Presented as part of Visions & Voices: Echoes of William Blake.
The event will be hosted by The Blake Singers, a new choir specialising in the performance of choral settings of poetry and literature, conducted by Tom Williams (Director of Music at St Matthew's Kensington Olympia, former Choral Director at St Martin-in-the-Fields and founder of The Erebus Ensemble).
Formed of scholars and graduates from some of the country’s top music colleges, The Blake Singers will perform arrangements of Blake poems set to music by the likes of Tavener and Parry, as well as by contemporary composers such as Gabriel Jackson.
The short concert will also include other literary works set to music, including the words of poet Walt Whitman, who was inspired by Blake (arranged for choir by emerging composer Jonathan Rippon).
Solo/duet extracts from Ten Blake Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams and from Britten’s Songs and Proverbs of William Blake will complete the programme. We are delighted to welcome oboist Nicola Hands, pianist Sam Bardsley, soprano soloist Ailsa Campbell and baritone soloist Sam Hucklebridge.
The Blake Singers choir has been formed especially for this event, coordinated by Didier Rochard, Co-Founder of London Contemporary Voices and Sarah Rennix whose previous collaborations include The Sixteen, Britten Sinfonia and Charles Wood Festival.