Following on from our highly successful 50th anniversary year, this season builds on everything we learned about ourselves during all those contrasting events and once again demonstrates the diversity, depth and strength of the choir’s repertoire and performance, crossing centuries, continents and genres.
Highlights include:
• An opening concert in October entitled Take Flight with music devoted to the skies amidst the stunning setting of St Paul’s Covent Garden, including a rare performance of Cecilia McDowall’s ‘Night Flight’ with award-winning cellist Gabriella Swallow.
• Two December nights at our festive home of St James’s Piccadilly for Candlelight Carols with a host of choral favourites, and audience carols, including music from Sir David Willcocks, Cecilia McDowall and Eric Whitacre.
• In January, a Come&Sing: Dido and Aeneas at St John’s Waterloo with the Creation Quartet, open to all.
• In March, a performance of Bach’s seminal Mass in B Minor at a venue new for us, Holy Sepulchre London, the National Musicians’ Church, with the Meridian Sinfonia and some in-demand soloists such as award-winning soprano Sian Dicker and bass Michael Ronan.
• A final concert in July at another new venue, Cecil Sharp House, where we perform Four Corners, with folk stories and sounds drawn from the four nations of the United Kingdom.
• Two tours, one to Oxford in November followed by Padua and Venice in May.
• Commercial hires working with repeat and new collaborators.
Musical director Dominic Ellis-Peckham says:
Our anniversary season was a true celebration of all that London Oriana Choir has achieved over the last 50 years and we kick off our second half-century with a new programme that builds on that success with new venues, new music and old favourites.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Highlights of the 50th anniversary season included:
• A season launch concert at St Paul’s Covent Garden, two sell-out Christmas concerts at St James’s Piccadilly, a gala concert with special guests at St John’s Smith Square and a summer collaboration at Union Chapel Highbury.
• A new commission Here Hum the Bees from the choir’s patron and celebrated composer Cecilia McDowall.
• The launch of a new album, Her Voice, featuring commissions under the banner of our five15 initiative celebrating women composers, including Cheryl Frances Hoad, Rebecca Dale and Jessica Curry.
• Two-time Grammy nominee Beth Nielsen Chapman making a special appearance at the gala concert in March, recreating a seminal 2006 performance with the choir at St Paul’s Cathedral.
• Two opportunities with award-winning British vocal ensemble
The Gesualdo Six, first a workshop for choir and alumni on performing Renaissance music followed by a joint concert at Union Chapel in Highbury with Eric Whitacre’s seminal multi-choir work, The Stolen Child, as its centrepiece.
• Tours outside the capital to Liverpool, Harwich and Paris.
• A documentary film covering and celebrating the choir’s first 50 years.
• Commercial hires which included Final Fantasy XIV at the Eventim Apollo.
The choir’s biography near the end of this leaflet goes into more detail of London Oriana Choir’s colourful history since that very first rehearsal on 14th November 1973 at a school in Edgware.
The choir has come a long way since then.
Take Flight
Join London Oriana Choir for music devoted
the skies amidst the stunning setting of St
Covent Garden, including a performance of Cecilia McDowall’s
Flight’ with award-winning cellist Gabriella Swallow. Cecilia McDowall will give a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm.
Friday 18 Oct 24 at 19.30 St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ED
Tickets available from: www.actorschurch.org
020 7836 5221
TAKE FLIGHT
Friday 18th October 2024, 7.30pm ST PAUL’S CHURCH COVENT GARDEN
Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ED
Saturday 2nd November 2024, 6.30pm UNIVERSITY CHURCH
The High Street, Oxford OX1 4BJ
Join London Oriana Choir for music devoted to the skies amidst the stunning setting of St Paul’s Covent Garden, including a performance of Cecilia McDowall’s ‘Night Flight’ with award-winning cellist Gabriella Swallow (London) and Gabriel Amherst (Oxford). In London, Cecilia McDowall will give a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm.
Ellis-Peckham
Candlelight Carols
Join London Oriana Choir for their critically acclaimed Christmas performances in their festive home of St James’s Piccadilly for a host of choral favourites, and audience carols, including music from Sir David Willcocks, Cecilia McDowall, Gustav Holst, Errollyn Wallen and Eric Whitacre.
20th & 21st December 2024 7.30pm St James’s Church 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL
Tickets available from: www.londonoriana.com
CANDLELIGHT CAROLS
20th & 21st December 2024, 7.30pm
ST JAMES’S CHURCH
197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL
Join London Oriana Choir for their critically acclaimed Christmas performances in their festive home of St James’s Piccadilly for a host of choral favourites, and audience carols, including music from Sir David Willcocks, Cecilia McDowall, Gustav Holst, Errollyn Wallen and Eric Whitacre
London Oriana Choir Dominic Ellis-Peckham
to
Paul’s
‘Night
Patron: Cecilia McDowall
London Oriana Choir Dominic
Patron: Cecilia McDowall
Mass in B Minor J.S. BACH
MASS IN B MINOR J.S.BACH
Saturday 22nd March 2025, 7.30pm
HOLY SEPULCHRE CHURCH
Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DQ
Soprano - Sian Dicker
Soprano - Mimi Doulton
Alto - Martha McLorinan
Tenor - Jack Granby
Bass - Michael Ronan
& BRUCKNER Motets
BRAHMS & BRUCKNER MOTETS
Saturday 10th May 2025, 1.15pm OUR MOST HOLY REDEEMER CHURCH 24 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE
Friday 24th to Monday 27th May 2025
Motets standing the test of time and inspiring generations to come with their compositional ingenuity, London Oriana Choir and Dominic Ellis-Peckham celebrate the work of two choral titansJohannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner. Join us in the revered acoustic of Exmouth Market’s Our Most Holy Redeemer for a lunchtime concert full of dynamic intensity, precision and passion.
Four Corners
FOUR CORNERS
Friday 4th July 2025, 7.30pm
CECIL SHARP HOUSE 2 Regent’s Park Road, London NW1 7AY
Join London Oriana Choir and special guests Maz O’Connor, Will Lang and Niopha Keegan, for a journey through folk stories and sounds of all four corners of the Isles.
We believe in the power of singing to improve health and wellbeing for all. With 50% of mental health problems established by the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 24, we believe it’s critical to focus on prevention with young people. We produce, promote and create opportunities for children and young people to improve their mental health and wellbeing through singing. The benefits of singing, songwriting and voice exploration, especially in groups, are wide-ranging with extensive research supporting the physiological, social, psychological and behavioural benefits.
Patron: Cecilia McDowall
London Oriana Choir Dominic Ellis-Peckham
Join London Oriana Choir and special guests
O’Connor, Will Lang and Niopha Keegan
LONDON ORIANA CHOIR
London Oriana Choir is one of Britain’s leading choral groups and one of the most exciting and versatile in London. Founded in 1973 and under the baton of Dominic Ellis-Peckham since 2013, the choir has gone from strength to strength, performing music from classical baroque to classic rock at venues such as the O2 Arena, St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Royal Albert Hall, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and Classic FM.
The choir’s repertoire is broad, ranging from the great choral works by Verdi, Mozart, Handel and Bach to contemporary commissions. A cappella music is sung in many languages and in all styles from early Renaissance to the present day, from secular to sacred, classical to jazz and including popular, rock and folk music from around the world.
The choir has also worked with some of the world’s leading artists including Madonna, Robert Plant, Barbra Streisand and Pete Townshend for his Classic Quadrophenia album and concert.
In April 2016, the choir launched five15, a five-year programme to promote women composers through commissioning fifteen new works, increased concert programming, recordings and other activities, concluding with a rousing finale at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, together with guest choirs from across Great Britain. The five composers-in-residence were Cheryl Frances Hoad, Rebecca Dale, Jessica Curry, Anna Disley-Simpson and Hannah Kendall.
In the 2023/24 season, the choir celebrated its 50th anniversary with a season launch concert at St Paul’s Covent Garden, two sell-out Christmas concerts at St James’s Piccadilly, a gala concert with special guests at St John’s Smith Square and a summer collaboration at Union Chapel Highbury with award-winning professional ensemble The Gesualdo Six. There was also the release of the five15 a capella commissions under the title Her Voice, as well as commercial gigs, tours around the UK and Europe, and a new commission Here Hum the Bees by patron Cecilia McDowall.
Visit the choir’s website for further information and to sign up to our mailing list to keep informed about the choir’s future performances.
www.londonoriana.com contact@londonoriana.com
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LAST 50 YEARS
1973 The choir is founded b Leon Lovett with its first rehearsal at Gateway School, London NW1
1975 The choir’s first self-promoted concert: Bach St John Passion at St Martin in the Fields
1976 Carols & Crumhorns in Central Hall Westminster: the choir’s ‘early music’ themed Christmas Concert, a popular annual event until 1985
1979 The choir’s first overseas tour: Boulogne & Montreuil-sur-Mer, participating in the Festival de la Côte Opale
1980 First promotion in the Royal Festival Hall: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
1981 The first of several visits as Resident choir in the Music Festival in Aix en Provence
1983 First concert in the Barbican: Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem
1983 Abbey Road Studio recording ‘backing’ for Chariots of Fire track for one of RPO’s ‘Classic Rock’ recordings
1984 ‘Home on Sunday’ recording by the BBC for Lord Soper’s 80th Birthday at Hinde St Methodist Church
1988 The start of 10 years of joining the cast of the annual televised Joy to the World charity event at the Royal Albert Hall, where Queen Elizabeth II recorded her 1989 Christmas message
1991 First of two visits to the Strasbourg Festival: Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Theodore Guschelbauer
1992 Performed in Earl’s Court Arena amongst the ‘massed choir’ in HM The Queen’s 40th Anniversary ‘Q40’ event with highlights broadcast on BBC-TV.
1995 Participated in VJ Day 50th Anniversary ‘Final Tribute’, Horseguards’ Parade, and outside Buckingham Palace, in the presence of HM The Queen and Prince Philip
1998 The appointment of David Drummond as the choir’s second musical director
1998 Singing at the opening of the winter season of Disneyland Paris
1999 Singing in the Sunday morning service at Notre Dame in Paris for the first time
1999 Release of our recording of Richard Rodney Bennett’s Nonsense Songs, still the only such recording
2005 Release of our recording of Everyman by Walford Davies with the BBC Concert Orchestra on Dutton Records, which became an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine
2006 Service for Peace at St Paul’s Cathedral in London with Beth Nielsen Chapman, followed by a concert in Glasgow as part of Celtic Connections
2007 World premiere recording of Armstrong-Gibb’s Odysseus with the BBC Concert Orchestra, released on the Dutton Epoch label
2008 Release of our recording of Odysseus by Armstrong Gibbs on Dutton Records
2010 Performing with Robert Plant, Beth Nielsen Chapman, David Gray and Newton Faulkner at Abbey Road Studios for Sound & Vision 2010 in aid of Cancer Research UK, followed by the BBC’s last ever Electric Proms at the Round House in London with Robert Plant and the Band of Joy
2013 Taking part in a TEDx talk entitled Singing from the Same Hymn Sheet organised by the Houses of Parliament, given by then Musical Director David Drummond
2013 Two nights at London’s 02 Arena with Barbra Streisand performing to an audience of 20,000+ each night
2013 The appointment of Dominic Ellis Peckham as the choir’s third musical director
2013 The choir celebrates its 40th anniversary with a gala concert at St Paul’s Covent Garden
2016 Premiere of Classic Quadrophenia at the Royal Albert Hall with Pete Townshend, Alfie Boe and Billy Idol, together with the studio recording issued by Deutsche Gramophon
2016 Launch of five15, the choir’s ground-breaking initiative in support of women composers, featuring commissions, increased programming, workshops and recordings
2017 The choir’s first venture into video game music from Final Fantasy at Methodist Central Hall, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the invitation of French promoter La Fee Sauvage
2019 Our men performed in front of a television audience of millions at the Eurovision Song Concert with Madonna in Tel Aviv, followed by the whole choir singing High Mass at St Peter’s in Vatican City a week later on tour in Rome
2019 Performing a cover of ‘The End of All Things’ from Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture at the BAFTA Games Awards 2019, composed by one of our five15 composers Jessica Curry
2020 Making Waves: the first in a series of online concerts recorded and streamed over the next 18 months during lockdown for the pandemic
2021 Live performances resumed in July 2021 with a concert at Opera Holland Park featuring Haydn’s Nelson Mass, alongside a varied mix of a capella choral music
2021 Launch of the choir’s Young Singers’ Scholarship Programme in support of aspiring 18-25 year old singers
2021 Appointment of celebrated composer Cecilia McDowall as Patron of the choir
2022 Final concert of the five15 women initiative at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, bringing together guest choirs from around the UK for an evening of choral music celebrating women composers
2023/2024
Celebrating the choir’s 50th anniversary with a busy programme of performances, tours, commercial hires, a commission and social events, including a gala concert at St John’s Smith Square with special guest Beth Nielsen Chapman and the release of Her Voice, an album featuring recordings of the a capella commissions from five15
DOMINIC ELLIS-PECKHAM MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Dominic Ellis-Peckham is a conductor and chorus master, specialising in opera and choral repertoire.
He has been praised for his dedication to the Renaissance and Baroque era, whilst also passionately championing new works and delivering inspirational collaborations.
In addition to his position with London Oriana Choir, Dominic is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Chamber Choir of London, Chorus Master for Opera Holland Park and Chorus Director and Visiting Artist at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
Dominic has prepared choruses in opera houses, festivals and on the concert stage, including an array of highly acclaimed world premieres, with previous positions including Chorus Master for English National Opera, English National Ballet and Associate Principal Conductor of The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.
He regularly conducts The Meridian Sinfonia and London Mozart Players, and performs throughout the UK on concert stages including The Royal Albert Hall, The Barbican, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Usher Hall, Bridgewater Hall and Wigmore Hall.
Dominic has conducted projects at Abbey Road, Air Studios, Angel Studios and for Deutsche Grammophon, Whistle Records, Signum Records, Sky, BBC and Eurovision. His releases have reached No.1 in both the U.S Classical Billboard Charts and the U.K Specialist Charts.
This season, Dominic conducts The City of London Sinfonia and Opera Holland Park Chorus and Soloist in Verdi’s ‘Quattro Pezzi Sacri’, returns to Hong Kong to conduct the FOBISA Orchestra and Choral Festival, makes his Theatre Royal Drury Lane debut with Chamber Choir of London and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra chorus mastering for Rachel Fuller’s ‘The Seeker’ and collaborates with Glyndebourne and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra as Chorus Director for the world premier of Jonathan Dove’s ‘Uprising’ for Saffron Hall.
www.dominicellispeckham.com
CECILIA MCDOWALL PATRON
Born in London, 1951, Cecilia McDowall has won many awards, been short-listed eight times for the British Composer Awards and in 2014 won the Choral category of the British Composer Awards for her haunting work, Night Flight, which celebrates the pioneering flight of the American aviatrix, Harriet Quimby, across the English Channel. McDowall’s distinctive style speaks directly to listeners, instrumentalists and singers alike.
Her most characteristic works fuse fluent melodic lines with occasional dissonant harmonies and rhythmic exuberance. Her music has been commissioned and performed by leading choirs, including the BBC Singers, The Sixteen, Oxford and Cambridge choirs, Kansas City Chorale, ensembles, and at festivals worldwide.
Recent commissions include When time is broke (Three Shakespeare Songs) for the BBC Singers and Adoro te devote for Westminster Cathedral Choir, London. Three Latin Motets were recorded by the renowned American choir, Phoenix Chorale, conductor, Charles Bruffy; this Chandos recording, Spotless Rose, won a Grammy award and was nominated for Best Classical Album.
The National Children’s Choir of Great Britain commissioned a work focusing on ‘children in conflict’, called Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo. This cantata is based on the real-life escape of Nujeen Mustafa (who is wheelchair-bound) and her sister from war-torn Aleppo; it tells of their harrowing journey across 3,500 miles, through seven countries, eventually arriving in Germany with relief and great gratitude.
