A BOROUGH music group is preparing a programme of Baroque music for its autumn concert.
Wokingham Choral Society will perform works from Baroque masters Bach and Handel in November.
Soloists for the event will be sopranos Charlotte Bowden and Eloise Irving, countertenor Tom Lilburn, tenor Sebastian Hill and bass Ben Watkins.
The Hampstead Orchestra of strings, woodwind, trumpets, harpsichord and timpany, will be directed by MD George de Voil.
He said: “I am delighted that Wokingham Choral Society is renewing our longstanding relationship with the superb players of the Hampstead Chamber Orchestra.
“The immediacy and colour which Baroque instruments and playing techniques lend to the music of Bach and Handel will bring this glorious repertoire to life, and also present a real visual spectacle for our audience.”
Audience members will be able to enjoy Handel’s Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day, and Bach’s Magnificat during the evening.
“Bach’s Magnificat intersperses joyful choruses with a succession of virtuosic solos for our superb lineup of professional singers, while Handel’s extrovert and often witty Ode to St Cecilia, the patron saint of music (whose feast day falls in the week of our concert) could not be a more appropriate celebration of the cosmic power of song,” he added.
The Hampstead Chamber Orchestra is a specialist Baroque orchestra, using ancient instruments played at baroque pitch.
For this concert the musical director will, unusually, conduct from the harpsichord continuo (a style of musical accompaniment from the Baroque era where a keyboard instrument and a bass instrument provide the harmonic foundation and bassline for a piece of music.
The orchestra will be accompanied by Ben Giddens on the organ.
Wokingham Choral Society is one of the county’s foremost choirs, with nearly 100 singers in the choir.
The singers work with professional MDs, orchestras and soloists to perform high quality popular, as well as some less well known, classical works.
The choir prides itself on its welcoming ethos and its desire to make good music accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
Thegroup’s autumn concert will take place at All Saints Church, Wokingham, on Saturday, November 15, at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £20, or £5 for students and under 18s.
For tickets and information, visit: wokingham-choral-society.org.uk
