By Bury Bach Choir - May 14, 2022

Rachel Dyson makes a welcome return to sing with the Choir

Northumbrian soprano Rachel Dyson will join the Choir for our concert on Saturday 21 May at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, to sing Vivaldi’s Gloria, which she has sung previously at The Sage in Gateshead.

Rachel was a member of the Estonian National Opera ensemble in Tallinn until recently. Her performances included Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Kalman's Die Zirkusprinzessin, Wagner’s Fliegende Hollander, Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca, and Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades.

This will be Rachel’s fourth appearance with the Choir – she says ‘I’m so much looking forward to coming back to Bury St Edmunds and singing with the Choir again’.

Other performances include the title role in Patience at the Buxton International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, as well as a ‘Pot Luck’Pirates of Penzance in which she sang Mabel, Columbina in Lusvardi’s comic opera Colombo Tutto Tondo at the Galway Festival, Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen for The Sage Gateshead Opera Chorus, and an evening performance for Gourmet Opera at Wembley Stadium. 

Rachel has also appeared in recent TV and DVD recordings of Wagner's Tannhäuser and Gounod's Faust.

She’ll be sure of a great welcome in Bury St Edmunds next weekend.

For more details of the concert, and to buy tickets, go to the choir's website www.burybachchoir.co.uk

By Bury Bach Choir - March 08, 2022

International star Robert Murray sings with the Bury Bach Choir

We are delighted that world-renowned tenor Robert Murray will join the Bury Bach Choir for our 90th anniversary concert on Saturday 19 March at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

He will sing the Evangelist in Bach’s St John Passion, telling the story through intricate recitative and the beautiful tenor arias. If you came to our performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion three years ago, you will remember how movingly and brilliantly he conveyed the emotion of the piece.

We are so lucky to have him to sing with us in Bury St Edmunds and it will be a performance not to be missed! He is fitting in our concert between his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, in their new production of Peter Grimes conducted by Edward Gardner, and the Symphony Hall Boston, in Haydn’s Creation, conducted by Harry Christophers. 

Robert Murray studied voice at the Royal College of Music before joining the National Opera Studio and then the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. 

He has performed principal roles with the Royal Opera House and Hamburg State Opera, the English National, Welsh National, Norwegian and Bergen National operas, the Venice Biennale, and the Edinburgh, Beijing and Salzburg festivals.

In concert, Murray has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Spira Mirabilis, Barokksolistene, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra, The Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Later this year, Rob will return to Garsington Opera as Peter Quint/Prologue in The Turn of the Screw, sing Mark in The Midsummer Marriage in concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner, make his debut as Florestan in Fidelio with the Irish National Opera, before joining The Cunning Little Vixen on tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Further ahead, Rob will make his debut at Teatro alla Scala Milan as Antonio in The Tempest.

Recent highlights include the world premiere of Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground at the Royal Opera House and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. He will also appear at the Aldeburgh Festival, Brighton Festival, Wigmore Hall, Dartington Hall and Oxford Lieder Festival.

In addition to recordings for major labels, Rob is committed to contemporary music and has performed the music of Gerald Barry, Hans Werne Henze, Harrison Birtwistle, Colin Matthews, Cecilia McDowell, George Benjamin, Elliott Carter and Emily Hall.

To buy tickets for this special anniversary concert, which starts at 7.30pm, phone the box office on 01284 758000, or go to burybachchoir.co.uk and follow the links.

By Bury Bach Choir - December 08, 2020

Bury Bach Choir singing again 

Members of the Bury Bach Choir have started having socially distanced rehearsals in the Apex concert hall. The choir numbers about one hundred members, but due to limitations imposed by the current situation fewer than forty have been able to start singing together at this stage (see photos). Nevertheless, this is a milestone after such a difficult nine months and is welcomed by the entire choir. The rehearsals are being live streamed so that those members unable to attend can join in from home.The choir’s Chair, Tess Wright, said “We are delighted to be able to start singing again, and hope soon to be able to announce details of our 2021 concert programme”.

The choir’s last concert was Verdi’s Requiem, performed in St Edmundsbury Cathedral on 7 March 2020. Since then, despite not being allowed to sing together, choir members have been busy with many other activities including online voice coaching from the choir’s Co-Presidents Graeme Danby and Valerie Reid; online lectures from the choir’s Music Director, Philip Reed; a continually active WhatsApp group; and a weekly zoom meeting when choir members chat together and discuss plans. As always, the choir’s committee has been highly active, holding everything together and making sure we are ready to perform again when the conditions allow. 

A significant event has been the retirement of alto singer Pam Reed, the choir’s Treasurer for the last fourteen years. During this time, she has been a key member of the management team and has contributed immensely to the choir’s ability to do what we do - make music for the people of West Suffolk. She is replaced by tenor Richard Fletcher. 

The saddest event during the year has been the death of James Recknell, the choir’s outstanding accompanist. Details of his work for the choir over many years are here on the choir’s website. We plan to dedicate a concert to him in due course. We are extremely fortunate that the immensely talented pianist Christopher Moore is happy to take his place until we appoint a new accompanist.