Grand Opening Gala Concert hits the right note
Ushaw College Grand Opening Gala Concert
The first of a series of six concerts to celebrate Ushaw College’s 200th anniversary went off to a great response on Saturday night.
The Grand Opening Gala Concert took place on Saturday, April 26, in Ushaw College’s St Cuthbert’s Chapel, and featured Ushaw Singers, Bede Wind Philharmonic and Bede Chorus. Around 300 people were at the concert, including about 100 performers.
One of the high spots of the night’s entertainment was the premiere of O Clap Your Hands by Ernest Young. Two seminarians at the college played solos: Lee Marshall on trombone and Gerard Callacher on organ, and the concert also featured The College ‘schola’ (choir) singing three pieces including a motet entitled ‘Jesus said to his disciples’, written by Tim Harrison, Director of Music at Ushaw. The programme also contained a selection of folk music and period pieces.
Tim Harrison was delighted with the way the concert had gone. He said: “It was a tremendous success, and a very very good turn out. I don’t think there was an unhappy person in the whole audience. Everyone felt they had come to a cracking concert. There was something for everybody and there was not a dry eye at certain points. The band and choir sounded spectacular in the magnificent acoustics of St Cuthbert’s Chapel. Ernest Young’s O Clap Your Hands was very well received.”
The next concert takes place on Saturday, May 3 and features the Durham Singers, conducted by Julian Wright, son of Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright. A new piece of music ‘The Risen Christ’ written by Tim Harrison and inspired by the work of Northern sculptor Fenwick Lawson will be premiered on May 17, featuring the choir Palatinate Voices.
Gathering for the Concert
All the concerts take place at St Cuthbert’s Chapel, Ushaw College, except for Music to Dine For… – an evening of guitar music and poetry to accompany dinner in the magnificent surroundings of Ushaw, which takes place in the
College parlour.
Entrance is by ticket only and tickets for the concerts are available from Ushaw College on 0191 373 8579. See www.ushaw.ac.uk for more details. Tickets for the series of concerts are selling very well and the dinner concert is nearly fully booked. Pre-booking is essential as numbers are limited.
See Details of all Celebrations
Picture courtesy of Paul Green at upmyway.co.uk
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