Bach: Christmas 1723

On Sunday, 10th December, the Eclectic Voices choir, founded three decades ago in Highbury, will join period instrument specialists the City Bach Ensemble for a concert showcasing the music of Bach and Vivaldi from 300 years ago.

The concert will feature world-renowned soloist Dame Emma Kirkby (soprano), and rising star Jonathan Eyers (bass) from New Zealand.

The programme is a much-loved classic that premiered 300 years ago.
• Bach: Chorus and Chorale, Singet dem Herrn BWV 190
• Bach: In Dulci Jubilo BWV 608, BWV 368
• Bach: Motet Singet dem Herrn BWV 225 (1727)
• Vivaldi Winter from The Four Seasons (1723)
• Bach: Magnificat (1723)

Performers:

Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE, an English soprano and one of the world’s most renowned early music specialists, has sung on over 100 recordings.
A founding member of the Taverner Choir, Kirkby took part in the Decca Florilegium recordings with both the Consort of Musicke and the Academy of Ancient Music.
She taught for many years at the Dartington International Summer School, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Bel Canto Summer School.
In 1994, she was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Music) from the University of Bath. In 2011 Kirkby was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music for her influence on the musical life of the nation.

Jonathan Eyers is a baritone from Hamilton, New Zealand, and has recently completed his second year of the Opera Studies Course at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Robert Dean.
Jonathan holds a Master of Performance with Distinction from Guildhall and a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours at the University of Waikato where he studied with Dame Malvina Major and was a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar.

City Bach Collective is a group of professional musicians who music from Bach and his contemporaries on period instruments. They play in the Bach Vespers series in churches in the City of London and perform several concerts.
Eclectic Voices is an ambitious and versatile choir that sings in an unusually wide range of styles: classical, contemporary, ethnic, folk and world music, gospel and jazz. It has performed in a variety of settings, including many world premières. In addition to producing its own annual five-concert London series, the choir has been featured in the London Jazz Festival and the London A Cappella Festival.

Eclectic Voices works with outstanding professional and amateur instrumental groups. It has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and numerous top classical, jazz and folk musicians. Eclectic Voices regularly performs in St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, Christ Church Highbury, and the American International Church, its current rehearsal space.