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NEWS & PREVIEWS /BBC ISTODOULOU CHR IS CHR Sofi Jeannin conducts The BBC Singers: the ensemble’s future is still in jeopardy BBC SINGERS’ FUTURE IN QUESTION PLANS TO DISBAND THE BBC SINGERS have been put on hold, the BBC announced on 24 March. On 7 March, the BBC announced its plans to close down the UK’s only full-time professional chamber choir, as well as cutting a fifth of salaried posts in the BBC’s England-based orchestras. The broadcaster said the decision was part of a new strategy that arose from its classical review in 2022, and that the restructuring would enable the corporation to double its funding for music education and launching training initiatives, create a single digital home for its orchestras, and ‘work with a wide range of choral groups alongside launching a major choral development programme for new talent.’ The announcement provoked national outrage, including an open letter of protest signed by more than 700 composers, as well as a petition which at the time of going to press had been signed by more than 150,000 members of the public. The announcement that the broadcaster would reconsider its decision came in a statement issued on 24 March, which said: The BBC has received approaches from a number of organisations offering alternative funding models for the BBC Singers. We have agreed with the Musicians’ Union that we will suspend the proposal to close the BBC Singers, while we actively explore these options. If viable, these alternative options would secure the future of the ensemble. We can also confirm the Singers will appear in this year’s BBC Proms. We know that the BBC Singers are much loved across the classical community and their professionalism, quality and standing has never been in question. We have said throughout these were difficult decisions. Therefore, we want to fully explore the options that have been brought to us to see if there is another way forward. The BBC still needs to make savings and still plans to invest more widely in the future of choral singing across the UK. The BBC, as the biggest commissioner of music and one of the biggest employers of musicians in the country, recognises it has a vital role to play in supporting orchestral and choral music. We will continue to engage with the Musicians’ Union and the other BBC Unions about our proposals on the BBC’s English Orchestras. We are committed to meaningful consultation and to avoiding compulsory redundancies, wherever possible. The history of the BBC Singers stretches back to 1924, when the ensemble was formed as The Wireless Singers under the directorship of Stanford Robinson (see Choir & Organ, January/February 2009). The ensemble appeared under different names over the coming decades, finally settling on the BBC Singers in 1972. Chorus masters have included such luminaries as Leslie Woodgate, Peter Gellhorn, John Poole, Simon Joly and Stephen Cleobury. In 1992 Michael Emery was appointed senior producer for the BBC Singers; David Hill was appointed chief conductor in 2007, to be succeeded in 2017 by Sofi Jeannin (see David Hill’s interview with Sofi Jeannin in the April issue of Choir & Organ). The BBC Singers have also had a series of guest conductors and associate composers, and have commissioned more than 100 works over the course of its history. In 2013 and 2015 the ensemble was C&O’s New Music partner. bbc.co.uk/singers 6 CHOIR & ORGAN MAY 2023 choirandorgan.com
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ST ALBANS DIAMOND JUBILEE ST ALBANS INTERNATIONAL ORGAN FESTIVAL (IOF) has announced its programme for 2023. The 60th edition of the festival in the Hertfordshire city will run from 3-15 July, and will present a combination of concerts and the International Organ Competition. Visiting artists include The Tallis Scholars in a 50th anniversary programme of works by composers from Byrd, Palestrina and Gombert to Rutter, Pärt and Muhly (6 July). Andrew Lucas conducts St Albans Bach Choir and the Choristers of St Albans Cathedral in Berlioz’s Te Deum, followed by Thomas Trotter performing Saint-Saëns’s Symphony no.3 ‘Organ’ with the Britten Sinfonia under the baton of David Hill (8 July). Chamber music is provided by tenor James Gilchrist in a recital of 20th-century English song, with Anna Tilbrook (piano) (3 July), and by violinist Rachel Podger with Christopher Glynn (fortepiano) (4 July); pianist and IOF patron Angela Hewitt plays works by J.S. Bach and Schumann’s Sonata no.1 (9 July); and piano quartet Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective (which includes cellist and former BBC Young Musician of the Year Laura van der Heijden) presents works by Fanny Mendelssohn, Mozart, Errollyn Wallen and Dvořák (11 July). And in a different vein, the legendary jazz singer Elaine Delmar is joined by Barry Green (piano) and Simon Thorpe (bass) (10 July). As the festival’s name suggests, there is no shortage of organ recitals, with four lunchtime Bach Corner programmes in the Cathedral. The competition jury members also give solo recitals as follows: Pieter van Dijk (all-Bach programme, 8 July); Todd Wilson (Widor, Hancock, Bizet arr. Lemare, Conte and Reubke, 9 July); Bine Bryndorf (Couperin, Muffat, J.S. Bach, Krebs and Radulescu, 10 July); Jean-Baptiste Robin (programme to be announced, 13 July); Rie Hiroe (programme to be announced, 14 July); and Franz Danksagmüller (improvising a soundtrack, with live electronics, to the silent horror film Der Golem, 12 July). Master of the King’s Music Judith Weir, who has composed the Interpretation Competition’s commissioned work, is in conversation with festival director David Titterington (1pm, 5 July); and there will be a screening of Organ Stops: Saving the King of Instruments, a one-hour documentary film about the attempts to save pipe organs as churches and other venues across Britain close down (4 July). Festival director David Titterington told C&O: ‘It is hard to believe that we are celebrating 60 years since Peter Hurford had the idea to set up an organ festival in St Albans. Since then, it has developed considerably and established itself as arguably the pre-eminent competition of its kind in the world. We will be hosting 24 pre-selected competitors from across the world, together with internationally renowned soloists and ensembles performing music from the Renaissance to the 21st century. At the heart of St Albans is the glorious cathedral in which most of the events take place, only 30 minutes from central London. A warm welcome awaits you.’ Tickets are on sale to the general public from 20 April; organfestival.com EALOVEG A IN JAM BEN Master of the King’s Music Judith Weir has composed the commissioned work for the Interpretation Competition choirandorgan.com NEWS IN BRIEF The US organist and composer Daniel Chorzempa died on 25 Mar at the age of 78. Chorzempa studied music and architecture at the University of Minnesota, then continued his music studies in Cologne. Originally making his name as a pianist , he then turned his focus to the organ. He gave recitals at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1976 and 2004. Richard Moore moves to be sub-organist at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford after Easter 2023, succeeding Benjamin Sheen, who has moved to be director of music at Jesus College, Cambridge. Moore’s successor at Guildford Cathedral will be Asher Oliver. In its tenth anniversary year, London’s LGBTQ+ chamber choir The Fourth Choir has appointed Jamie Powe as its new music director as from Sep 2023. Paul Cutts has been appointed CEO of the national charity Sing for Pleasure, which offers choral conducting training, choral courses, and singing education resources. Daniel Harding has been appointed as music director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, as from October 2024. He succeeds Antonio Pappano, who will become director emeritus. The Association of Anglican Musicians has awarded the inaugural BrittenbackMeezan Presidential Award to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Auburn, Alabama, and its choirmaster and minister of music, Dr Matthew Hoch. The new award is an annual grant of US$4,000 for small- and mid-sized congregations in the Episcopal Church to encourage the development of skills to enhance worship through music. Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced the acquisition of the independent British classical label Hyperion Records. MAY 2023 CHOIR & ORGAN 7

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NEWS & PREVIEWS

/BBC

ISTODOULOU

CHR

IS

CHR

Sofi Jeannin conducts The BBC Singers: the ensemble’s future is still in jeopardy

BBC SINGERS’ FUTURE IN QUESTION

PLANS TO DISBAND THE BBC SINGERS have been put on hold, the BBC announced on 24 March.

On 7 March, the BBC announced its plans to close down the UK’s only full-time professional chamber choir, as well as cutting a fifth of salaried posts in the BBC’s England-based orchestras.

The broadcaster said the decision was part of a new strategy that arose from its classical review in 2022, and that the restructuring would enable the corporation to double its funding for music education and launching training initiatives, create a single digital home for its orchestras, and ‘work with a wide range of choral groups alongside launching a major choral development programme for new talent.’

The announcement provoked national outrage, including an open letter of protest signed by more than 700 composers, as well as a petition which at the time of going to press had been signed by more than 150,000 members of the public.

The announcement that the broadcaster would reconsider its decision came in a statement issued on 24 March, which said:

The BBC has received approaches from a number of organisations offering alternative funding models for the BBC Singers. We have agreed with the Musicians’ Union that we will suspend the proposal to close the BBC Singers, while we actively explore these options. If viable, these alternative options would secure the future of the ensemble.

We can also confirm the Singers will appear in this year’s BBC Proms.

We know that the BBC Singers are much loved across the classical community and their professionalism, quality and standing has never been in question. We have said throughout these were difficult decisions. Therefore, we want to fully explore the options that have been brought to us to see if there is another way forward. The BBC still needs to make savings and still plans to invest more widely in the future of choral singing across the UK.

The BBC, as the biggest commissioner of music and one of the biggest employers of musicians in the country, recognises it has a vital role to play in supporting orchestral and choral music.

We will continue to engage with the Musicians’ Union and the other BBC Unions about our proposals on the BBC’s English Orchestras. We are committed to meaningful consultation and to avoiding compulsory redundancies, wherever possible.

The history of the BBC Singers stretches back to 1924, when the ensemble was formed as The Wireless Singers under the directorship of Stanford Robinson (see Choir & Organ, January/February 2009). The ensemble appeared under different names over the coming decades, finally settling on the BBC Singers in 1972. Chorus masters have included such luminaries as Leslie Woodgate, Peter Gellhorn, John Poole, Simon Joly and Stephen Cleobury. In 1992 Michael Emery was appointed senior producer for the BBC Singers; David Hill was appointed chief conductor in 2007, to be succeeded in 2017 by Sofi Jeannin (see David Hill’s interview with Sofi Jeannin in the April issue of Choir & Organ). The BBC Singers have also had a series of guest conductors and associate composers, and have commissioned more than 100 works over the course of its history. In 2013 and 2015 the ensemble was C&O’s New Music partner. bbc.co.uk/singers

6 CHOIR & ORGAN MAY 2023

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