5:30 p.m.
Choral Evensong this evening is sung by members of the Saint Thomas Girls’ Course.
In 2005, music directors in the New York area expressed interest in joining together to form a chorister experience of the highest caliber for girls. The Choir School was delighted to offer space, resources and experience to the endeavor. Since then, the Choir School has proudly taken full ownership of the course and developed a schedule and musical standard parallel to that of the boys during the academic terms. In 2008, the course expanded to nine days. In 2011, the Course began on Saturday, July 30th and concludes on Sunday, August 7th. In addition to singing this evening, the girls sing on Thursday and alongside the Gentlemen of the Choir on Sunday.
‚ñ∫Over the years, two distinguished female organists & directors of music have shared the musical direction of the course: Sarah Baldock, who directed the girls last year and the year before, and Sarah MacDonald, who was last with us for the course in 2008 and returns to direct this year. Both hold prestigious positions in the United Kingdom and are mentors and role models in every way for the young women who participate in the course.
Sarah MacDonald came to the UK from her native Canada in 1992 as Organ Scholar of Robinson College, Cambridge after studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She was appointed Director of Music in Chapel at Selwyn College in 1999, and is the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Sarah has taught organ and conducting for Eton Choral Courses, the Oundle School for Young Organists, and courses run by the Royal College of Organists. Sarah has played numerous recitals and made several recordings and has conducted choirs on tours throughout the UK, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, and Canada. A winner of the RCO Limpus Prize, Sarah is also a Fellow of the RCO.
‚ñ∫Sarah MacDonald’s Music Notes for tonight’s evensong:
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (b.1934) is currently Master of the Queen’s Music. He studied at the University of Manchester, the Royal Northern College of Music, and Princeton University. He lives off the north coast of Scotland, on one of the Orkney Islands, and his music has been performed around the world. The Introit for tonight’s service is a relatively early work (1962), and takes the form of a four-part canon for equal voices. The words are a hymn in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The semi-chorus of older, more experienced girls sing the Introit.
The Ely Responses were composed for Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir in 2008, and are in regular use in various cathedrals in the UK and also in New Zealand.
Philip Moore (b.1943) was Organist and Master of the Choristers at York Minster for much of his career, having studied at the Royal College of Music in London. His music is very popular in cathedrals and churches throughout the world, and this set of canticles based on plainsong modes is a beautiful example of his wonderful gift for melody.
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) is one of the best known English composers of the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods. He was Director of the Royal Academy of Music and Professor of Music (i.e., head of the department) at the University of Oxford, having studied there as an undergraduate (he also held an honorary degree from the University of Cambridge). He is probably most famous for having composed the music for the hymn “Jerusalem‚Äù. The anthem for this evening is the original version (from Parry’s Oratorio “Judith‚Äù) of the much-loved hymn tune “Repton‚Äù, usually sung to the words “Dear Lord and Father of mankind‚Äù.
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2 personnel row(s)
