Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is thrilled to be able to pass on a gift from the people of Bochum to the city of Sheffield. A large framed photograph of Bochum’s City Hall will be presented to Lord Mayor Tony Dowling at the choir’s next concert on Saturday 9 November 2019.
‘We were given the picture during our trip to sing with Bochum’s City choir in their brand new concert hall, when we presented greetings from Sheffield’s Lord Mayor.’ explained Chorus Chair Paul Henstridge, ‘Bochum takes the twinning arrangement with Sheffield very seriously and even helped to pay for our trip. We are delighted that our Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress are able to receive the picture on behalf of the city – and that they will stay to hear us sing.’
Chorus Chair with Deputy Mayor of Bochum
Members of the Chorus visited Sheffield’s twin town Bochum in February to sing Handel’s Messiah with the Philharmonischer Chor Bochum, accompanied by the Bochumer Symphoniker conducted by John Lidfors. Many stayed with colleagues from the Bochum choir, re-kindling friendships made on a previous trip. They were treated to trips to Bonn and Essen, as well as a number of hostelries and a big party.
But the main event was Messiah in the award-winning concert
hall funded by over 20,000 donors and completed following 15 years of
fundraising. ‘We were bowled over by the concert hall, an absolutely fantastic state-of-the-art
building already listed as one of the top ten concert halls in Germany’ said
Graham Dawson, who organised the trip. ‘We’ve arranged a return trip of course
– they are joining us to sing Messiah
with the Black Dyke Band in the Victoria Hall on 20 April 2020’
Chorus members visited France last year, singing with L’ensemble Vocal de Périgueux to celebrate the end of WW1. Keen to maintain strong links with their French and German colleagues, the Chorus have invited both choirs to experience the brass version of Messiah for the first time.
‘We are thrilled that the Mayor of Bochum acknowledged the importance of our joint venture by presenting us with this picture’ said Paul, ‘and equally thrilled to be presenting it to Sheffield’s Lord Mayor at our concert in November’
The short After Hours session follows
the Halle concert in the main hall and features a programme from Scandinavia
and the Baltic. ‘Audiences will be familiar with the Norwegian Romantic composer
Edvard Grieg, but may not be with his countryman Ola Gjeilo, born in 1978, or
Eric Ešenvalds, born in Latvia a year earlier.’ said Music Director Darius
Battiwalla, ‘We’ve chosen a programme of particularly beautiful pieces to sing
unaccompanied which will suit the amazing acoustic of the City Hall ballroom.’
Join the Lord Mayor to hear the choir
‘up close and personal’ on Saturday 9th November at 9.15pm. The free
concert ends at 10pm; tickets from the City Hall Box Office, through the hotline
0114 2 789 789, or online via the website.
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is thrilled to be able to pass on a gift from the people of Bochum to the city of Sheffield. A large framed photograph of Bochum’s City Hall will be presented to Lord Mayor Tony Dowling at the choir’s next concert on Saturday 9 November 2019.
‘We were given the picture during our
trip to sing with Bochum’s City choir in their brand new concert hall.’ explained
Chorus Chair Paul Henstridge, ‘We are delighted that our Lord Mayor and Lady
Mayoress are able to receive the picture on behalf of the city – and that they
will stay to hear us sing.’
Members of the Chorus visited Sheffield’s
twin town Bochum in February to sing Handel’s Messiah with the Philharmonischer Chor Bochum, accompanied by the
Bochumer Symphoniker conducted by John Lidfors. Many stayed with
colleagues from the Bochum choir, re-kindling friendships made on a previous
trip. They were treated to trips to Bonn and Essen, as well as a number of
hostelries and a big party.
But the main event was Messiah in the award-winning concert
hall funded by over 20,000 donors and completed following 15 years of
fundraising. ‘We were bowled over by the concert hall, an absolutely fantastic state-of-the-art
building already listed as one of the top ten concert halls in Germany’ said
Graham Dawson, who organised the trip. ‘We’ve arranged a return trip of course
– they are joining us to sing Messiah
with the Black Dyke Band in the Victoria Hall on 20 April 2020’
Chorus members visited France last year,
singing with L’ensemble Vocal de Périgueux to celebrate the end of WW1.
Keen to maintain strong links with their French and German colleagues, the Chorus
have invited both choirs to experience the brass version of Messiah for the first time.
‘We are thrilled that the Mayor of
Bochum acknowledged the importance of our joint venture by presenting us with
this picture’ said Paul, ‘and equally thrilled to be presenting it to
Sheffield’s Lord Mayor at our concert in November’
The short After Hours session follows
the Halle concert in the main hall and features a programme from Scandinavia
and the Baltic. ‘Audiences will be familiar with the Norwegian Romantic composer
Edvard Grieg, but may not be with his countryman Ola Gjeilo, born in 1978, or
Eric Ešenvalds, born in Latvia a year earlier.’ said Music Director Darius
Battiwalla, ‘We’ve chosen a programme of particularly beautiful pieces to sing
unaccompanied which will suit the amazing acoustic of the City Hall ballroom.’
Join the Lord Mayor to hear the choir
‘up close and personal’ on Saturday 9th November at 9.15pm. The free
concert ends at 10pm; tickets from the City Hall Box Office, through the hotline
0114 2 789 789, or online via the website.
The Chorus met up with the world-famous Black Dyke Band in a Sheffield church last night, to record John Rutter’s Gloria for the band’s forthcoming CD. ‘We’re getting used to recording with this wonderful brass band’ said Chorus Chair Paul Henstridge, ‘We joined Halifax Choral Society and the Yorkshire Youth Choir to record Philip Wilby’s new oratorio The Holy Face with them in 2015, and the band’s last CD featured Paul Mealor’s Paradise, a piece that sandwiches beautiful choral sections around a fiendishly difficult brass-only section in the middle.’
The Chorus with Black Dyke Band in St Oswald’s Church Sheffield
The recording was made in the atmospheric surroundings of a Sheffield church – St Peter’s and St Oswald’s on Bannerdale Road. ‘We chose St Oswald’s because they have hosted a recording session with us before and looked after us well on that occasion.’ said Administrator Anne Adams. ‘That was quite some years ago, when we recorded one of those special ‘in-between’ chunk for Songs of Praise, with atmospheric lighting and dry ice swirling around. No filming this time of course, and everything went well, thanks to everyone at St Oswald’s’
John Rutter’s Gloria was composed in 1974 for choir, brass, percussion and organ, with an alternative version for choir and orchestra. Described as “exalted, devotional and jubilant”, it was Rutter’s first commission from the US. Structured in three movements and based on the Gloria from the Latin mass, it was always intended as a concert piece.
The Gloria will feature on the Black Dyke Band’s next CD. For more information about Black Dyke Gold VII featuring Paradise, or The Holy Face, see Buy Our Recordings and Books.
Review: Philip Andrews, Sheffield Telegraph, 12 June 2019
It is a sign of the regard in
which the Philharmonic Chorus is held that they are invited to contribute to
the first performances of ambitious new works like Philip Wilby’s oratorio for
organ, brass band and massed voices, The Holy Face.
It shares some of its Biblical
text with Handel’s Messiah, so comparisons are hard to avoid. Handel’s approach
is more varied, Wilby’s (in this version) brassier.
That is because the Phil shared
the stage with familiar partners, the Black Dyke Band, as well as the Halifax Choral
Society, by whom the piece was commissioned.
Getting the balance right was therefore important, but the choirs, under conductor Darius Battiwalla, made their generally delicate contributions with perfect clarity, and were never overpowered by instrumentalists who played their part with admirable restraint.
They and the composer, who was in
the audience, rightly received warm applause.
It was another contemporary
British composer, Paul Mealor (best known for the Military Wives’ Wherever You
Are), who provided the afternoon’s other main work, Paradise.
This was another composition for
band and choir set to a Biblical text and it, too, worked well.
The choir book-ended the piece with the sort of peaceful, ethereal sounds you
would hope to find in Paradise, while the band was let loose in the central
section with a less reverent outburst of jazz, which some of us would also
welcome should we ever get there.
The programme began with Wilby’s
Cinema, a new work for brass band and organ, with Battiwalla now on the
keyboard, while the band was conducted by Nicholas Childs.
It was apparently inspired by the
early days of the cinema, although that was rarely obvious, and neither is
organ and brass band a particularly felicitous combination.
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus are thrilled that the composer Philip Wilby will be in attendance at the forthcoming concert premiere of the brass band version of his oratorio The Holy Face at the City Hall at 3pm on Sunday 9 June 2019. The Chorus will be joined by the Black Dyke Band, Halifax Choral Society, the Yorkshire Youth Choir and four great soloists for this very special concert.
‘The Holy Face was written for massed voices, organ and either brass band or orchestra.’ said Chorus Chairman Paul Henstridge. ‘We are really looking forward to singing this musical retelling of the life of St John with our friends the Halifax Choral Society, who commissioned it to celebrate their 200th Anniversary in 2017.’
‘We are really committed to making classical music accessible to young people’ said Chorus administrator Anne Adams ‘So we have sent out a really generous ticket offer to all the brass training bands, our Sheffield-based youth orchestras, all the secondary schools and the Sheffield Music Hub and Music Academy. Seven members of the Black Dyke Band have agreed to meet Sheffield’s young brass players after the concert – how fantastic is that!’
The brass version of The Holy Face was recorded in June 2017, and the orchestral premiere held in Halifax later that year. The CD is available from Halifax Choral Society’s website.
Also on the programme is Paradise, a fabulous new work by Welsh-born composer Paul Mealor, who sprang to fame in 2011 when his Ubi Caritas was featured at the wedding of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge. Paradise is a beautiful piece for brass band and voices which the chorus recorded in January with the world-famous Black Dyke Band in Sheffield’s own City Hall. The recording has been published as part of the Black Dyke Gold series – and composer Paul Mealor is thrilled with it. ‘I am very impressed.’ said Paul on hearing the CD. ‘It’s a fantastic recording of the work.’
The piece features two elements sung by the Chorus alongside the Black Dyke Band, sandwiching a central section of fiendish difficulty showcasing the band’s incredible virtuosity. The Chorus first sang Paradise in January at the Brass Band Festival held each year at the Royal Northern School of Music in Manchester, a performance that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The concert begins with another work by Philip Wilby, his organ concerto Cinema, written for organ and brass band, and featuring Chorus Music Director and Leeds City Organist Darius Battiwalla on the magnificent City Hall organ.
Philip Andrews, Sheffield Telegraph, Tuesday 7 April 2019
‘Bach put his Mass in B Minor together at the end of his life from pieces he had prepared earlier.
If it was a belated CV of his best work intended to impress Him upstairs, it would surely have earned him the job as God’s in-house composer when his time came.
It is not simply a setting of the Latin mass but a compendium of musical styles and moods – often lively and even jolly – designed to show off the talents of its various performers, who here all responded splendidly.
The focus shifts from choir to soloists to orchestra to single instrumentalists, and all were in impressive form.
The heavy lifting is done by the choir, and our own Philharmonic Chorus was meticulously prepared by Music Director Darius Battiwalla. They responded sharply and sensitively on the night to the admirably clear and precise guidance of conductor Andrew Griffiths whose chamber group with more than its share of youthful talent, offered unobtrusive support and balance. Their soloists stepped out from the ensemble when required with confidence and flair, while the vocal soloists provided the punctuation to the narrative rather than the main thrust.
Most familiar to Yorkshire audiences was soprano Flur Wynn, who regularly appears with Opera North. ably abetted by mezzo soprano Madeleine Shaw, tenor Nick Pritchard and bass-baritone Edward Grint.’
Philip Andrews, Sheffield Telegraph, Tuesday 9 April 2019
Julia Armstrong, Sheffield Telegraph, Thursday 13 December 2018
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus are celebrating a hat-trick by having the third track from their Christmas CD featured on Classic FM, this time a local carol.
The Chorus, once again with the internationally acclaimed Black Dyke Band, is one of five winning entries selected for Classic FM’s popular 5-7pm Drivetime slot by Classic FM and Making Music, the UK’s membership organisation for amateur music groups.
The five winning entries will be played in the week commencing 17 December, one entry per day.
It’s a hat-trick for Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus. Having already had 2 tracks from their Christmas CD featured on Classic FM, this year it’s the turn of a local carol – the title track, Awake, Arise!
“Never heard of our local carols? You’re missing a treat,” quipped Sue Pennington, a singer with the Chorus, resident of Wortley and a long-time advocate of the local carols.
“You’re more likely to hear these songs in our pubs than churches, but we thought it was high time to let the nation in on our secret,” laughed Sue.
Awake, Arise! is a joyous call to arms that contains a unique image – “…The self-same moon was shining that now is in the sky…”, reminding us of the Christian story of the little babe born on this earth, just two thousand years ago.
The Chorus’s festive album includes a selection of carols unique to Sheffield as well as some well-loved Christmas favourites, like O Holy Night.
Paul Henstridge, Chairman and Tenor said “Surprisingly, this is only the second recording we ‘own’, so we’re thrilled to now be sharing a 3rdtrack from it on national radio”.
With over 5 million listeners tuning in each week, Classic FM is sure to bring the track to a wider audience.
“Now, all we need are similar listening figures for our Bach B minor Mass on 6 April, and our performance of Wilby’s Holy Face on 9 June, and we’d be laughing!” said Paul.
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus’s ‘home’ venue of the City Hall has a capacity of over 2,000 but they are always popular, so whether you prefer Bach with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, or Wilby with the Black Dyke Band, early booking is advised.
And as a special treat from the Chorus and the Band, anyone with a Christmas carol concert ticket who books for the Holy Face by the end of February, can get a £5 discount for the Holy Face concert.
As Paul said: “After all, ‘tis the season of goodwill!”
Julia Armstrong, Sheffield Telegraph, Thursday 13 December 2018
Philip Andrews, Sheffield Telegraph, March 14, 2019
Sheffield’s ambitious and popular Classical Weekend filled many of the city’s venues with music for three days, this year much of it by women. It was female composers who took centre stage in an eclectic programme of songs from across Europe from our own Philharmonic Chorus on Sunday.
Under conductor Darius Battiwalla they gave sensitive and carefully-balanced accounts of a range of rarely heard pieces, including two by women – Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann – whose achievements are normally overshadowed by those of their male relatives.
They were joined by soprano Caroline Taylor, who gave impressively clear but delicate interpretations of a trio of reflective songs by the French Boulanger sisters, Lili and Nadia. And it was Lili who was responsible for the most heart-warming contribution to a cold winter Sunday night, her lively Hymne au Soleil.
Appropriately, Friday was International Women’s Day, and the RPO were in town. Although their popular programme was composed entirely by men, it was brought to us by two outstanding female musicians.
Jennifer Pike was the soloist in Mozart’s 3rd Violin Concerto, adding an exquisite delicacy to the composer’s youthful exuberance, to the delight of a packed house. The same qualities were evident in Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending as she sent the bird soaring noisily aloft, to almost disappear out of earshot.
The other leading lady was diminutive but demonstrative Estonian conductor Anu Tali, who brought out the best from her band.
That they have a whole range of admirable qualities in all departments was evident in a vibrant performance of Elgar’s Enigma Variations which made a very familiar piece sound fresh.
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Mayor Erika Stahl welcomed the Philharmonic Choir of Bochum’s twin town Sheffield in the town hall. The English choir has arrived for a joint concert with the Philharmonic Choir Bochum – the occasion is the 100th birthday of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra this year. The two choirs have been in partnership since 2006.
Before visiting the town hall, the 17 visiting singers of the choir explored Bochum City on a city tour and visited the Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr. At the joint concert on Thursday, February 7, in the Music Forum, the singers will sing Messiah under the direction of Bochum choirmaster John Lidfors. The Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is one of the largest mixed concert choirs in Yorkshire with around 180 members. Their programme includes the great choral works from Baroque, Classic, Romantic and Modern periods. In 2020, a return visit of the Bochum Choir in Sheffield is planned, in which a re-performance of the “Messiah” is on the program.
“When I visit schools, I always tell schoolchildren that the sister city partnership with Sheffield is our oldest, that it was founded just five years after the end of the war and that many friends have been formed thanks to it,” said Mayor Erika Stahl. Paul Henstridge of the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus also enjoys this strong connection through the music: “Sheffield once built bombs that destroyed Bochum, and Bochum has built bombs that destroyed Sheffield. Today we sing together – that’s progress.” Both sides were unhappy about the weather: it was raining – in Bochum as in Sheffield.
