"The Golden Age"

at The Old Barn, Parkway, Upper Siddington
on Wednesday 23rd July 2008 at 7.45 pm

A joint concert with Drake's Viols, as part of the The Early Music Festival.

Music by Byrd,Tallis and Gibbons.

The concert will include pieces by Byrd and Parsons, Tallis Lamentations 1 and 2, and In Pace by Blytheman, sung by Cantores.
There will also be two joint items with choir and viols by Gibbons: See, see the word is incarnate and This is the record of John.

Jenny Tribe was originally a wind player and teacher; she took up the viol as an adult in order to play the renaissance repertoire, studying with Alison Crum. She has performed with Musica Mundi and the Bristol Consort of viols. After moving to Cheltenham she founded Drake's Music, a consort of viols and voices, who have played in St Patrick's church, Soho Square and entertained the ISM. Last July they gave a sellout fundraising concert in aid of the Holst Museum in Cheltenham, which was repeated in Hereford for the Three Choirs Festival Fringe.

"The Glory of Venice"

Parish Church of John the Baptist, Cirencester
on Saturday 15th March 2008 at 7.30 pm.

This was a rare chance to attend a concert in the Parish Church this year, as extensive restoration means that it will be closed as a venue for many months.
The audience numbered over 200 and it was an amazing evening of music.The sound of brass rang around the building and the choir were in good voice.In the quieter moments, the violinists were a joy to listen to.
A truly glorious sound.

Concert in the Church of
St Peter and St Paul, Northleach,
Saturday 8th September at 7.30 pm
Cantores was very pleased to perform again at Northleach with it's wonderful accoustic and lovely organ.

The programme was largely English with organ interludes in each half played by Ben Nicholas.

Many thanks to the small but appreciative audience.

Concert in St Peter's Church, Stratton, Cirencester Saturday 30th June at 7.30 pm

Once again we saing at St Peter's Church, by kind invitation of Rev Peter Quinnell.
The church had a flower festival that weekend , so we were able to enjoy the flowers as well as listening to some lovely English music.

For a review of this concert click here

This concert was held on 17th June 2006. The title was taken from a poem by W.H.Auden and David Barlow made a welcome return, to provide continuity and readings .
This concert was given in aid of The Save the Children Fund and £500 was raised.

Woodchester Mansion

This wonderful venue was the setting for our final concert with conductor Chris Davey on 24th May 2006.
Chris devised a programme of some of our favourite music which had happy memories for the choir.

"The birds and the bees"

Cantores spring concert was held in the chapel of Leckhampton Court, a Sue Ryder Hospice in Cheltenham.
The concert included such lovely songs as The Bluebird by Stanford and The Turtle Dove arranged by RVWilliams.Songs with bees in the title are not easily found but to go with the well known madrigal Sweet honey-sucking bees by Wilbye, we found a setting of words by Thomas Lodge (16th century) titled Rosalind's Madrigal by local composer Michael Gryspeerdt,with the opening words "Love in my bosom like a bee....."

The programme also included Stanford's The Bluebird in memory of Steve Whitworth a staunch supporter of the choir.The choir were on top form and had the audience laughing at The Goslings a Victorian tragic tale, and tapping their feet to Let's do it by Cole Porter .

We are pleased to announce, that with ticket sales and some very generous donations, we were able to present over £1000 to the Hospice.

Excerpts from a review by GDMorley: I was enchanted to sit in the lovely chapel at Leckhampton Hospice, while the choir regaled us with many well known songs, as well as one or two new ones.I was impressed by the degree of eye contact every member kept with the conductor, but what was not so obvious is the degree of ear contact which must be present also.Occasionally we caught a glimpse of the very quiet singing which is so beautiful but so difficult.It is always a good sign when the audience is reluctant to leave at the end of such a lovely evening.

The Reverend Peter Quinnell usually invites Cantores to sing an Advent service in North Cerney but this year it was the turn of St Peters.

The carols included; There is no Rose by Joubert, Hymn to the Virgin by Villette and Adam Lay y-bounden by Boris Ord.

Cantores was conducted by a guest conductor; Julia Craig-McFeely.

Our Christmas concert this year was at Naunton Baptist Church by kind invitation of the Minister, Rev.Fiona Milton.This was our first visit to Naunton, but we hope it will not be the last. We were made very welcome and sang to an enthusiastic audience.

After the concert we heard a short illustrated talk about "Hatti Handbags" a charity which supports disadvantaged women in Nepal. It was a heart-rending story. The choir and audience were invited to view the goods on sale, which resulted in over £1000 going to the charity . You can find out more at www.hattitrading.co.uk

It was with great pleasure, that Cantores returned to the church of St Peter and St Paul Northleach on 19th November 2005

Here is part of the review by RND.......as always they (Cantores) gave the audience a most enjoyable time with the programme entitled "Sing Joyfully". The choir certainly started in this vein with Byrd's anthem, sung with gusto and attack. Outstanding in the following items were Christus Factus Est by Anerio and O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen....

"Acoustic delight on the menu" was the headline in last week's Standard. All the ingredients blended so well and Chris Davey , the chef, is to be congratulated in producing a memorable and outstanding meal.

On 25th June 2005 Cantores gave a concert at St Sampson’s Church in Cricklade in aid of the Parish Hall Refurbishment Project, which raised £250 for their funds.

Here is part of the review, as reported in The Chronicle.

Photo by Dave Webb

"Having so much enjoyed singing in the marvellous acoustic of St Sampson’s on their last visit, the choir were keen to bring several new items to our attention.
Two sections of the Mass by Frank Martin (1890-1974) a little known Swiss composer formed the centrepiece of a wide-ranging programme, which also included Mozart’s beautiful Ave Verum Corpus and a section from Rachmaninov’s Midnight Vigil.
Jazz standards and popular songs “book-ended” the programme to great effect together with three entertaining readings
Our very great thanks to Cantores and their Musical Director, Chris Davey, for a truly memorable evening of splendid singing, and to all those who contributed so generously to the Parish Hall Restoration Project."