<img src='' title='Event Category: Lunchtime Concerts' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: Lunchtime Concerts

Since their foundation in 1957, the Tiffin Choirs have worked extensively with the world’s greatest conductors, performed for the world’s finest musical institutions and recorded with the world’s leading musical ensembles. For this festive lunchtime concert, they’ll perform Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, a beloved and distinctive choral work from 1942 that sets an eclectic collection of medieval and early modern English poems.

The Tiffin Choirs are renowned for the breadth of their work, which spans symphonic, opera, choral and film music. This has recently included singing at the BBC Proms, with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Opera Holland Park and the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia and London and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. The choir regularly records at Abbey Road Studios and performs at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Barbican.

Recent symphonic and opera highlights include a televised performance of Britten’s War Requiem from the BBC Proms with the LSO under Sir Antonio Pappano; several performances of Mahler’s Symphonies Nos 3 and 8 with the RPO and Vasily Petrenko, LSO under Michael Tilson Thomas and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel; John Adams’ On the transmigration of souls with the LPO and Vladimir Jurowski; Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades at the Royal Opera; La bohème with English National Opera and Music With Changing Parts with the Philip Glass Ensemble.

The choir has recorded most of the orchestral repertoire that includes children’s choirs, with notable releases including Mahler’s Eighth Symphony under Klaus Tennstedt (EMI), which was nominated for a Grammy Award; an album with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh; Handel’s Samson with the Dunedin Consort and John Butt; and an appearance on Madonna’s 2019 album, Madame X.

The choir’s 60th-anniversary concert in 2017 was broadcast on Classic FM, and in 2023 Tiffin became the first state school choir to broadcast Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3. The choir recorded for the soundtrack for The Hobbit and music for the BBC comedy drama Fleabag, appeared on set in the films Philomena and Batman and performed in Titanic Live! with James Horner.

Join St Martin’s Emerging Artists for a festive lunchtime concert filled with Christmas music for unaccompanied voices spanning several centuries.

From Vaughan Williams’ “This is the Truth” and Bach’s “O Little One Sweet” to the classics “Silent Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” this performance is the perfect way to celebrate the start of the festive season.

Programme

Weir Drop Down Ye Heavens From Above
Audience carol: Once in Royal David’s City
Es Ist Ein Ros
Kerensa Briggs A Tender Shoot
Chavarria Adam Lay y Bounden
Audience carol: In the Bleak Midwinter
McDowall The Magi
Cornelius Three Kings
Gritton Follow That Star
Audience carol: We Three Kings
Lucy Walker The Angels Song
Silent Night arr. Lindner
Bullard Sweet Babe sang She
Audience carol: O Come All Ye Faithful
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Step into a recital of captivating music with violinist Emmanuel Coppey and pianist Sofia Sacco. Their programme promises a journey through masterworks, from the intricate beauty of Bach’s Sonata in C minor and the charm of Rachmaninov’s Morceaux de Salon, to the profound depths of Shostakovich’s Violin and Piano Sonata. Prepare for an hour of wonderful music.

Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a delightful and impressive collection of 30 variations on a simple aria. Originally written for harpsichord, it’s a true showcase of Bach’s genius, filled with clever twists and playful creativity. Each variation has its own unique style—some are lively and cheerful, while others are more introspective or elegant. Composed for the harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, Goldberg Variations is a joyful, captivating work that continues to charm listeners with its inventiveness and beauty, offering something new with every listen.

American pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu has been praised as “one of the most exciting pianists of our time… a deep thinker, thoroughly in command” (The Arts Desk). Recently winning BBC Music Magazine’s 2024 Newcomer Award, he is establishing an international reputation as a fearless and probing interpreter of a wide array of music.

George has appeared across the Americas and Europe, appearing at major venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Konzerthaus Berlin, Kennedy Center, St Martin-in-the Fields, the Southbank Centre, and Kings Place. As concerto soloist he has performed with National Symphony Orchestra (USA), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, amongst others. A frequent solo recitalist and chamber musician, George is a founding member of Trio Zimbalist. 

George’s debut solo album, MIRRORS, was released with Platoon Classical to international acclaim, winning BBC Music Magazine’s 2024 Newcomer Award. 

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, George studied with Jonathan Biss and Meng-Chieh Liu at the Curtis Institute of Music, and then with Christopher Elton and Joanna MacGregor at the Royal Academy of Music.

This programme reflects the core of Connaught Brass: reshaping and breathing new life into the brass quintet tradition through new commissions and bold arrangements, blended with a deep respect for the genre’s roots and heritage.

It features a brand-new commission by Dani Howard, supported by the City Music Foundation, Vaughan Williams Foundation and Kirckman Concert Society, and is preceded by the Baroque sound world of Rameau’s majestic and opulent opera Dardanus, arranged by long-term collaborator William Foster. The concert closes with Victor Ewald’s Quintet No. 4 – an epic, yet often overlooked, four-movement work from one of the founding voices of the brass quintet genre.

Together, these pieces speak to Connaught’s ongoing mission – to expand the quintet repertoire, collaborate with leading musical voices and bring fresh energy to brass chamber music.