Upcoming concerts
Concerts and Reviews
A Ceremony of Carols
Our next concert will be held at St. Mary’s Church, Ely on Saturday 14th Dccember 2024 at 7:30 pm when we will present our Christmas concert.
Returning to St Mary’s Church, Ely Choral Society and Ely Youth Choir present their annual family Christmas concert, with its familiar mixture of carols for choirs and audience, complemented by seasonal readings. The central work will be Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols in the version for full 4-part choir.
Ely Youth Choir and Ely Choral Society will be supported by Bonnie Scott harp and Jeremy Lloyd organ and the concert will be conducted by Andrew Parnell.
Tickets (with seasonal refreshments) £20 and £5 for U18s from TicketSource, choir members, www.elychoralsociety.org or at the door.
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Review of Ely Choral Society performance in St Mary’s Church, Ely on 13th July 2024
Ely Choral Society, Andrew Parnell (conductor), Glen Dempsey (organist) and Ely Youth Choir rose to the occasion again and gave a splendid concert in St Mary’s Church Ely on Saturday July 13.
While the programme contained music for a sacred place, therefore mostly on religious themes, the pieces were short and among some of the most effective and popular. I particularly liked Locus iste by Bruckner, How Lovely are they Dwellings by Brahms, the Ave Marias especially the one by Lindley and Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure.
Ely Youth Choir was the highlight of the second half with their beautiful performance of All things Bright and Beautiful by Sir John Rutter. Their performance of the first Ave Maria by Lindley was exceptional.
Ely Choral Society excelled with a gorgeous bass line featured in the Locus iste, and under Andrew Parnell’s expertise, the choir sang with precision, and varied dynamics that created exciting climaxes. It was very expressive even with single words, bringing the meaning of the works alive.
Glen Dempsey accompanied supportively when needed, for much of the music was unaccompanied. He also added variety to the programme by playing two organ solos which were admirable: a triumphant Imperial March by Elgar and a cohesive, sustained Fugue in A minor by Brahms.
Ely Youth Choir joined in with a number of items and when everyone performed the final Zadok the Priest by Handel, the church was filled with glorious sound – an excellent finale for a fine concert. The encore: The Long Day Closes by Sullivan, was of a different character and most fitting for the last item of the evening. It was languid and soothing, filled with charming sustained harmonies.
This was indeed a wonderful concert. Ely Choral Society may be heard again at their next concert on Saturday October 26th at 7.30pm in St Mary’s Church, Ely where they will be performing Chichester Psalms by Bernstein and the Requiem by Rutter.
Rosemary Westwell