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O Priest of matchless renown: Music for Mungo, Columba & Brigid
Strathclyde University Chamber Choir directed by Alan Tavener
Wednesday 15 January | 7.00pm | St Andrew’s Catholic Cathedral, Clyde St (Map)
Alan Tavener and the Strathclyde University Chamber Choir present a programme of music in honour of St Mungo and other saints.
Formed in 1980, the Strathclyde University Chamber Choir is one of very few chamber choirs in the West of Scotland. It attracts Members from the University and beyond to rehearse and perform a repertoire which ranges from plainsong and renaissance music to the a cappella staples of the 20th century and contemporary works. The Choir has toured widely in the UK and abroad, and undertakes annual periodic mini-residencies in North British Cathedrals, singing the major choral services in place of the regular Cathedral Choir. The Choir has recorded for BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 (including a live broadcast), and released a CD of romantic Scottish part songs and settings of Robert Burns. In 2010, the Choir completed a five-year project to give the first performances of a series of eleven new communion motets composed by James MacMillan. First heard in the context of the Celebration of University Mass, the Choir also gave the concert debuts of these Strathclyde Motets. The Choir continues to maintain a busy programme of singing liturgies and presenting public concerts, and recently participated in the premiere performances of Nitin Sawhney’s About Us (Unboxed Festival, Paisley Abbey) and choral services at York Minster.
Alan Tavener is a music graduate of the University of Oxford and an educational research graduate of the University of Strathclyde, where he focused on the social, educational and health benefits of singing, and where he was also Director of Music. In addition to leading Cappella Nova’s core work in performing and recording, he spearheads its education and outreach programme of classes and choirs, including the formation and direction of the Scottish Plainsong Choir and the Schola at St Columbkille’s Roman Catholic Church in Glasgow. He is also Director of Music at St Bride’s Episcopal Church, where he is responsible for playing the organ and directing the Church Choir in a rich programme of liturgical music, as well overseeing a flourishing organ recitals programme. He has directed a masterclass for postgraduate students at the Moscow Conservatoire and mentors Apprentice Conductors for the Association of British Choral Directors. In 2015 he was awarded the honorary Associateship of the Royal School of Church Music for his “considerable contribution to church music in Scotland, particularly in his ecumenical approach and, in the 2020 New Year Honours List, the BEM for “services to choral music in Scotland”.
