Winter Festival photographs are here!

We had a fantastic time during the Winter Festival, and we hope those who attended did also. Here are a few photos of our favourite festival moments and events:

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Photograph credits: Celine Smith and  Sabine Tilly

Best of the Fest (and the Rest)

The next installment of our regular feature Best of the Fest (and the Rest) and this week it’s the turn of Marketing Assistant, Rebecca Steel. The Festival event I can’t wait to see is EXAUDI‘s concert on Friday 7 January. I have seen them perform contemporary music several times and their sound is exquisite. I really look forward to seeing their interpretation of songs from Monteverdi’s Third Book of Madrigals! 

This weekend I’m looking forward to (apart from the X Factor final!) the Chocolate Festival down on the Southbank. With all sorts of chocolatiers and companies offering chocolate-related products from truffles to chocolate beer and ales to Italian hot chocolate and edible chocolate houses and gingerbread kits, there’s only one place and one thing I’ll be eating this weekend!

Rebecca Steel
Marketing Assistant

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

Summer Festival 2010

Our Summer Festival ran from 11-26 June with over 65% of audience members making their first visit to the Festival and over 10,000 people attending!! That’s a record!

We had a fantastic time, and we hope those who attended did also. Here are a few photos of our favourite festival moments and events:

If you attended any of our events, and took photographs yourself let us know via facebook or twitter!

[Photo Credits: Katya Evdokimova, Jez C Self, Marc Fox]

Through the Eyes of a Steward…

I am very fortunate to have been a steward for three events at Spitalfields Music’s Summer Festival this year – In the House and a couple of concerts with Harry Christophers & The Sixteen – and have enjoyed every minute of it!

In the House was a tour of five houses located in Spitalfields, each having a musician perform a solo piece for the group. It was my first time as a tour guide. We not only found out about the history of these houses, we also enjoyed the music played by wonderful musicians from the Royal Academy of Music. The owners of each house were really friendly and we were all given short tours around their homes.

During The Sixteen: Allegri & MacMillan I got to meet the conductor himself, Harry Christophers and had a photograph taken with him. He is such a lovely man and very welcoming.  The concert itself was magical, flawless and I felt transported to another time. James MacMillan’s new composition Miserere was a treat to listen to and I do hope to hear it again in the future.

The second time I was stewarding, The Sixteen did a Monteverdi set split into two concerts. It was also an education on the style of music which I didn’t have much affinity for until now. The best bit was in the second concert that evening when they paired up with virtuoso jazz pianist Julian Joseph and double bassist, Mark Hodgson. It was a Monteverdi / jazz collaboration. I have never experienced anything like it – the music was organic and really suited improvisation. Who would have thought that Monteverdi and jazz could work so well side by side?

The Festival was great fun and I can’t wait until the Winter Festival comes around, what will be in store I wonder?

Noel Chow
Festival Steward

Spitalfields Singers

Last Thursday lunchtime saw the first gathering of our new choral group, Spitalfields Singers. Under the effervescent direction of Suzi Zumpe and Camille Maalawy we explored using our voices to show different tones and characters, introducing ourselves through voice and gesture and portrayed the story of a small boy’s desperate struggle for a banana!

Thoroughly warmed up, we then turned to a Manx lullaby in a striking arrangement by John Barber with additional texture added on viola by one of our Apprentice Animateurs, Neil Valentine. Despite being only the first session the blend of voices and richness of tone was beautiful to hear and promises much for the future. It was also great to hear the group tackle John Barber’s work, as he has a special relationship to the group as composer of our newly commissioned Opera in Pieces.

An Opera in Pieces is being developed by John, and fellow composer Hazel Gould, alongside our local community of singers and musicians. The work will be premiered during the 2011 Summer Festival and is being launched on 26 June, as part of this year’s Summer Festival, in a day of performances and workshops to introduce the creative team and featured artists, among whom are The Sixteen, our women’s choir Women sing East, and the newly formed Spitalfields Singers.

It promises to be an exciting project and Thursday’s session was a great beginning. The group were brimming with enthusiasm which really shone through in their singing and by the end of the first session they were happily singing in four parts, with the more experienced members ably supporting those to whom singing is new.

Cathy Birch
Programme Manager: Learning & Participation

The group is open to all comers with no experience necessary, no ability to read music, and definitely no auditions. There are still a few spaces at this stage so if reading this has inspired you to get involved check out our website for more information. Otherwise, come and join us on 26 June!