ARMONICO CONSORT RECORDINGS
Armonico Consort and Baroque Players have collaborated with some of the finest musicians to produce world-class recordings, which have gained widespread critical acclaim for their innovative programmes and exceptional quality.
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SCARLATTI DIXIT DOMINUS & MESSA A 16 NEW RELEASE
BRAND NEW CHRISTMAS RECORDING AVAILABLE NOW
HANDELIAN PYROTECHNICS
J. S. BACH, SOLO CANTATAS
NOW
SUPERSIZE POLYPHONY
LET THE BRIGHT SERAPHIM
FAIRY QUEEN
Biographies
DIDO & AENEAS
BEOWULF
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
JAN
Handel Dixit Dominus - F Scarlatti Daniele
27 Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick
FEB
Handel Dixit Dominus – F Scarlatti Daniele
03 Malvern Theatres
The Forgotten Scarlatti Tour
08 Westlands Entertainment Venue Yeovil
The Forgotten Scarlatti with Rachel Podger 12 Birmingham Town Hall
MAR Love Handels
22 Warwick Court House
Dear Friends
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR, CHRISTOPHER MONKS
Throughout the past 12 months, the Armonico Consort team and President Roger Medwell have been working hard with the ENCORE appeal, aiming to raise awareness of our outreach work in the communities which we exist to serve and the vital funds to enable these to grow.
We have been working for those living with dementia for many years now, but our new partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society has enabled us to establish Warwick’s first Memory Choir and train our leaders to be specialists in this area. I pop down to listen and join in every few months and it is simply one of the most fulfilling experiences of song, laughter, dance and cake I have ever seen. It is sadly now oversubscribed, however with the funds we have raised throughout this year, we are now working on plans to have a second choir and a further branch in Coventry, which we aim to carry out in the next 12 months. The choir is as much for the carers as those living with this awful disease, and it is essential we allow this to grow. Doctors are now prescribing singing rather than medicine to help support those living with dementia. They say it is cheaper, and more effective.
Repairing the horrific damage done to singing in schools through the pandemic has been another of
our priorities. Before 2020, we had created almost 300 choirs and trained 300 teachers as choir leaders, and the pandemic decimated this with in some areas almost 50% of teachers leaving the profession of moving schools, and worse still, some schools only allowing singing to recommence in the past 12 months which is unforgivable. This means that in those schools almost an entire generation of junior school children will have lost out to all singing opportunities. We are well on the way to tackling this and creating opportunities and legacy projects to support children and schools as they return thanks to your support
You are always very generous as you leave the carols concerts, and we often raise over £1,000 in our bucket collections, but this year, I wonder if you will help us make it £2000, or more? We still have just over £50,000 to raise to reach our target of £300,000, so please do what you can to help us achieve this.
I wish you and your families a most joyful and peaceful Christmas season.
With all good wishes
Christopher Monks Founder & Artistic Director
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
Well, here we go again with the superb Carols by Candlelight concert. It takes me back to when I was in the church choir in Coventry all those years ago and Christmas services were always events to look forward to. I remember when I was 13, I sang to the Queen when she laid the foundation stone at the new Coventry Cathedral. Armonico Consort brings back all these memories at each of their concerts.
When I met Christopher, about 22 years ago, he asked me if my accountancy business would like to sponsor Armonico Consort. Yes, I replied - what a real pleasure it has been. Armonico Consort has become a big part of my life and business over that time - with Viktoria Becker, my co-director at Phillips and Becker Accountants in Kenilworth being a great help and my wife Robina also falling in love with all that Armonico Consort does.
Armonico Consort’s varied programme throughout the year takes some beating, covering music by the greatest composers the world has ever known. My real love is music from 1550 to 1850 with composers such as Tallis, Striggio, Schutz, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Handel, and the Bach family plus many others. Armonico Consort feature these composers in many of their concerts, introducing people to music that is not too often heard or known about. Most concerts are full, so it’s a job well done - keep up the good work Christopher and long may it continue.
I wish you all a great evening – and if you’d like to experience more of what Armonico Consort does, do book tickets for the Handel Dixit Dominus concert on 27 January 2024.
Carols by Candlelight is sponsored by Phillips and Becker Chartered Management Accountants Accountancy House, 4 Priory Road, Kenilworth, CV8 1LL | 01926 512514
Concert sponsors and business partners, Viktoria Becker ACMA and David Phillips MBE FCMA.
David Phillips MBE FCMA with his wife Robina.
ARMONICO CONSORT
DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER MONKS
SINGERS
Soprano Elizabeth Adams, Ella Aldridge, Felicity Barnard, Hannah Fraser-Mackenzie, Tyler Gorrell, Lara Hobden, Laura Moretto, Anna Nightingale, Clare Noakes, Emily-Rose Noble, Emily-Rose Noble, Nefeli Terzopoulos
Alto Harriet Campbell, Catherine Hickin, Hannah Lant, Tom Lilburn, William Towers
Tenor Tim Burton, Euan McGarr, Jamie Nash, Laurence Panter
Bass James Brash, Harry Brookes-Owen, Patrick Carr, James Everett, Alex Jones, William Parsons, Charles Pott
AC ACADEMY WARWICK AND SCHOLARS
Soloists Once in Royal, Verse 1 Emily Monks Away in a Manger, Verse 2 Fleur Mauxion
AC Academy Scholars are supported by the Finzi Trust, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, the Oldhurst Trust, Roger Medwell MBE DL, Baljit and Jinny Shergill, David and Sally Howells and Paul Thandi CBE DL and Mrs Nicki Thandi, among other generous sponsors.
CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT
RUNNING ORDER
Stille Nacht Gruber/Willcocks
Es ist Ein Ros Vulpius
READING 1
On Christmas Night arr. Willcocks
O Radiant Dawn Macmillan
Balulalow Britten
Shepherd’s Pipe Carol Rutter
READING 2
Ding Dong Merrily Wood
Omnes de Saba Venient Lasso
I wonder as I wander Rutti
O Magnum Mysterium Lauridsen
READING 3
Es ist Ein Ros Vulpius
INTERVAL
Jesus Christ Poston
READING 4
In Dulce Jubilo arr. Pearsall
Shepherd’s Carols Chilcott
READING 5
Away in a Manger Jaques
Star Song Dove
Three Kings Cornelius
READING 6
Once in Royal O’Donnell
Nova Nova Farrington
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Gritton
Audience CAROL
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY
1 Choir only
2 He came down to earth from heaven Who is God and Lord of all, And his shelter was a stable, And his cradle was a stall: With the poor and mean and lowly, Lived on earth our Saviour holy.
3 Choir only
4 For he is our childhood’s pattern; Day by day like us he grew, He was little, weak, and helpless, Tears and smiles like us he knew: And he feeleth for our sadness, And he shareth in our gladness.
5 And our eyes at last shall see him Through his own redeeming love, For that Child so dear and gentle, Is our Lord in heaven above: And he leads his children on To the place where he is gone.
6 Not in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by, We shall see him: but in heaven, Set at God’s right hand on high, Where like stars his children crowned, All in white shall wait around.
CHRISTOPHER MONKS
The founder and Artistic Director of Armonico Consort and its ground-breaking education programme AC Academy, Christopher Monks has established himself as a versatile and prolific conductor and keyboard player. Specialising in the performance of music from the Baroque and late Renaissance, he is equally at home with modern choral repertoire and during his career has conducted at many of the greatest concert halls in the UK with many of his concerts and recordings, including Supersize Polyphony and Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, earning five-star reviews in The Times, Independent, Guardian and BBC Music magazine.
Christopher performs regularly at major national festivals and has worked extensively abroad, including in Israel, Italy, Ireland and France. Alongside his work with Armonico Consort, he has conducted internationally renowned orchestras and ensembles such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and European Union Chamber Orchestra.
A passionate advocate of reaching out to children of all backgrounds through the creation of youth choirs, Christopher developed AC Academy, a music education. Christopher also coaches and lectures on the MMus choral conducting course at Cambridge University and is a guest speaker on the Harvard Global Leadership Programme and is part of a programme to roll out the choir creation and leadership programmes in Kenya with institutions aiming to reinstate street children into mainstream education.
When not conducting, Christopher loves fine cooking and often enjoys going for a cycle.
“When I talk to other people about their jobs for which they struggle to get out of bed, and I have never felt like a have a job. I just wake up and do a hobby.”
ARMONICO CONSORT
ARMONICO CONSORT
Armonico Consort began life in 2001, set up by Christopher Monks and a group of university colleagues with a shared passion for music from the Renaissance to Baroque, coupled with the imagination to find new and unusual ways to present concerts. Audiences seemed to love their engaging and imaginative approach, and most concerts in the first years sold out.
“That gave us the confidence, energy and selfbelief to carry on and do more, also to take more risks with our programming, and keep on experimenting” says Christopher.
The ideas kept flowing, as did the titles “many of them were created down the pub…” including the concert programmes Naked Byrd, Supersize Polyphony, Monteverdi’s Flying Circus, Too Hot to Handel, Love Handels and Baroque around the Block. Their horizons broadened to include more contemporary repertoire but at the heart remained
music of the Baroque and Renaissance, including some rarely heard gems performed by some of the world’s finest singers and period instrument players:
“We take great care to craft programmes which bring as much little-known music to life as possible, and find new and imaginative ways to bring this music to audiences.
I’m particularly proud of Supersize Polyphony where we perform 40 and 60-part works by Tallis and Striggio in the round, surrounding the audience, interpolated by the timeless chants of Hildegard of Bingen.”
It was this particular programme which earned the group their first 5 star reviews, from The Times and the BBC Music Magazine, and there were plenty more to follow.
An education programme was fundamental to Armonico Consort from the outset and now encompasses three AC Academy after-school choirs and an in-school choir creation programme which trains teachers as choir
leaders, leaving a strong legacy across the UK, to date creating almost 300 choirs and choir leaders reaching over 250,000 young people. Christopher Monks says
“Having reached 20 years, we are seeing so many of these young people who have been with the group since the age of 7 now singing as AC Academy Scholars alongside the professional singers. It is so rewarding to see how the opportunities we have created have changed them not just as musicians, but as humans, and this has driven much of what we are now going on to create”.
Future developments for AC Academy include the overseas expansion of the Choir Creation programme in Kenya, and the beginning a major new partnership with Foundaçion Azteca in Mexico which will see them train new choir leaders across Mexico to create the first high level symphony orchestra and chorus in the country.
In 2016, in partnership with their sponsors Phillips 66, Armonico Consort created a major new initiative ‘The Voice Squad’ introducing a Phillips 66 workplace choir in an effort to improve the wellbeing of employees. This has had an incredibly positive impact on the mental health of the workforce, especially now that the beneficial effects of singing on the human mind are so well established. The ‘Voice Squad’ has since been extended to workplaces and communities around the country and as of 2020, following a new partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, now includes care homes and their first ever choir ‘The Warwick Memory Singers’ for those living with dementia. Most exciting of all is the new research which suggests that Baroque music in particular is extremely effective at unlocking memories for those affected by dementia which is something the Consort plans to fully explore as they continually strive to find new ways for their musicians to thrive in the modern world.
To mark Armonico’s 20th birthday year, they celebrated as any reckless 20-year-old might. Celebrations included the restaging of some of their favourite concert programmes such as the 53-part Missa Salisburgensis by Heinrich Biber, a tour of Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Sir Willard White and Ian Bostridge, a tour and brand-new recording of 16-part works by Francesco Scarlatti, Carmina Burana in London and their biggest project to date, It Takes a City, a new commission for 2000 voices and orchestra as part of the cultural programme for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, to a large audience at the Royal Albert Hall. In June 2022 they also celebrated with a unique project to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Armonico Consort started the Autumn season with a charity 200 mile bike fundraising tour, raising over £10,000 for their Memory Singers project for those living with Dementia.
In 2023, Armonico have staged Big Byrd with the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble to mark the 400th anniversary of William Byrd, a Monteverdi Vespers tour, and launched ‘The Encore Appeal’, a large-scale fundraising campaign to continue to develop and expand their vital community and education work with school children and young people with Special Educational Needs, and people living with dementia. From October 2023 and throughout 2024, Armonico’s unique ‘Forgotten Scarlatti’ tour will feature choral masterpieces by Francesco Scarlatti, a forgotten member of the famous dynasty, in brand new editions by Dr Geoffrey Webber using manuscripts hidden for centuries in the Bodleian Library. Armonico’s recording of Francesco Scarlatti’s Dixit Dominus and Messe a 16 has been named ‘Spectacular - the classical music find of the Century’ by Le figaro, Paris. Available now to purchase at concerts and from the Armonico website.
WILLIAM TOWERS NARRATOR
William Towers read English at Cambridge University and was a postgraduate scholar at the Royal Academy of Music. He graduated with Distinction and the Dip.RAM.
His opera engagements have included Medoro (Handel Orlando) and Farnace (Mozart Mitridate Re di Ponto) for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Oberon (Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for Teatro La Fenice Venice, for Teatro Petruzzelli Bari & Teatro Municipale Valli Reggio Emilia, for the Royal Opera at the Linbury, Birtwistle’s Minotaur for the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and Orlando (Handel Orlando) for Opera Theatre Company, Radamisto (Handel Radamisto) for English Touring Opera, Bertarido (Handel Rodelinda) for Cambridge Opera, The Guest in the UK premiere of Sciarrino’s Luci mie traditrici for Music Theatre Wales, and Unulfo (Handel Rodelinda) at the Bolshoi, Moscow, among many others.
CHRISTOPHER ALLSOP ORGANIST
Christopher Allsop takes up the post of Organist at Eton College in January 2023 after almost five years as Assistant Director of Music at The King’s School, Worcester. Born and educated in London, he held organ scholarships at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle before studying as Organ Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. On graduating, after a year at Great St. Mary’s Church and Associate Organist at Trinity, Christopher moved to Birmingham as Assistant Organist of the Cathedral in 1997. He founded the New Birmingham Scholars chamber choir, taught at Birmingham Conservatoire, and played for choirs including Ex Cathedra and Birmingham Bach Choir. In 2004 Christopher became Assistant Organist at Worcester Cathedral and Music Teacher at The King’s School, also directing the boys and men of the cathedral’s Voluntary Choir. He went on to become the full-time Assistant Director of Music at the Cathedral in 2012, directing the girl choristers, accompanying the Cathedral Choir, and was organist for five Worcester Three Choirs Festivals. He was also Assistant Conductor and Repetiteur for Worcester Festival Choral Society, serving as the Society’s Music Director for the 2018-2019 season. Christopher is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and his most recent solo organ recording, ‘Worcester Spectacular!’, was released on the Priory label in late 2018.
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the growing need for people across our communities to access the health and wellbeing, social and educational benefits of singing and music. Our new Encore Appeal focuses on the three main strands of our work: singing workshops to bring high quality music education to schools in deprived areas; our Memory Singers work to improve the lives of people living with dementia; and empowering composition and performance workshops for children with special educational needs. This work is more in demand than ever, and we need your help to deliver it.
AC ACADEMY WARWICK & SCHOLARS
We are delighted to welcome our AC Academy Warwick and Scholars to tonight’s concert! The choir benefit on a regular basis from opportunities to perform alongside professional singers and instrumentalists. The Scholarship programme, which is going from strength to strength, is proving to be invaluable for giving young singers additional professional singing opportunities, singing lessons and coaching sessions for Oxbridge.
AC Academy Warwick rehearse at the Courthouse every Tuesday from 5.00pm-6.30pm and is open to young singers. They recently took part in a workshop with the world-famous baritone Roderick Williams and are preparing for an exciting summer tour of Belgium in 2024.
AC Academy Warwick wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year!
AC ACADEMY AFTER SCHOOL CHOIRS
Our AC Academy after school choirs are singing groups for young people aged 7-18. We currently have two after-school Academies that rehearse on a weekly basis, term time only.
AC WARWICK TUESDAYS 5.00pm – 6.30pm The Courthouse, Jury Street, Warwick, CV34 4EW
AC COVENTRY WEDNESDAYS 4.15pm – 5.30pm St Mary & St Benedict Catholic Primary School, Coventry, CV1 5HG
Each term our AC Academies learn different genres of music and perform in professional venues across the country. If your child loves to sing and would like to get involved with one of our Academies, please get in contact with Ann Hannan via email: ahannan@armonico.org.uk
Memory SingersWarwick
Singing has been proven to be beneficial in helping people living with dementia to unlock their memories and re-establish cognitive pathways. Our weekly singing sessions, led by specially-trained musicians are about bringing people together in a fun, friendly and safe environment. They can
help build new friendships and boost confidence, helping people to feel more positive and supported. The sessions are open to anyone living with dementia or other neurological conditions, but participants need to be accompanied by a carer.
The sessions include fun warm-ups, activity songs and a wide variety of familiar tunes. They provide an opportunity to socialise with others and refreshments are served. Each week there is a chance to sit back and enjoy our musicians performing a solo piece from our classical repertoire.
Wednesdays 1pm-2.30pm All Saints Church, Vicarage Fields, Warwick, CV34 5NL
£5 per week, carers go free
To book a place or for further information please contact Sarah Riddell: sriddell@armonico.org.uk or call 07722 632242
www.armonico.org.uk
Generously sponsored by Hilary Eldridge, member of Armonico Consort’s Conductor’s Circle.
ARMONICO CONSORT SUPPORTERS
We are especially grateful to the following supporters who have given so generously to our work.
CORPORATE SPONSORS
Phillips66 Limited JET
Phillips and Becker
Accountancy Services
Tractivity Limited
Rayburn Tours
NP Aerospace
Braunston Marina Limited
Howards of Stratford
Limited Angels Solicitors LLP
PATRONS
Mrs C Beecham
Mrs Pauline M Brace
Joseph Bradshaw
Helen Brittain
Mr Michael Burrows
Mrs S Carr-Wu
Coralie Clark
Mrs A Cook
Mrs J Cooke
Mr & Mrs D J Couchman
Mrs Dawn Curtis
Mrs Gemma Davies
Mr Anthony E Davies
Mrs D Fowler
Mr Malcolm Garner
Caryll Green &
Dr Elizabeth Saxon
Dr Barbara A Harland
Revd Wendy Heaney
Monica Heath
Mr Andrew Lawton
Mrs S J Liggins
Miss Jennifer Lorch
Miss Ursula Lowe
Mrs H Mills
Dr A Nicholls
Mr Russell Payne
Ms Benedetta Polk
Dr & Mrs C P Rourke
Mr Jim Rowley
Mr David Sarginson
Dr Derek Smith
Mrs Sidney Syson
Mr I M Taylor
Mrs Patricia Tomlinson
Mrs J Upward
Dr Louise Warburton
Mrs J Ward
Peter & Pat Wartnaby
Mr & Mrs J Wynn-Evans
PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE
Clive & Paula Benfield
Mr John Boyden
Nick & Katie Chester
Sir Martin Dunne KCVO
& Mrs Mish Dunne
Mrs Margaret Eardley
Sir John Egan &
Lady Julia Egan
Revd James Knights
& Mrs Dorothy Knights
Mr Nigel May
Sponsors
Mrs Janet Moore & Honorary Alderman
Michael Hammon
John Osborn CBE
Gerry Slora & Jill Slora
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE
Mr & Mrs H S Brar
His Honour Richard Cole
DL & Mrs Sheila Cole
Mr J Cook
Mrs Hilary Eldridge
Paul & Brigitta Lock
Mr Jamie Justham & Mrs
Alison Justham
Mr Roger Medwell MBE DL
Mr David Phillips MBE
& Mrs Robina Phillips
Mr Baljit Shergill
& Mrs Jinny Shergill
Dr Paul Thandi CBE DL
& Mrs Nicki Thandi
ENCORE APPEAL PATRONS
Dr Kate Bailey
Mr Jazz Bhamra
Mr & Mrs D & H Bradley
Margaret Casely-Hayford
CBE & Giles Quarme
Mr M J Cooke
Rebecca Earle
Mr & Mrs Faulds
Tony & Helen Fitzpatrick
Professor Roger Gadsby
MBE & Mrs Pam Gadsby
Mr Malcolm Harbour CBE
& Mrs Penny Harbour
Gillian Higginson
Jon Jeffery
Brian & Wendy Lloyd
Robert Macpherson
Dr F C Millard
Dr Bob Ruffle
Pamela Stanier
Mr & Mrs CJL Thorne
ENCORE APPEAL BENEFACTORS
Hugh & Felicity Furber
Derek & Rosemary Holding
David & Sally Howells
Mr David Kershaw CBE JP
Pam O’Brien
Capt. Dermot Rhodes
Barbara & Christopher
Purser
Mr & Mrs Turner
Roger Wiglesworth
ARMONICO CONSORT
DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER MONKS
SAT 27 JAN, 7.30PM | COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST MARY, WARWICK 01926 334418 or www.armonico.org.uk This performance is generously supported by Hilary
SAT 03 FEB 7.30PM | MALVERN THEATRES 01684 892277 or www.malvern-theatres.co.uk
