Chamber Choir sing at King’s Place for Howard Skempton’s birthday
2 October, 2017
One of “Five of the best Classical Concerts of the week” in this Weekend’s Guardian. Don’t miss it!
by David Wordsworth On Friday October 13th, the Addison Chamber Choir make their third visit to King’s Place to join an impressive list of composers and performers for a celebration of Howard Skempton’s 70th birthday. Many members of both the Oratorio and Chamber Choirs will be familiar with Howard’s beautiful and idiosyncratic music – both groups have performed his work, the Chamber Choir in particular have a long-standing and rewarding relationship with Howard, who has frequently attended our concerts and supported the Addison Singers in general.The King’s Place event will be in three parts – firstly an on-stage conversation between Howard and David (who has curated the whole evening). This is a free event but you must have a ticket to attend. The two-part 7.30pm concert features a remarkable collection of pianists, all of whom have championed Howard’s music – Thalia Myers, Esther Cavett, Morgan Hayes, Michael Finnissy, Jonathan Powell, Antony Gray, the legendry John Tilbury and the equally legendary Matthew Hough and David Wordsworth, will play a sequence of Howard’s miniatures as well as especially composed ‘tribute miniatures’ by Michael Finnissy, John White, Laurence Crane, Gabriel Jackson, Morgan Hayes, Jonathan Powell and Andrew Tovey. In the second half, the Chamber Choir join with one of the most gifted Quartets of their generation, the Gildas Quartet, for a sequence of Howard’s choral and chamber music, including the London premiere of a piece for the unusual combination of choir & string quartet.The final concert of the evening is a cabaret in which Howard will perform as both singer and accordionist, with ‘Notes inégales’, a renowned group of jazz and improvising musicians. This is a rare opportunity to see a very different side to Howard Skempton – quirky, off the wall and unpredictable, something not to be missed. This will be in a proper ‘cabaret style’ with chairs, tables and drinks on sale – seats are restricted so please book your tickets early.Please do come and support these concerts – those of you that remember Howard’s music will know that he is a true original and it will be a fascinating and rewarding evening.
One of “Five of the best’ Classical Concerts of the week” in this Weekend Guardian – don’t miss it!