The Ulster Consort – The Chilcott Programme
Bob Chilcott A Little Jazz Mass
Described by The Observer as “a contemporary hero of British Choral Music”, Bob Chilcott is one of today’s most widely performed composers of choral music. This programme will feature his highly effective setting of the Latin Missa Brevis in which Chilcott’s jazz influences are clearly referenced. It is soulful music drawn from many different jazz traditions, including ‘Swing’ and the ‘Blues’. A Little Jazz Mass received its premiere in St Louis Cathedral, New Orleans in 2004 and is one of Chilcott’s most popular and well-loved works. The Ulster Consort is very proud to call Bob Chilcott its Vice Patron.
John Rutter The Wind in the Willows
Adapted by David Grant from the Kenneth Grahame stories, John Rutter’s The Wind in the Willows was originally performed by the King’s Singers and the City of London Sinfonia in 1981. It is written for four-part choir with a children’s chorus and celebrates nature, friendship, loyalty, and adventure. Join Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger as they navigate the countryside and learn valuable lessons about loyalty and friendship.
Other works will include Chilcott’s ‘Can you hear Me’ and ‘Be Thou my vision’, and Rutter’s ‘A Prayer of St Patrick’ and ‘Gaelic Blessing’.
The Ulster Consort made its debut with a stellar, critically acclaimed performance of Handel’s Messiah in December 2019. It is Northern Ireland’s newest professional music ensemble and one of the very few professional vocal ensembles in the country. The large core of the Consort’s performers consists of Northern Irish singers, and singers based in Northern Ireland. Its energies are focused on concert performances of the finest works of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods – working with period instruments and in an historically informed manner – through to the glorious smaller-scaled works of the Romantic era and the 20th century. It is also collaborating with some of Europe’s finest contemporary composers in concert and recordings. 2023 saw the first full season of the Consort and its first collaboration with the world- renowned Ulster Orchestra. The Ulster Consort’s ‘home’ is Belfast, but it performs throughout Northern Ireland, and will perform in the Republic of Ireland, and further afield. The Consort is delighted to be performing in Armagh, Ballymena, Belfast, Enniskillen, Holywood, Londonderry/Derry, for the first time in 2024, and to be returning to Newcastle, County Down. The Ulster Consort is dedicated to nurturing the current and next generations of Northern Ireland’s musicians through its educational and outreach programmes. Collaborations have included events with the Ulster Society of Organists and Choirmasters, and with The Conservatoire Belfast.
