St Matthew's Choir and Orchestra invite you to join them for a performance of the first Englis language operas. The choir and orchestra will be joined by singers who will be taking part in their weekend workshop, and by emerging young soloists, most of them students at Leeds and Hull Universities.
Purcell’s English-language opera Dido and Aeneas is widely considered to be one of the earliest known English operas. It was composed in the summer of 1688, and first performed by an all-girl cast in 1689, at Josia Priest’s girls’ school in London.
St Matthew’s Choir are no strangers to performing concerts outside their weekly church services. As the name suggests, they are the resident choir at St Matthew’s Church in Chapel Allerton. The choir organise a come-and-sing weekend at least twice a year, concluding with a performance of the studied work.
Liz Hawthorn, a soprano in the choir: “We are very excited to be performing, for the first time, a secular work. For weekend workshops, we usually sing Latin masses or requiems, and we are really looking forward to singing in English! Purcell’s music just fits the words so well…”
There are still a couple of places available for the workshop choir. Interested singers should visit here for further information.
St Matthew’s Orchestra is a new and exciting per-service orchestra, based in Leeds. It was established to help recent music graduates and upper-year students bridge the gap between being in full-time education and entering the competitive professional music market. They are quickly making a name for themselves thanks to their youthful, energetic and sincere interpretations.
The performance and the weekend workshop will be led by Josh Skorja, the Director of Music at St Matthew’s. A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, and the University of Ljubljana, Josh is rapidly establishing a reputation as an exciting choral and orchestral conductor.