Rodolfus give two performances of Bach's B minor mass at prestigious UK festivals

This summer, the choir is greatly looking forward to singing two performances of J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor. The first will be as part of the Hereford Three Choirs Festival in the glorious setting of Tewkesbury Abbey, 2.30pm Monday 10 August. Ralph Allwood, Precentor of Eton College and founder of the Rodolfus Choir, will conduct period ensemble the Corelli Orchestra. Elizabeth Weisberg, Polly May, Ben Johnson and James Oldfield comprise a quartet of some of the most promising vocal talent of the moment.

The beacon in the Choir's 2009 calendar is a performance of Bach's Matthew Passion, conducted by Alex Stobbs, in London's Cadogan Hall on April 5th. The recent documentary A Boy Called Alex was filmed while Alex, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, was a student at Eton, and followed him as he conducted a performance of Bach's Magnificat at the school. Alex was asked, “so what's next?” He replied, “The Matthew Passion. All three hours of it.” Rodolfus are tremendously excited to give Alex the chance to fulfil this wish to a sell-out audience in April, with a top line-up of soloists and the renowned orchestra the Southbank Sinfonia.

Tickets are sold out for this concert. This is fantastic news for the project, but understandably a disappointment to those who have been unable to buy tickets.

The box office is managed by the Cadogan Hall, who kindly suggest telephoning nearer the time for returns or trying on the day of the concert (Cadogan Hall Box Office: 020 7730 4500).

Rodolfus performed a varied programme from Tallis to Whitacre in an atmospheric riverside venue in Twickenham for the Richmond Concert Society on Tuesday 10 February to a rapturous response. Here are some of the comments from audience and promotors alike:

Just a short note to say what a wonderful and inspiring concert you gave on Tuesday evening. The vibes I and others felt as the audience left into the cold night were most positive. Clearly the Rodolfus will need to be a RCS fixture in the future!

I decided at Christmas that we should have a Howellsfest. Herbert Howells towers above everyone in 20th Century English Church Music, but I was worried that a service, the recital and the recording might just be too much for everyone, but my fears were ungrounded. We started with a broadcast in which all except the hymn was by Howells, using in particular his "Dallas" Canticles, and then gave a recital in the wonderful and unusual Douai Abbey. For that I chose a programme of music by Howells together with those who had influenced him, and one composer, Paul Spicer, who was influenced by him.

The Rodolfus Choir will be singing in the sublime setting of Bath Abbey on Saturday May 2nd at 7.30pm - a concert of well-loved choral music as part of a new music festival called Bath Sing for Life.

This weekend is organised by Grenville Jones, a Rodolfus Trustee who lives in Bath. The weekend will support local Charities and tickets for the concert are expected to sell very quickly and are priced from £8 to £25. The Historic City will be alive with music and dance through the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend from May 1st - 4th, including the Bath Dance Festival and the 2009 Bath Spring Flower Show in Royal Victoria Park. To find out more about the Spring Weekend in Bath, call Rosie on 01761 472468 or visit the Sing for Life website.

As the celebration continues in the New Year, the Rodolfus Choir have recorded an exciting disc of music by Herbert Howells, due for release in Summer 2009 on the Signum label.

Following their highly successful live broadcast of the composer's music on Radio 3 on 31 December 2008, the choir, director Ralph Allwood, organist Tom Winpenny and producer Adrian Peacock spent the first week in January recording the CD, which promises to be a fantastic addtiion to the choir's discography.

[Update: you can pre-order this CD online, now.]

The dawning of 2009 saw the Rodolfus Choir give a broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and a recital of the music of Herbert Howells in the beautiful setting of Douai Abbey.

At 4pm on New Year's Eve the choir sang Choral Evensong which was streamed live to millions of listeners, as well as being enjoyed by over 100 people present in the Abbey Church itself. The broadcast featured the lesser-performed Dallas Canticles, as well as Howells' own descant to the well-loved hymn tune he dedicated to his son, Michael, Sing Lullaby, and the carol-anthem Long, Long Ago, as well as his Responses.

The following day, Howells' music was set in relief by that of Parry, Stanford, and Paul Spicer in a festive recital in the Abbey Church.

You may have heard of Alex Stobbs from the Channel 4 documentary, A Boy Called Alex. The Alex Stobbs Matthew passion project has now been launched. Have a look at:

www.stobbs-matthewpassion.co.uk

There are video clips, image galleries and a form where you can donate online to support the project.

It looks as though, appropriately enough for our 20th Anniversary, 2009 will have rather more than its share of big pieces. Geraint Bowen, Director of the Hereford Three Choirs Festival, has asked us for a B Minor Mass on Monday 10th August 2009. We have performed it twice before, then at St John's Smith Square, supported very generously by one of our choir parents.

Those who saw the Alex Stobbs documentary - A Boy Called Alex - may remember the question posed to Alex by the director, Stephen Walker from behind the camera after the performance, "So, what's next, Alex?" And his determined reply, "The Matthew Passion. All three hours of it".

5th April 2009, Cadogan Hall: Rodolfus Choir, the trebles of Eton College Chapel Choir, Michael Chance, Counter Tenor (other soloists not yet confirmed) South Bank Sinfonia and Ralph Allwood, (Assistant Conductor).