Marlena Devoe.
Poulenc Gloria
Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
And excerpts from:
Canteloube Chants d’Auvergne
Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony
Charpentier Te Deum
PRESENTED BY: Bach Musica NZ orchestra & chorus.
Rita Paczian: Conductor
Marlena Devoe: Soprano
Handel’s Messiah is heard around the world during the Christmas season, being greatly appreciated, admired and enjoyed. City Choir Dunedin, accompanied by the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and conducted by David Burchell, is pleased to perform this oratorio. The acclaimed soloists are: Rebecca Ryan (soprano), Claire Barton (alto), Oliver Sewell (tenor), and Paul Whelan (bass).
Many concerts and other events had to be cancelled since COVID-19 restrictions came into force, leaving music-lovers yearning for live performances. But, Hallelujah!, the Dunedin public can embrace this opportunity to experience a world-class delivery of the dramatic and passionate Messiah.
We fully expect that this performance of Messiah on Tuesday 7 December in the Town Hall will be able to proceed, albeit with greatly reduced seating capacity as required for social distancing. General admission tickets are sold via Ticketmaster online, at the Regent Theatre box office and at the Town Hall box office on the night. To avoid disappointment we urge the public to buy their tickets in advance.
Handel began composing Messiah on August 22, 1741, and completed it twenty-four days later. The scholar Clifford Bartlett writes, “But, however hasty the composition, the power of the musical imagination, the wealth of ideas, the depth of inspiration, and the sheer variety of invention continue to astonish.”
Messiah is unique among Handel's oratorios in its New Testament subject and reflective treatment. It has been described as a 'collection' taken from the Bible and the Prayer Book Psalter, and is a mixture of narrative and commentary. This freed Handel from some of the more restrictive opera conventions and permitted greater use of the chorus than is generally the case in his other oratorios. Messiah is Handel's most famous work and its ubiquity has outreached anything Handel could ever have envisaged.
Spring into SHOWTIME
Step into Christmas
Sunday 12th December 2021 at 2pm
Roy Stokes Hall
144 Seaview Road
Covid guidelines apply
Director: Diane Coad, Accompanist: Caleb Brand
Guest artists: Ingrid Ichico Kosaka and Emma Rodriguez dos Santos
Adults $20 Child $2
Every bar of Handel’s masterpiece speaks to us with passion, beauty and spirituality; it is guaranteed to fill your hearts with joy. From dazzling solos and instrumental fireworks to the most glorious choral writing of all time, this masterwork never fails to thrill all ages.
A musical rite of the Christmas season, Handel’s oratorio still awes listeners nearly three centuries after it burst into existence.
Join your Auckland Choral and Pipers Sinfonia, along with the exciting soloists we will reveal, for this not-to-be-missed Christmas experience.
Soloists to be announced in Spring ‘21
Auckland Choral
Pipers Sinfonia
Uwe Grodd, Conductor
Monday 13 December, 7.30pm
Tuesday 14 December, 7.30pm
Auckland Town Hall
Celebrate the Christmas story by candlelight with the traditional Anglican service of Nine Lessons and Carols.
A tradition of the Christian church is to celebrate Christ's birth by welcoming in Christmas Day at a midnight service. This choral service with carols is a special event.
A wonderful concert of music to celebrate the choir's 40 years singing together.
Programme includes Orban's Mass No 9, Mendelssohn, David Hamilton
and features Harpist Helen Webby in Britten's A Ceremony of Carols.
