Buckie Choral Union soring concert to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday with a jazzy touch
A community choir are putting the finishing touches to their eagerly-awaited April performance.
There will be a decidedly jazzy feel to next month’s Buckie Choral Union performance as they celebrate the birth of William Shakespeare with somngs and sonnets by the great playwright.
These will be set to music by George Shearing, the well-known blind jazz pianist and composer.
Born in the UK, Shearing played with many famous bands and musicians such as Stephane Grappelli, before moving to the USA. Possibly his best known composition is Lullaby of Birdland, but he continued performing and composing into the 2000s and was knighted in 2007.
The Shakespeare Songs and Sonnets have an English musical background with an American jazz influence and blend the choir with jazz piano and bass.
Also on the programme is A Little Jazz Mass by the celebrated English composer Bob Chilcott - when a tenor with the King’s Singers, Chilcott collaborated with Shearing amongst others, confirming his love of jazz music which he combines beautifully with the Latin Mass in this expressive piece.
The Shakespeare theme also appears in Three Madrigals by the American composer Emma Lou Diemer who died last year at the grand old age of 96, and to counterbalance this there will also be some Celtic songs from the other nations of the UK.
The concert is on Sunday, April 6 in St Peter’s Church, Buckie at 7.30pm - tickets will be available at the door, online and at Right Medicine Pharmacy.
Last year’s spring concert saw the Choral Union welcome back an old friend in the shape of Dr Kathryn Arnould, who sang the soprano solos in Eternal Light by Howard Goodall (probably best known as the composer of the theme tune to The Vicar of Dibley).
The baritone soloist was Andrew McIntosh, vocal coach at Gordonstoun.
