A CHOIR enjoying a renaissance under a newly-appointed conductor is set to perform in Stockbridge in July.

Southern Voices, under new conductor Jamal Sutton, are preparing to sing an enjoyable, light programme of summer music in St Peter’s Church on July 8, starting at 7.30pm. 

The concert is a summer fizz of madrigals, folksongs and toe-tapping jazz, including traditional folksongs such as Londonderry Air, My Love is like a Red Red Rose and Barbara Allen. The choir will also sing Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare by George Shearing and Three Elizabethan Part Songs by Vaughan Williams.

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The choir will then sing four well-known Elizabethan madrigals twice. Firstly, as written in the sixteenth century and, later in the concert, as arranged by Bob Chilcott, published as recently as 2022, to some modern jazz vibes.

Two very special guests will provide accompaniment in the Chilcott and the Shearing in the form of the head of keyboard at Winchester College, Nicholas Salwey on piano, and Alastair Hume, founder member of the King’s Singers, on double bass.

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There is a strong King’s Singers theme to the evening – Bob Chilcott is also an ex-King’s singer and sang alongside Alastair Hume when the group met and performed with George Shearing. 

The choir are well established in and around Winchester and 2024 will mark their 40th anniversary year. Tickets are £16 for adults, while those aged 18 and under will be able to get a ticket for £1. Tickets can be bought at ticketsource.co.uk/southern-voices.