Dear friends
Another successful year for the choir is now over. We had our 50th anniversary tour to the south-west in the autumn with performances of music with a Northern theme in 3 glorious venues: Wimborne Minster, Christchurch Priory and Sherborne Abbey. This was followed at Christmas by ‘A Winter’s Journey’, a programme of music from 5 centuries celebrating the epiphany, and at Easter by 2 rousing performances of Handel’s ‘Messiah’. Finally, our summer concerts demonstrated just how versatile the choir can be with a programme of 20th century music from the USA.
If you were able to come to either of our recent ‘Americana’ concerts, you will know how well they went. To quote from John Hiley’s review of the Ings performance:
“Last Tuesday’s concert . . . was a joy, the rich sound from close to 40 singers resonating in the wonderful acoustic of Ings Church. The Musical Director is to be congratulated on his bold choice of C20th American repertoire – all sung a capella – some of it very demanding.”
You can read the whole of John’s review here: www.levenschoir.net/dbpage.php?pg=pastevents
The 2026-7 season has more treats in store. In December we will present ‘The Christmas story’: settings by Renaissance composers, including Victoria, Schutz, Tallis and Palestrina, of texts telling the whole nativity story from the Annunciation to the Epiphany.
In March there has been a change of plan. We had hoped to stage Bach’s ‘St Matthew Passion’, an ambitious project which demanded substantial funds. Sadly our fund-raising efforts have failed to reach their target, so instead we have chosen to present another iconic work, but one requiring fewer resources: Monteverdi’s ‘Vespers of 1610’. There will be professional soloists and we will be accompanied by the early music ensemble In Echo. It promises to be a great experience, for performers and audience alike.
There will be summer concerts too, but the repertoire for these has not yet been finalised.
Here are the dates for your diary:
‘The Christmas Story’:
Saturday 12 December 2026, 7.30pm, Victoria Hall, Grange-over-Sands,
and
Sunday 13 December 2026, 3.00pm, St Mary’s Church, Kirkby Lonsdale
Monteverdi ‘Vespers of 1610’:
Saturday 6 March 2027, 7.00pm, Cartmel Priory
and
Sunday 7 March 2027, 7.00pm, Lancaster Priory
Summer Concerts:
Sunday 27 June 2027, 3.00pm,St Oswald’s Church, Warton
and
Tuesday 29 June 2027, 7.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Kirkby Lonsdale
We look forward to seeing you at these events.
Alison McLeod
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