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Past Events.
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| Saturday 3rd December 2011 |
| Messiah by Handel |
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AROUND 250 years old and still going strong, Handel's impressive musical score of
The Messiah traditionally heralds the festive season and Dorchester Choral Society's
rendition brought all the passion and emotional depth that the piece deserves.
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The capacity audience fell under the spell of this musical feast with a full orchestra,
around 60 choral members and four stunning professional soloists under the immaculate
direction of Christine Page.
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Her infectious enthusiasm permeates every corner of the work and brings a joy to the
occasion that is irresistible.
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Performed almost in its entirety, Handel's masterpiece gave the soloists a wonderful
opportunity to display their talents to the full, in particular Yaniv D'Or
, a counter
tenor with a stunning vocal range.
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Soprano Wendy Nieper
, tenor Brian Parsons
and Phillip Guy Bromley
, bass baritone,
completed the soloists in a concert that again demonstrated the excellence of the
musical heritage that Dorset enjoys. The Society's next outing will be on March 24
at the same venue.
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| Marion Cox Dorset Echo |
| Saturday 15th October 2011 |
| Prelude and Fugue No 2 in G major by Mendelssohn |
| Missa Brevis in F by Haydn |
| Hear my prayer by Mendelssohn |
| Ave Maria op 23 no 2 by Mendelssohn |
| Piano Trio in D Minor Opus 49 by Mendelssohn |
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A superb evening of music making was enjoyed on Saturday when Dorchester Choral
Society was joined by supremely gifted instrumentalists and solo singers.
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The programme was largely a celebration of Mendelssohn, although Haydn also made a
strong contribution, with the choir performing his joyous Missa Brevis in F.
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The choir and soloist wrung every nuance out of Mendelssohn's famous soul searching "Hear My Prayer" while his tender
"Ave Maria" gave the opportunity for the tenors and basses to shine in this tightly woven work .
The soloists for the evening, organist Graham Scott, sopranos Rebecca Weatherall and Sophie Dodds,
complemented the choir most beautifully.
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| Organist Graham Scott opened the concert with a Mendelssohn Prelude and Fugue,
while the Mace Trio brought this remarkable evening to a close. Their performance brought huge applause,
a roar of appreciation and even foot stamping for their outstanding Mendelssohn 's Piano Trio in D Minor.
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| The young players - Victoria Sayles, violin; her sister Katherine Sayles, cello and Mary Tonkin,
piano - have been performing together since they were music scholars at Bryanston School.
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| Jane Soole Dorset Echo |
| Saturday 25th June 2011 |
| Dorchester Choral Society and Gryphon School Choir |
| Music for a Summer Evening |
| DORCHESTER Choral Society and the award winning Gryphon School Choir at Sherborne joined forces to
present a concert of popular music that proved to be a celebration of the best of British, give or
take a spot of foreign opera and American swing. |
| Around 50 schoolgirls made an excellent job of upstaging the choir under the leadership of Non
Davies as they performed folk songs in languages ranging from Czech to Zulu along with
beautiful renditions of English melodies while music student Dave Bell showed off his drumming
skills to perfection. |
| Choral society director Christine Page paid tribute to the dedication and achievements of the young choir who
performed in an exemplary manner. |
| The choral society brought their talents to the fore with a lovely arrangement of Gershwin music and their
opening volleys of three operatic choruses were carried out with much style, helped in no small way by the
keyboard accompaniment of Heather Reed who somehow managed to replicate an orchestra for the challenging pieces. |
| Top of the bill was a lively representation of the last night of the Proms complete with lots of flag waving
in a concert that got the audience on their feet to singalong with Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory,
a perfect climax to a summer show. |
| Marion Cox Dorset Echo |
| Saturday 26th March 2011 |
| Dorchester Choral Society with Dorchester Middle Schools Choir |
| Seven Last Words From the Cross by Cesar Frank |
| Requiem by Gabriel Fauré |
| Panis Angelicus |
| Pavane |
| DORCHESTER Choral society are on a winning streak. They continue to sell all the tickets for every concert
whatever the programme - and St Mary's Dorchester is not a small church. |
| No surprise, really. The choir has an excellent conductor - Christine Page - who communicates fully with
her singers and seems to acquire more authority and sharper definition at every concert.
The soloists, from the clear sweet tones of the soprano Wendy Nieper to the robust full voice of the bass-baritone Phillip Guy-Bromley,
were equally splendid; and so was the organist Graham Scott. |
| The music began with the DASP (Dorchester Area Schools Partnership) Middle School Choir singing two
difficult pieces by Cesar Franck - Pavane and Panis Angelicus; high quality singing, another tribute to their conductor,Christine Page. |
| Dorchester Choral Society followed with Cesar Franck's Seven Words of Christ on the Cross,
a profoundly moving work full of beautiful melodies and sometimes highly dramatic. It was unfamiliar to most of the audience and
indeed much of Franck's music did not become famous until after his death in 1890. |
| Closing the evening, DCS was joined by the young singers for Faure's Requiem which has been popular for
many years. As always, it was a delight, progressing from a dark opening to the 'glorious clear skies' of the last movement,
In Paradisum. |
| So ended a great concert |
| Janet Ferrett |
| Saturday 11th December 2010 |
| Christmas Oratorio by J. S. Bach |
| "The 22 piece orchestra, including 3 trumpets, were magnificent as were the soloists Pippa Goss,
Una McMahon, Hugh Hetherington and Robert Evans. It was a thrilling evening for the choir and orchestra under the baton of
Michael Brown. They shared together the timeless Christmas Story with superlative music by JS Bach, making for both a moving
and joyful occasion." |
| Jane Soole |
| Summer 2010 |
| 9 Outreach Concerts in rural churches and Borough Gardens |
| Madrigals, Sacred Music, Dorset Rounds and Folk Songs |
| To celebrate their 50th year the choral society toured churches giving free concerts
to packed churches and great acclaim. |
| March 2010 |
| Gloria by Vivaldi |
| Nelson Mass by Haydn |
| "Celebrating 50 years of singing together, the choral society put on a spectacular and
uplifting concert to mark the occasion... There is nothing amateurish about their performances and the packed
house was treated to a glorious evening of music..." |
| Marion Cox Dorset Echo |
| 5th December 2009 |
| Messiah by Handel |
| "No problems arose for the singers and musicians at this celebratory performance
under the superb direction of Christine Page who brought a majesty and sensitivity to the work that
was truly memorable.From the joy of the Hallelujah Chorus to the solemnity of final aria, this was a
concert to savour which thoroughly deserved the standing ovation from the capacity audience." |
| Marion Cox Dorset Echo |
| 17th October 2009 |
| Peter Hope 80th year Celebration |
| Song of Solomon by Peter Hope (Premier Perfomance) |
| 13th June 2009 |
| Dorchester Choral Society and Briantspuddle Singers |
| A Summer Concert |
| 21st March 2009 |
| German Requiem by Brahms (sung in German) |
| "The choral society has never been in better form than with this great
work and special mention on this occasion must go the tenors and bass singers who produced with
great majesty both the sonorous tones of the funeral march as well as the triumphal and muscular
melodies of the later movements." |
| Marion Cox Dorset Echo |
| 22nd November 2008 |
| Mass in C Minor by Mozart |
| Gloria by Poulenc |
| "A 'sublime' show by choral society
the music took the audience on a journey that was as uplifting as it was exciting memorable evening that
attracted a capacity house in the spacious church." |
| 29th June 2008 |
| Dorchester Choral Society and Kantorie of Andreaskirche Lubbecke |
| Magnificat by Rutter |
| Motets by Stanford |
| Exultate Jubilate by Wolfgang Mozart |
| "Dorchester Choral Society and their twinned German choir Kantorei Andreaskirche, Lubbecke,
together with a superb orchestra and captivating soloist, presented a remarkable concert on Sunday evening in
St Mary's Church. The two choirs had rehearsed separately and came together on Friday for a weekend of rehearsals,
culminating in a performance of outstanding quality". |
| 15th March 2008 |
| St. John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach |
| "Dorchester Choral Society achieved a new depth of emotion with this performance of
Bach's St John Passion. Every eye was on the conductor, Christine Page; every face animated and involved
in the drama of this intensely emotional work. The partnership between conductor, choir,
soloists and the orchestra was outstanding." |