PHOENIX SINGERS
Singers set to raise the roof with
‘Remembrances’ concert
s a mark of respect to the
centenary of the start of
the First World War, this
year,
Leek’s
Phoenix
Singers will be teaming up with
singer/songwriter
Johnny
Coppin and friends in a concert
entitled ‘Remembrances’.
The concert will also form the
group’s contribution to Leek
Arts Festival and will be staged
on Saturday 7th June at All
Saints’
Church,
Compton,
starting at 7.30pm.
In acknowledgement of the
Great War centenary, the
concert will feature a wide range
of material on the broad theme
of war and peace, from the
patriotic grandeur of England, a
setting by C. Hubert Parry of the
tribute to ‘this precious stone set
A
in a silver sea’ taken from
Shakespeare’s
Richard
II,
through to Sir Michael Tippett’s
arrangements of five American
spirituals, taken from his Second
World War oratorio A Child of
Our Time, via Lux Aeterna, a
choral setting of texts from the
Requiem Mass to Nimrod from
Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
Also included will be two
compositions
by
Phoenix
Director Ashley Thompson: We
Pray for Peace, which was
written for the re-dedication of
the Nicholson Memorial in Leek
in 2005; and his poignant
setting of the ironically-titled
poem War is Kind, written by
American Civil War poet
Stephen Crane.
Singer/songwriter Johnny
Coppin and friends will be
performing songs from his latest
CD Borderland, which includes
three WW1 songs. The Phoenix
Singers will join with him in
choral versions of two of the
songs, including John Condon, a
moving tribute to a 14 year old
who lied about his age to join up
and sadly became one of the
youngest soldiers to die in the
war.
Raising the roof with their
voices, The Phoenix Singers are
a community choir for mixed
voices including sopranos, altos,
tenors, and basses, which
welcome anyone who enjoys
singing. Running alongside the
choir is Young Phoenix for
children between aged seven
and 13. Both choirs rehearse at
East Street First School on
Monday nights: Young Phoenix
from 6pm to 7pm and the senior
choir from 7.30pm to 9.15pm.
Tickets for the concert are
£12 (£2 for under 18s) and will
be available from the usual
outlets
(Leek
Tourist
Information Centre; Picture
Book in, Stanley Street, and
Westwood Road Post Office) via
the
choir’s
website
www.phoenixsingersleek.co.uk
or by phoning 01538-385579.
Leek Life May/June 2014 29