2019/20 Season

Saturday 23 November 2019, 7.30pm
Royal Northern College of Music

Mozart Requiem

McDowall Magnificat

Stockport Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Neil Taylor
Soprano Ella Taylor
Contralto Amy Shaw-Holyland
Tenor Alex Grainger
Baritone Terence Ayebare

Cecilia McDowall has a rare communicative gift, combining rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism, and has won numerous awards, including the 2014 British Composer Award for choral music. Magnificat was commissioned in 2003 by Finchley Choral Society, and is a graceful, reflective work that grows in intensity to a genuine sense of exultation. It makes an ideal companion to Mozart’s Requiem, one of the greatest of all choral works.

Saturday 7 December 2019, 7.00 pm
St George’s Church, Buxton Road, Stockport

Carols and Brass by Candlelight

Conductor Neil Taylor
Organ Pete Durrant

with Chetham’s Brass Ensemble

and

Bradshaw Hall Primary School Choir
Director Vicky Sunderland

It’s Christmas time again, so come and join us for our traditional concert of carols and festive music from St George’s Singers, the outrageously talented young brass players from Chetham’s School of Music, and the fun-loving children from Bradshaw Hall. Hundreds of candles adorn the church, mulled wine perfumes the air, the music fills our hearts with festive joy… and the mince pies aren’t bad either!

Saturday 18 January 2020
St George’s Church, London Road, Poynton

Singing Day Rutter Requiem

Conductor Neil Taylor
Piano Pete Durrant

For our ever-popular Singing Day in 2020, maestro Neil Taylor has chosen a choir and audience favourite: John Rutter’s Requiem. Following in the distinguished footsteps of Fauré, Brahms and Duruflé, Rutter ignores the conventional Catholic Liturgy for the Dead, and creates his Requiem from texts drawn from the Requiem Mass and the Book of Common Prayer. First performed in its entirety on 13 October 1985 in Dallas, Texas, and conducted by Rutter himself, the work is optimistic in its message of hope and comfort, and after the tragic events of 9/11 was chosen for performance at the many memorial services which followed across the USA.