Dunedin Consort
Dunedin Consort
Performances and workshops
The Dunedin Consort perform The Messiah in December and hold singing workshops through January and February.
The Dunedin Consort, a group of professional singers from across Britain, was founded in 1996 by Susan Hamilton and Ben Parry, and was soon hailed by critics as 'a group that has done so much to transform the vocal life of Scotland'. The ensemble has rapidly established its presence in the artistic life of its home country, performing in venues throughout Scotland, from remote Highland churches to major concert halls. The Consort performs a diverse repertoire that ranges from Medieval and Renaissance music to contemporary works including commissions from composers both in Scotland and beyond. John Butt took over from Ben Parry in late 2003, joining Susan Hamilton as co-artistic director and he is now musical director of all the larger projects. The Consort numbers 3 to sixteen singers, and instrumentalists, the Dunedin Players, are chosen for each project according to repertoire.
John Butt’s and the Dunedin Consort’s expertise in Baroque music and performance practice won the ensemble the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Award in the 'Baroque Vocal' category for their 2006 recording for Handel’s Messiah, as well as the Baroque Music Award at the Midem Classical Awards 2008. Recorded on Linn Records, this particular interpretation was of the first performed version of the oratorio, originally performed in Dublin in 1742. Linn Records will release Dunedin’s recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion (using the lean vocal scoring of Bach’s last performed version) in March 2008.
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The Dunedin Consort also commissions new pieces to complement and play off the old: William Sweeney, Errollyn Wallen and Peter Nelson have, for instance, written works to complement the era of George Buchanan, the Song of Songs settings of Heinrich Schütz and the motets of Bach. |
The Consort has appeared at festivals in Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands as well as at the Edinburgh International Festival. It has worked in collaboration with ensembles including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia 21, Scottish Ensemble, Mr McFall’s Chamber, Paragon Ensemble, Florilegium, La Serenissima and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, has appeared on BBC 2 and BBC 4 television and been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland.
Under the direction of Ben Parry, the Consort has also recorded works by Copland and Barber for the Linn label and appears on the recordings of Mozart’s operas Il Seraglio and Idomeneo with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Music by William Byrd and Thomas Tallis and a recording of The People’s Mass, were released on the Delphian label, as well as Corrinna Hewat’s Silhouette, which the ensemble premiered on the Island of Mull in 2003.
The Dunedin Consort and Players will perform Handel's Messiah in its well-known later version at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on Monday 17 December at 7:30pm. They will perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the same venue on Saturday 15 March 2008, and in April next year will present in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dunkeld and Glasgow a programme featuring arrangements by Bach of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, a Palestrina Mass, a Vivaldi Organ Concerto and one of Bach’s own Cantatas which he later arranged for his Christmas Oratorio.
Education and outreach are an integral part of the Consort's work in the Scottish community. In the winter of 2002 they performed The People’s Mass with children's choirs throughout the country, collaborating with six Scottish-based composers, and Harvey Brough's Requiem in Blue, which involved several hundred children from a variety of different schools and backgrounds.
The Dunedin Consort is now inviting bookings from amateur singers from across Scotland to join them in workshops during January and February 2008 that will culminate in a performance of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt, on Saturday 9 February at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. The model of a residential weekend in Dunblane (18-20 January), day workshops in Aberdeen, Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a final performance with the Consort, follows on from a similar project early in 2007 when over 30 amateur singers explored and performed Bach’s Motets with the Consort. The workshops will be led by John Butt and Susan Hamilton, together with singers from the Consort, and participants who attend the Dunblane weekend will be invited to form the main choir in the oratorio, and will be joined by leaders of the Dunedin Players and students of the RSAMD for the performance in Edinburgh.
| For more information, visit the Dunedin Consort website. | |