Cappella Concert: A Christmas Tapestry
Sat, 6 Dec 2025
Drew Cantrill-Fenwick writes: A very warm welcome to ‘A Christmas Tapestry’. As the nights draw in and the air takes on that familiar wintry sharpness, we gather to weave together music, poetry and story into a Nordic-inspired celebration of the season. Tonight’s programme moves from the expectant hush of Advent to the brightness of Christmas Day, threaded throughout with moments of candle- light, reflection and joyful song. Our Nordic theme invites us into a world of deep forests, star-bright skies and the gentle comforts of hygge – that cherished sense of warmth, companionship and simple pleasure. In the midst of winter, hygge reminds us to savour togetherness; to rest, to breathe, and to delight in the small wonders that this season brings. You will hear echoes of that atmosphere in the serene carols of Scandinavia, from the luminous ‘Jul, jul’ to the lively Staffan traditions of Sweden, associated with St Stephen’s Day. We also nod to one of the most beautiful Nordic customs of all: the feast of Santa Lucia. Celebrated on 13 December, it honours the bringer of light, traditionally marked with processions of candles borne through the darkness. Lucia’s radiance symbolises hope at the very heart of winter – a theme that runs through so much of tonight’s music, from Praetorius’s chorale to the quiet mystery of Gjeilo’s writing. Programme available for download here.CONCERT: An English and American Songbook
Sat, 28 Jun 2025
Cappella Concert: Cantate Domino
Sat, 5 Apr 2025
Drew Cantrill-Fenwick writes: This evening’s concert brings together the music of several composers of the mid- to late- Renaissance to recreate the celebration of a festal Mass in Bavaria around 1600. At the heart of the programme is a setting of the Mass Ordinary by the cosmopolitan Orlando Lassus - Flemish by birth, Italian by training and Bavarian by choice. For over forty years he served as a singer and then Kapellmeister at the court of the Duke of Bavaria, and his frequent European travels during this time gave his music a distinctively international flavour. This work, scored for two choirs and doubled by instruments for the grandest effect, exists only in manuscript form, dating from 1583, so its provenance (including its exotic title) remain a mystery. It is perhaps based on a madrigal of the same name of Venetian origin; Amphitrite was a sea nymph. The movements of the Mass will be heard as Lassus intended, that is, separated by other liturgical works - antiphons, motets, psalms and instrumental pieces. The scope of the setting allows for uniformity and variety in equal measure, as well as a virtuoso display of choral writing. Lassus creates different groups from within both choirs to provide an almost endless textural range, from the intimate to the overwhelming. Programme available for download hereCappella Concert: Music for Advent
Sat, 30 Nov 2024
Cappella’s Advent concert on Saturday 30th November in Saint James’s United Reformed Church, Newcastle, certainly left both choir and audience truly uplifted, ready for the festive season! The programme included familiar seasonal hymns and carols, as well as music from a variety of composers, from the sixteenth century to the present day: and a variety of styles, from powerful polyphony to contemporary works. Our singing was enhanced by accomplished accompaniment from our organist for the evening, William Dore, who enhanced the programme with some lovely solos. This was our first time under the direction of Drew Cantrill-Fenwick, who devised a varied programme for us, which included some challenging repertoire! Our conducting scholar, Eleanor Cully Boehringer, also took to the podium; conducting a piece by Kerensa Briggs, a British composer, which was very well received. All enjoyed seasonal refreshments and chatting to friends after the concert. Programme available for download here.
Cappella Concert "Air"
Sat, 29 Jun 2024
Simon Lee writes: Welcome to the final concert of Cappella’s 23/24 season. Tonight’s programme has something for everyone and features not one but two world premieres! We are grateful for the support of the Cappella Friends and other benefactors through whose generosity we have been able to commission a new work specially for this concert: Air- Song-Soul by composer Lucy Walker with words (also commissioned specially) by Venetia Bridges. The choir has loved getting to know this beautiful work and we hope you will enjoy it too. We are delighted to be joined by Clare Crinson, Alison Gill and Deborah Thorne who will enhance the soundworld of the concert with their wonderful playing. Clare will be giving the world premiere of Rindik II by Benjamin Graves in the first half of the concert. Our programme (download here) takes us through various interpretations of the word, “air”: the air we breathe, the air that surrounds us both physically and spiritually and the meteorological element that makes up our world. Alongside pieces of the choral canon, there are influences from Indonesian music, atmospheric sounds made by wine glasses, handbells and gongs – we are hoping that you will feel thoroughly immersed (if not drenched) in the music! Cappella Concert Handel's Messiah
Sat, 23 Mar 2024
Simon Lee writes: We are delighted that you have joined us for this evening for our performance of Handel’s oratorio, Messiah. This is Cappella Newcastle’s largest scale concert since the pandemic, and we are delighted to be joined by four fantastic young soloists plus an orchestra for this core work of the choral canon. If this is your first time at a Cappella concert, may we offer you a particular welcome – we hope that this will be the first of many times that you join us. If you are a regular member of our audience, welcome back! Here in the sumptuous acoustic of St. George’s Church, Jesmond this monumental work will unfold from the opening Sinfonia, to ‘Comfort Ye’, through the Christmas story and into the Passion narrative. Our soloists, all at the start of their professional singing careers promise to delight and enthral. Handel was a prolific composer, writing 42 operas, 25 oratorios and more than 120 smaller works including cantatas and trio sonatas plus a large number of organ concerti. He is still extremely popular today; his anthem Zadok the Priest, written for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every coronation since. His style is engaging for both listener and performer alike. Programme available for download hereCappella Concert "Dona Nobis Pacem"
Sat, 18 Nov 2023
Simon Lee writes: Welcome to the first concert of our 23/24 season! As ever, Cappella is aiming to present a programme of concerts which is varied and exciting, mixing old favourites with repertoire with which you might not be familiar. Tonight, we take a theme which is potentially challenging, especially with the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Israel-Palestine and other places in our world. In a world which is increasingly torn apart by differences, we need to reach out to other nations, other cultures, to anyone who is unlike ourselves so that we can celebrate that which we hold in common, that is, our humanity. It is this humanity which provides the backbone for our concert tonight. In the depths of the horrors of war, we find moments of comradeship, of love, of dreams of home and visions of heaven. At its crux though, this concert calls for peace, an idea we hope that you will engage with and take out into the wider world. It is a great pleasure to welcome our second conducting scholar Eimear Hurley who makes her debut with the choir this evening. We are also joined by pianist Alison Gill and bass Robin Crinson. Programme available for download here.Cappella Concert "Crossing the Water" Holy Island
Sat, 10 Jun 2023
Wow! The weather was absolutely fantastic for our visit to Holy Island on the 10th of June. Choir members who arrived in good time, could enjoy the views, or possibly seek out the place to buy Lindisfarne Mead! We performed an afternoon concert in the parish church – St. Mary’s, where we were made to feel very welcome by Sarah, the vicar. Following our rehearsal, we enjoyed a convivial picnic lunch in the vicarage garden, then went on to entertain a large appreciative audience, including plenty of tourists and former choir members, who managed to fill the church! Our programme - “Crossing the Water” consisted of a varied range of songs, about water , or the sea, from all centuries, and several different genres; beginning with the magical “The Heart’s Cry” from “Riverdance”, and ending with the lively “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” by the American composer Moses Hogan. This was also the final concert for Caroline McCartney, our conducting scholar; we are very sorry to lose her, but wish her well with her future musical adventures!Programme may be downloaded from here
Cappella Concert: A Festival of Byrd and Britten
Sat, 25 Mar 2023
Simon Lee writes in the introduction to the programme (download here):It is a pleasure to be joined tonight by a consort of viols who will add to the soundworld of the works by Byrd. We are also delighted to be accompanied again by Joseph Beech. Tonight sees our first performance with our new conducting scholar, Caroline McCartney. As well as conducting several items, Caroline will also be the featured soloist in several works so you will hear the lovely timbre of her voice.
In tonight’s programme we celebrate two composers whose anniversaries fall this year, William Byrd and Benjamin Britten. In the first half of the programme, we focus on their sacred output, moving through the church year: beginning in Advent, celebrating the forty days of Christmas through to Candlemas, fasting through Lent to the festivals of Easter and Ascensiontide, and concluding with the feast of Michael and All Angels.
In the second half of the concert, we turn our attention to the composers’ secular output, performing works which were inspired by the natural world and love. We begin with Britten’s Flower Songs which are echoed with works by Byrd. Whilst at face value these two composers’ works are extremely different, there are many parallels between them.
Cappella Concert: The Psalms of David
Sun, 13 Nov 2022
Introduction by Simon Lee: We are delighted that you have joined us here tonight for a concert inspired by the Psalms of David. The Psalms have long inspired composers to set these beautiful and emotive words to music. Our repertoire is drawn from the 16th century right through to the present day and reflects all the different moods of these songs: Rutter’s A Choral Fanfare blasts into existence, a shout of exultation and joy; in Purcell’s Hear My Prayer we hear a cry of desperation while Stanford’s Beati quorum via evokes the tranquillity that comes from following God. As part of Cappella’s commitment to performing lesser-known and forgotten works we are very pleased to include Amy Beach’s Help Us, O God in tonight’s concert. Amy Beach has gained some popularity in the last few years and this work exemplifies the qualities of her sensitive and creative writing. There are influences of late-Romanticism in her harmonies but there is also a unique voice - we hope that you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed preparing it. As ever, it is a delight to be back in the intimate and glorious acoustic of St Ann’s Church. Thank you to Fr. Allan and his congregation for making us so welcome.Download programme here
Cappella Concert : Choral Dances
Sat, 25 Jun 2022
Introduction from Programme by Simon Lee:“Sumer is icumen in” and we are ready to dance. Welcome to our joyous programme of waltzes, jigs and dumkas - we hope that it will bring you to the edge of your seat with your feet tapping! It is a pleasure to be back in the wonderful space of St. Gabriel’s and to be joined by the talents of our pianists Julia Kennard and Oona Prendiville.
Tonight’s repertoire is mainly drawn from the latter half of the 19th Century, a time when dancing formed one of the main regular social interactions. In his Liebeslieder Waltzes, Brahms explores the many varied natures of love: desire, envy and lust all make an appearance. Interspersed with some of Dvoják’s picturesque Slavonic Dances, these form the first half of the concert. Then in the second half, we take a more light-hearted approach to love with a setting of Edward Lear’s nonsense poem of the Owl and the Pussycat followed by two jazz standards. Our concert closes with Edward Elgar’s From the Bavarian Highlands, a musical picture postcard of a holiday the Elgars spent in the Bavarian Alps.
Download the programme here
Cappella Concert : Enduring Love
Sat, 2 Apr 2022
Welcome from Simon Lee:Good evening and welcome to tonight’s performance, particularly if this is your first time at a Cappella concert. This evening’s programme is a departure for us from our usual repertoire, but in the current world where change and upset seem to have become a norm we feel that it is important to take time to think, to ponder and to celebrate those who are around us as well as those who are no longer with us.
Our repertoire celebrates love in all its forms. Robert Pearsall’s timeless madrigal, Lay A Garland represents a grief for one recently departed; Samuel Barber’s Reincarnations encourage us to engage with different fundamental concepts of love; Cesar Franck’s Sonata for Cello was written as a wedding present, a celebration of marriage; and Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil is a declaration of love for someone who has passed on, but is still loved even though they are the other side of the veil.
Download the programme here
Cappella Concert : Saints and Angels
Sat, 13 Nov 2021
Welcome from Simon Lee: Welcome to tonight’s concert - our first public performance in nearly two years. It has been such a joy to be making music again in person after the restrictions of the global pandemic, and we are delighted to be able to share this concert with you. Our programme draws together depictions of saints and angels in music. All Saints’ Day is celebrated by the Christian faith on 1st November each year, and the whole month is a time for reflection upon those who have gone before us, particularly with Armistice Day falling on the 11th.Tonight, we remember one of our longest-standing sopranos, Alex Murchie, who sadly passed away earlier this year after a long battle with cancer. Alex was not only a stalwart member of the soprano section, but also our concert manager, publicity guru and general doer on the committee and is much missed by us all. We are pleased that Eric Cross, former conductor of Cappella, will open the concert tonight with some memories of Alex who led a very varied and exciting life. Tonight we also remember the late Jeanne Tozer, a former member of the choir and 'friend', who died last year, and wish to acknowledge her generous bequest to the choir. We are also delighted to welcome back Joseph Beech, sub-organist of Durham Cathedral, who will accompany the choir in the Leighton and Bairstow, as well as playing Neil Cox’s 4 Ikons of the Archangels. Download the programme here
Dresden Fashions: Italianate Fashions at the Ducal Court
Sat, 7 Mar 2020
Report from Simon Lee: Having performed the concert at St. Ann’s on St. Cecilia’s Day, we began preparing a programme of music all written in Dresden. Some of it was well known; the Crucifixus section of Lotti’s Credo is known to many – however much of it (including the rest of the Credo) was not. For this concert, we were joined by a small ensemble of professional instrumentalists led by the very talented Sophie Appleton and a quartet of talented young soloists. I feel that it is imperative that ensembles such as Cappella continue to support young soloists at the start of their careers and this will affect my planning of repertoire in future seasons. It is also very rewarding for the singers to enjoy the richness of the sound which instrumentalists add to a choral texture. Download the programme here
Hymn to St Cecilia
Fri, 22 Nov 2019
Report from Simon Lee: There is no doubt that the choir found the Jackson challenging, but its effect on the audience at St. Ann’s was total and awesome. Whilst some audience members declared that it was, ‘not their sort of music,’ every person present who I spoke to found it very interesting, moving and emotionally engaging. The piece was enhanced (as ever) by the cello playing of Deborah Thorne who added to the pilgrimage theme of the programme with three unaccompanied solos in addition to playing the obligato cello part in the Jackson. We were also joined by two professional percussionists playing a multitude of bells – the sound world which was created was fabulous! Cappella has prided itself on being able to tackle a wide range of repertoire over the years, and I hope that this ability to present both brand new contemporary music alongside longstanding staples of the choral canon will continue to be a defining feature of the choir.Download the programme here
