THE Manchester Chorale will visit the island at the end of this month to present concerts in Port Erin, Peel and Douglas.
‘Having toured such places as France, Scandanavia and Germany, it seemed a logical step to tour the Isle of Man’, said its chairman Alan Hazell.
In fact, it was his links with friends in Peel from more than 40 years ago, and discovering Mancunian links with Erin Arts Centre director John Bethel, that helped to form the idea to tour the island.
The Chorale, originally founded by the BBC in 1979, has appeared on radio and television and currently makes regular contributions to the Daily Service on Radio 4.
Bob Chilcott’s Simple Pictures of Tomorrow and Alan Woods’ Music’s Empire were commissioned to celebrate recent anniversaries.
Although essentially a chamber choir, it also performs in an augmented guise with guest singers, and even supported Pavarotti at the Manchester Arena and Carreras in Sheffield in front of huge audiences.
The Chorale regularly appears in Raymond Gubbay concerts at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
And, in January, it premiered Luke Carver Goss’s Pure Gold, a 4x4 Relay with the Black Dyke Band at the Royal Northern College of Music followed by performances at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, the Harrogate International Festival and the South Bank Centre, London – all part of the Cultural Olympiad.
In May, it performed the UK premier of Karl Jenkins’ The Peacemakers at the Bridgewater Hall, conducted by the composer.
Originally from Oldham, musical director Jill Henderson-Wild studied cello at the Royal College of Music, before becoming a choral scholar at Girton College, Cambridge.
After graduation, she studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Geneva Conservatoire and was awarded Le Prix du Conseil de l’Etat.
Jill currently works as vocal animateur and delivers INSET training for teachers.
She was previously chorus master to the Leeds Philharmonic Society and continues to undertake free-lance conducting, vocal training and adjudicating engagements.
As a registered charity, committed to adding to the musical experience of local communities, its programme also includes concerts in churches and other venues.
While in the island, some 30 voices will be singing in three concerts.
At 8pm on Saturday, October 27, the group will perform at the Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin.
Between 3pm and 4.15pm the following day, the choristers will sing in the St German’s Cathedral.
They will return for Evensong at 4.30pm.
Then at 7.30pm on Tuesday, October 30, the group will perform in St George’s Church, Douglas.
Alan said: ‘Members will have the Monday off to do some serious touring of the island.
‘For many of them this will be their first visit, and they mean to use their time to the full.’
He said: ‘When they sing, they’ll be covering just about every choral genre you can think of and from a host of different countries and continents, so there should be something to suit everyone.’
