Our next concert

Nordic and Baltic choral music speaks clearly and deeply to the twenty-first century soul.  Its mystery and clarity, its enfolding of the traditional and the innovative carry the listener from the roots to the stars.

Our concert is a delicious smörgåsbord of choral pieces from past and present composers of those northern lands, where the extremes of nature seem to fuel an understanding of the myriad possibilities of the human voice. Join us for a thrilling exploration of this vast and surprising musical landscape.

Icelandic composers Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, start from ancient texts and transport them to a primal yet uniquely contemporary soundworld.

Estonian Urmas Sisask combines old-world polyphony with unexpected rhythmic splashes.

Danish composer Per Nørgård and Norwegian Knut Nystedt deconstruct traditional harmonies but somehow increase musical and emotional effects with their magical shifting sounds.

Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds weaves folktale with the records of Arctic explorers to thrilling effect while Jaakko Mäntyjärvi creates a piece of vocal theatre with his humorous look at the stereotype of Lapland folk music.

Add beautiful pieces by the godfathers of Nordic and Baltic music, Jean Sibelius and Arvo Pärt, and we have a concert brimming with the elemental energy and compelling unpredictability of the north.

We are also proud to include in this concert the Edinburgh première of The Lost Lichts, our recent commission from Ailie Robertson, setting the words of three female poets from north-east Scotland. 

‘Hallowe’en‘ by Violet Jacob (1863 – 1946), ‘A Recruit for the Gordons‘ by Mary Symon (1863 – 1938) and ‘Cotton Grasses‘ by Marion Angus (1865 – 1946). 

Ailie is a multi-award winning composer and performer based on the West Coast of Scotland. She has been commissioned by some of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions including the BBC Proms, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Red Note Ensemble, Bang on a Can, Cappella Nova, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Riot Ensemble.

She was Composer-in-Residence with Sound Festival and Glyndebourne Opera and she has won multiple prizes at the Scottish Awards for New Music and her work has been supported by the PRS Foundation, The Vaughan Williams Foundation, Creative Scotland and Sound and Music. Her work has been performed world-wide and broadcast on international radio. 

Feeback on the premiere of this piece at our concert in Aberdeen in May 2024 included ……..

“Ailie’s (Robertson) musical rendition of “Hallowe’en” is heartbreakingly beautiful.”

MOST RECENT CONCERT – on 23rd November 2024

“A splendid performance in every way with excellent soloists and instrumentalists. Wonderfully energetic.”

The soundtrack on this video is from our joint concert with Calton Consort and the Meadows Chamber Orchestra. It was held in St Cuthbert’s Parish Church in November 2022.

The previous concert was held in Aberdeen at St Machar’s Cathedral at 6.30 pm on Saturday 25th May:

“Your choir gave us such a thrilling and moving experience. …(we) wish we could hear it all again, because there was so much variety and magic in both performance and choice of pieces. …Ailie’s (Robertson) musical rendition of “Hallowe’en” is heartbreakingly beautiful.”

“It was a lovely experience to hear such wonderful music yesterday evening. Rheinberger’s powerful Mass amply filled St Machar’s  ancient and venerable space, as did all the chosen pieces. Such a feast for the ears during Trinity week! “

The concert included a new commission from Ailie Robertson:

‘The Lost Lichts‘ sets three poems by North East poets: ‘Hallowe’en‘ by Violet Jacob (1863 – 1946), ‘A Recruit for the Gordons‘ by Mary Symon (1863 – 1938) and ‘Cotton Grasses‘ by Marion Angus (1865 – 1946). 

Ailie is a multi-award winning composer and performer based on the West Coast of Scotland. She has been commissioned by some of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions including the BBC Proms, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Red Note Ensemble, Bang on a Can, Cappella Nova, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Riot Ensemble. She was Composer-in-Residence with Sound Festival and Glyndebourne Opera and she has won multiple prizes at the Scottish Awards for New Music and her work has been supported by the PRS Foundation, The Vaughan Williams Foundation, Creative Scotland and Sound and Music. Her work has been performed world-wide and broadcast on international radio. 

We are grateful to Creative Scotland and The Hope Scott Trust for supporting our project.

The previous concert was presented in St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh on Saturday 2 March. It had to be moved there at the last minute but attracted a very good audience.

We are grateful to St Giles’ for facilitating this at very short notice.

Recent feedback from our concerts …..

“Your guest soloists were excellent and really fitted the bill perfectly for the parts you asked them to sing. The Bernstein Ps 23 was glorious – that 14 year old voice was made for the solo. She’ll have an excellent voice in years to come, but she’ll never perform that solo as an adult as well as she did last night.”

“We both really enjoyed the concert last night – what a high standard!  I have sung the Bernstein and I know how many challenges it presents.  The other pieces certainly didn’t seem any easier.  We really enjoyed the Argentinian Mass, which I noticed had many audience members silently foot-tapping.  It was a terrific performance all round, and we are now looking forward to your concert of Renaissance music.”

“Wonderful. Great voices”

“Beautiful. Loved the mix of music and poetry.”

“Lovely well-balanced power, light and shade. Gibbons & Arcadelt my favourites.”

“A transcending repertoire skillfully presented for our delight. Glad I came!”