Artist Focus: EXAUDI

Former Associate Artist James Weeks returns to Spitalfields this winter, this time with his extraordinary ensemble, EXAUDI. Co-founded with the fantastic soprano Juliet Fraser, this group are whipping up a storm in Britain’s contemporary music scene, showcasing exciting talent in both upcoming performers and composers.

EXAUDI draws inspiration for its sound from early music ensembles, and so styles itself as a consort rather than a choir. They have developed strong links with us at Spitalfields Music and other prestigious organisations including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Aldeburgh Music. Over the past year they have been very busy performing with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and French contemporary ensemble L’Instant Donné.

In their Winter Festival concert, EXAUDI will be performing a selection of songs from Monteverdi’s  Book Three of Madrigals, many of which musically exploit the sumptuous texts and subtle eroticism in Guarini’s poetry, and the dramatic lyrics of the legendary Torquato Tasso. Full of grief, anguish, uncharacteristically chromatic lines and falling sixths, the whole book ends with a painful question: “Ah, my dear, who is taking you away from me?” You can be sure that their performance will be nothing less than heart-wrenchingly spectacular!

Third Book of Madrigals
Friday 7 January, 6.30pm
Christ Church Spitalfields
Tickets: £5 – £22
Book now!

Update: Opera in Pieces

Learning & Participation Programme Director, Clare Lovett, gives us a slice of the action from the Spitalfields Music extravaganza Opera in Pieces.

Back from my much needed summer holiday and incredible trip to Japan and right back to work with a bang… the first set of auditions for our new commission Opera in Pieces, our community choir Spitalfields Singers have started up again (every Thursday lunchtime) with their Winter Songs project. The search for an Opera in Pieces venue continues, with lots of explorations of car parks, film studios and other amazing spaces in and around Spitalfields.  We now have the second fabulous draft of the libretto and Hazel Gould and John Barber have been having their respective project development meetings with the inspirational dramaturg, Ruth Little and composer, Jonathan Dove.

“If you know someone who would make a fine ‘rat’ or ‘man’, then we want to hear them.”

Coming up soon are open auditions for our two solo parts, The Rat (bass/baritone) and Toby (tenor) on 8 November.  For these crucial parts, we’re looking for professional singers at the start of their careers with not only excellent voices, but acting skills to match.  If you know someone who would make a fine “rat” or “man”, then we want to hear them.  For further information see our website.

In the chilly air of autumn turning to winter, we’re about to invite our schools involved in the project to do an outdoor photo shoot – no doubt there will be more information on this shortly, and shots of frozen children!  In the meantime, we’re running singing workshops with the magnificent Isabelle Adams in our schools to get them in full voice for their debut as rats in the summer.

For those interested in taking a less high profile part in Opera in Pieces, we need your voices too! We are looking for people to join in the chorus of office and everyday folk. Please contact Cathy Birch, our Programme Manager to sign up.

In the meantime, don’t forget to catch Opera in Pieces composer John Barber’s latest commission:

Consider the Lilies
7:30pm – Saturday 6 November 2010
Concert in support of the Helen Bamber Foundation
More information here

Find the audition information for Opera in Pieces here

[ Photographs by Jez C Self ]

What does Spitalfields Music mean to you?

During this year’s Summer Festival we asked members of our audience, the local community and others with close links to us, what Spitalfields Music meant to them. Here’s a little of what came back:

[video by Andy Weir]

See more videos about and by Spitalfields Music on our YouTube channel!