Excelsis was delighted to be part of the Wedding Celebrations of Catherine Keyser and Chris Ellerker which took place on Saturday 29 November 2014 at St Mary’s Church, Bramshott.
The choir sang “This is the Day” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” by John Rutter as well as leading the congregation. Chris wrote “Thanks for the amazing performance yesterday. Cat and I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the choir definitely added to the atmosphere in the church!”
Just a couple of weeks after the World premiere performances, Karl Jenkins invited Excelsis to join Cor Caerdydd for the final concert of the Karl Jenkins 70th Birthday Concert series at St David’s Hall, Cardiff. The joint choirs performed “For the Fallen” and “The Armed Man” with Karl Jenkins conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
The concert was recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 3 in early 2015.
Following the successful first performances of ‘The Healer’ at St Luke’s Church, Grayshott, Excelsis is excited to announce that the World Premiere concert will be broadcast in its entirety on Classic FM as part of The Full Works Concert series on Tuesday 28 October, 8pm
www.classicfm.com/radio/shows/full-works-concert/28-october-2014/
Excelsis will be performing a new work By Karl Jenkins commissioned by Grayshott Concerts to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. The new work The Healer – a cantata for St Luke is written for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, oboe/cor anglais, strings and percussion.
Karl Jenkins describes how “The Healer is a Cantata for St Luke, an evangelist and physician of the soul. The text deals with healing, not only in the Christian and spiritual sense, but also with secular issues such as the ‘healing’ of our planet, Earth. In addition to setting parts of St Luke’s Gospel there are extracts from the Book of Common Prayer, a poem by William Blake, and contributions especially written for this work by Terry Waite CBE, Vivien Harrison and Carol Barratt. The text was researched and collated by Carol with guidance from Father Tim Ardouin of Llanrhidian Church, Gower.”
Excelsis will be performing with the Marylebone Camerata, soloists Lucy Knights(soprano), Hakan Vramsmo (baritone), Rosie Jenkins (oboe & cor anglais) and Zands Duggan (percussion), conducted by the composer in person.
In the all Jenkins’ concert, other works to be sung by Excelsis include the Benedictus from The Armed Man and the Te Deum, which will be conducted by our Director Of Music Robert Lewis.
The concert will also be recorded for broadcast by Classic FM on Tuesday 28 October 2014 at 8pm.
“The Armed Man” at the Royal Albert Hall (presented by Raymond Gubbay) – 28th April 2013
The prestigious chamber choir travelled to London in April to perform Karl Jenkins’ Requiem and The Armed Man under the baton of the composer himself. Excelsis joined forces with Côr Caerdydd and Camerata Chamber Choir, as well as the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, performing to a sell-out crowd exceeding 4,000.
‘Being invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall was a milestone for Excelsis. Everyone in the choir worked hard to prepare for the concert, and the experience far exceeded our expectations,’ said Excelsis Director of Music Robert Lewis. ‘Excelsis keeps going from strength to strength – and we are looking forward to working with Karl Jenkins again in the future.’
Excelsis has built a strong reputation with Jenkins, CBE, working with him in 2009 for the first amateur performance in Europe of his Stabat Mater, and most recently in September 2012, when he conducted the choir in The Peacemakers in Grayshott.
Concert – News Cutting 7th March 2012 Petersfield Post
Concert – News Cutting 9th March 2012 Haslemere Herald
Read a report of the concert on grayshott.com
See more pictures taken by Richard Vardy of this concert for grayshott.com on flickr
