2016 Concert Season

Ode To Joy

Saturday 9 April 7:30 pm
Dunedin Town Hall

TECWYN EVANS, conductor
CITY CHOIR DUNEDIN
DUNEDIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Soloists: Madeleine Pierard (soprano), Claire Barton (mezzo-soprano), Jonathan Lemalu (bass)

Tecwyn Evans: Fires of Light
A selection of operatic arias and duets
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, The Choral

Theresienmesse & Magnificat

Sunday 3 July 3:00 pm
Dunedin Town Hall

DAVID BURCHELL, conductor
CITY CHOIR DUNEDIN
DUNEDIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Soloists: Rebecca Ryan (soprano), Claire Barton (mezzo-soprano), James Adams (tenor), Matthew Landreth (bass)

FJ Haydn: Theresienmesse
CPE Bach: Magnificat

Gallipoli to the Somme

Saturday 1 October 7:30 pm
Dunedin Town Hall

Simon Over, conductor

CITY CHOIR DUNEDIN

SOUTHERN YOUTH CHOIR

DUNEDIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Soloists: Anna Leese (soprano), Martin Snell (bass)

Anthony Ritchie: Gallipoli to the Somme (world première)
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin 
FS Kelly: Elegy for Strings: In Memoriam Rupert Brook 
Wagner: Prelude to ‘Die Meistersinger’ 

Christmas Oratorio

Friday 16 December 7:30 pm
Dunedin Town Hall

DAVID BURCHELL, conductor
CITY CHOIR DUNEDIN
DUNEDIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
SOLOISTS Lois Johnston (soprano), Claire Barton (mezzo-soprano), Iain Tetley (tenor) and Robert Tucker (bass)

JS Bach: Christmas Oratorio

Carols Live at the Otago Museum

Saturday 24 December 1:00 pm
Otago Museum

DAVID BURCHELL, conductor
CITY CHOIR DUNEDIN
City Choir Dunedin presented an hour-long programme of Christmas music at the Otago Museum.
Assistant conductor: Mark Anderson
Accompanists: Roland Storm and David Burchell
Soloist: Caroline Burchell

Moving rendition of Handel masterpiece

Handel's Messiah

8 December 2015
Dunedin Town Hall

A sizeable audience at the Dunedin Town Hall attended the 2015 City Choir Dunedin performance of Handel's beloved Messiah, directed by David Burchell and accompanied by the Southern Sinfonia.

The work began gracefully in its overture, followed by the lilting "Comfort Ye" sung by tenor David Hamilton. The ensuing opening choruses were sung with bravado and confidence, although occasionally stuttering in rhythmic precision.

The subsequent arias, bold and evocative by bass Martin Snell, declamatory and impassioned by mezzo Wendy Dawn Thompson, heralded the incarnation texts admirably. Brooding majesty was conveyed in Snell's rendition of "For Behold", while the chorus "For Unto Us", sung thereafter, exhibited choral electricity and fervour. Soprano Emma Fraser's introduction to this performance brimmed with radiancy, preparing the audience for the denouement to an engaging Part One.

Part Two, focusing on Christ's self-examination, persecution and exaltation, began in restrained and sobering fashion; the mezzo aria "He Was Despised", while emotive, could have been sung with more powerful delivery.

The ensuing choruses, in particular "All We Like Sheep", were performed with panache, and with a particularly crisp sense of articulation noticeable in the soprano line.

The subsequent tenor solos, parted by the invigorating "He Trusted in God", were moments of real magnificence. Thereafter, the transformation from crucifixion to resurrection, conveyed by Emma Fraser, heralded bright and well-structured singing of the "Ascensiontide" and "Pentecost" choruses. Following Hamilton's ire-laden dashing of the potter's vessel, the famous "Hallelujah" evoked the fulfillment of God's triumph in its text.

Part Three began with Fraser's ornate, occasionally insecure, singing of "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth". The following "Since By Man Came Death" successfully rendered the great contrasts within its text, while Snell's telling of the great mystery and sounding of the trumpets supplied thoroughly invigorating drama.

The closing choruses of Messiah were performed with steady pomp, building in regal intensity, and concluding with a bright and resolute "Amen". Crisply accompanied by the Southern Sinfonia, Burchell's direction of the performance fashioned an emotive, elegant and well-crafted concert.

Reviewed for the Otago Daily Times by George Chittenden, 10 December 2015.

Familiar landscape emotively evoked

These Lands Are Ours

Saturday 26 September
Knox Church


A healthy-sized audience at Knox Church attended a rousing and emotive programme of nationally-inspired music performed by Dunedin Youth Orchestra and City Choir Dunedin.

The first half of the concert, performed solely by the orchestra, began with Douglas Lilburn's Drysdale Overture. This conveyed an impressionistic soundscape of New Zealand's natural beauty, transporting the audience between impetuous cadenzas and broad, elegiac melodies.

The work was performed with gravitas and rhythmic tightness, yet lapsing occasionally in brightness of tuning during some prominent melodic lines.

Thereafter, the first movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor featured violinist Matthew Scadden, a performance student at the University of Otago. Whilst a hint of insecurity was evident at the beginning of the work, its performance grew boldly in stature, culminating in an impressive showcase of both soloist and orchestra.

A Run in Ross Creek, written by emerging composer Merlin Callister, evoked the dense greenery of its titular inspiration, conveying the melodic splendour of national-romanticism, whilst spiritedly colouring the musical language with warm, impressionistic vistas. In this, Callister's inspiring tone-poem was performed by the orchestra with abundant relish and panache.

The first half of the concert concluded with Alexander Mackenzie's fervent First Scottish Rhapsody. Through its imitative form and contrasting, nostalgic imagery of Scotland, it is a satisfying and emotive work, conveyed in particular through the compassionate tenderness expressed by the orchestra in the middle section.

Elgar's The Banner of St George provided the second half of the concert, sung with clear appetite by City Choir Dunedin, and accompanied by the orchestra.

David Burchell's direction, passionate and eloquent throughout the concert, piloted this late-Victorian drama of singularly English fashion. In this, the legend of St George and the dragon was conveyed with swashbuckling bravado.

A warm, well-blended choral tone, despite occasional lapses in clarity of diction, crafted a thoroughly inspiring performance; the work typified the excitement of Elgarian spectacle, showcasing the performers' fruitful combination of nimble, dexterous orchestral accompaniment and engaging, charismatic choral singing.

Reviewed by George Chittenden, Otago Daily Times 28 September 2015