2019-2020 Season No. 40
2018-2019 << 2019-2020
Scheduled Events
| Date | Event | Venue | Ticketing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 21st | Singing Day, led by Leslie Olive - A Sea Symphony | Holy Trinity Church, Redhill | |
| Oct 26th | Choral Evensong, followed by Vivaldi Gloria | St Mary's, Reigate | No tickets required |
| Nov 30th | Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 (Organ), Fauré Requiem | St Mary's, Reigate | |
| Dec 15th | Carols | St Mary's, Balcombe | |
| Mar 28th, 2020 | Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony | St Edmundsbury Cathedral | Cancelled |
| Mar 29th | Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony | Duke's Hall, RAM, London | Cancelled |
| Apr 17th | Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony | St Salvator Church, Prague | |
| Apr 25th | Singing Day - Mark Wigglesworth - Verdi Requiem | St Mary's, Reigate | Postponed |
| July 7th | Verdi Requiem, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 | QEH, South Bank | Cancelled |
Season Overview
Our 40th season started with our now-traditional September singing day, with Leslie Olive leading us through Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony (to be performed in 2020).
In October we celebrated forty years of concerts with a choral evensong in St Mary's Church Reigate, where it all began, followed by a short concert featuring Paul Carr's Ubi caritas and Vivaldi's Gloria. A retiring collection in aid of St Catherine's Hospice, Crawley, raised over £800.
Our November concert in Reigate featured the ever-popular 3rd Symphony of Camille Saint-Saëns, the "Organ Symphony", with Alexander Binns as soloist. Also in the programme was Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. Our traditional Christmas concert of festive music and readings took place in St Mary's Church, Balcombe.
In 2020 we had planned to give no less than three performances of Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, in collaboration with the Eye Bach Choir and the Prague Conservatoire Orchestra - the first in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, the second on the following day in the Duke's Hall in the Royal Academy of Music in London, and the third in Prague as part of a mini-tour. Unfortunately, with the travel and gathering restrictions imposed by the governments of the Czech Republic and the UK, these will not now be going ahead.
In April, Mark Wigglesworth, former director of English National Opera, was due to lead an open singing day in preparation for our performance, entirely from memory, of Verdi's Requiem, in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank. Due to restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus, this singing day has been postponed indefinitely.
Also as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Verdi Requiem performance in July has been cancelled.
Quite a year. !!
Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
Leslie Olive, EAC founder and artistic director, leads this singing day exploring Ralph Vaughan Williams' exhilarating A Sea Symphony - the EAC will be performing this symphony no less than three times in 2020.
Venue Holy Trinity Church, Redhill RH1 2BX
Saturday September 21st, 2019 10am - 4pm
Ticket Prices: £20, £5 (Students)
Why not join us? Click here for details of our upcoming performances of A Sea Symphony, including our trip to Prague in April 2020.
Celebration choral evensong
Responses : Ayleward
Evening Canticles : Dyson in D
Ireland : Greater love hath no man
Howells : Like as the hart
Browse : Holy, heavenly love
Handel : Hallelujah Chorus
Revd. Mike Fox
Conducted by Leslie Olive
St Mary's Church, Reigate RH2 7RN
Saturday October 26th, 2019 5pm
Followed, after a suitable interval for refreshment, by a performance of
Vivaldi Gloria
Paul Carr Ubi Caritas
at approximately 6.15pm
with
Crispian Steele-Perkins
Ian le Grice
Simon Edge-Partington
This will be a family occasion, with the solos sung by Chorale members, the organ played by our recently-retired organist Ian le Grice, and instrumental obbligati played by our friend Crispian Steele-Perkins.
No tickets required.
Retiring collection in aid of St Catherine's Hospice, Crawley
Fauré Requiem - soloists Alice Baker, Christopher Foster
Duruflé Notre Père
Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 ("Organ") - soloist Alexander Binns
Conducted by Leslie Olive
St Mary's Church, Chart Lane, Reigate RH2 7RN
Saturday November 30th, 2019 7.30pm
Ticket Prices: £22 (Front Nave) Sold Out, £17 (Rear Nave) Sold Out, £12, U18s/full-time students £6. Disabled and carer - two tickets at half-price.
More details about the venue, including Accessibility ►
Please note that this performance will be taking place in the chancel of the church.
The Chorale's traditional Christmas celebration, with a new programme of carols, festive songs and readings.
Conducted by Leslie Olive
Sunday December 15th, 2019 4.30pm
Ticket Prices: £12.
Unfortunately, restrictions imposed by the government of the Czech Republic are preventing the Prague Conservatoire Orchestra from travelling to England to join us for these two performances of A Sea Symphony. Combined with advice from the UK government, this has forced the cancellation of these concerts. We hope to be able to re-introduce the work into our concert programme in the near future.
We are joining forces with Eye Bach Choir and the Orchestra of the Prague Conservatoire in three performances of Vaughan Williams' majestic A Sea Symphony, in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, at the Royal Academy of Music in London and in Prague, the orchestra's home city.
Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote A Sea Symphony, his first and longest symphony, between 1903 and 1909, and it was first performed in 1910 at the Leeds Festival, conducted by the composer on his 38th birthday. The text comes from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and the symphony is scored for soprano, baritone, chorus and a large orchestra. The chorus sings in each of the four movements.
The EAC last sang it in a concert in Snape Maltings in 2010 in their 30th anniversary season.
English Arts Chorale
Eye Bach Choir
Prague Conservatoire Orchestra
Conducted by Leslie Olive
Julie Roberts Soprano
Philip Smith Baritone
Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
Dvořák Te Deum
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Smetana's Vltava will not now be performed at this concert.
Tickets from whatsonwestsuffolk.co.uk ►
Saturday March 28th, 2020 7.30pm
English Arts Chorale
Eye Bach Choir
Prague Conservatoire Orchestra
Conducted by Miriam Nemcova
Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
Dvořák Te Deum
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Smetana's Vltava will not now be performed at this concert.
Duke's Hall, Royal Academy of Music
Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT
access ►
Sunday March 29th, 2020 6pm (Don't forget the clocks go forward!)
Tickets available now from the RAM website here ► or call 0207 873 7300
Continuing the collaboration with Eye Bach Choir and the Prague Conservatoire Orchestra, the Chorale is visiting Prague for a short tour in the week after Easter. The programme for the main concert will be a repeat of the concerts in St Edmundsbury and the Duke's Hall, and additionally there will be a performance of Fauré's Requiem.
Friday, 17 April
St Ludmila Church
Fauré Requiem
Saturday, 18 April
St Salvator Church
Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Smetana's Vltava will not now be performed at this concert.
Why not join us as a Visiting Singer for these performances? Click here for details of our Prague Package.
Unfortunately, restrictions imposed by the government to combat the spread of the coronavirus has forced the cancellation of this singing day. We hope to be able to re-arrange it sometime in the near future.
Mark Wigglesworth, internationally-acclaimed conductor and former director of the ENO, will guide us through Verdi's Requiem as part of our preparation for the performance, entirely from memory, in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank.
St Mary's Church, Chart Lane, Reigate RH2 7RN
Saturday April 25th, 2020 10am - 4pm
Ticket Prices: £20, £5 (Students)
Please note that this workshop is for singers who are familiar with the Verdi Requiem.
Season Finale - cancelled
The finale of our 40th season is a performance of Verdi's great Requiem on London's South Bank. Soloists include Linda Richardson, who sang in our performances of Britten's War Requiem last year, and Emily Bauer-Jones, who sang with us on our tour to Prague in 2006.
Also in the programme is Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, with soloist Giuseppe Guarrera, runner-up in the Montreal International Competition in 2017.
Parry I was glad
Verdi Requiem
Linda Richardson Soprano
Emily Bauer-Jones Mezzo
Andrew Henley Tenor
Emyr Wyn Jones Bass
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb minor Op. 23
Soloist : Giuseppe Guarrera
English Arts Orchestra
Conducted by Leslie Olive