Tenebrae:
'Songs Eternal'

Sunday 2nd May, 7.30 pm,
Mayfield Parish Church

Nigel Short (Director)

Musica dei donum:  Lassus
Burial Sentences:  Croft/Purcell
Loquebantur variis languis:  Tallis
Salvator mundi
Te lucis ante terminum
Miserere:  Allegri
Crucifixus:  Lotti
Funeral Ikos:  Sir John Tavener
Hymn to the Mother of God
Song for Athene
Hymn to the Cherubim:  Rachmaninov
Hymn to the Cherubim:  Chesnokov
I thank you God:  Eric Whitacre
The Lamb:  Sir John Tavener
Sleep:  Eric Whitacre
Faire is the Heaven:  Sir William Harris

Tenebrae is a professional chamber choir, founded and directed by Nigel Short. Often performing by candlelight, the choir creates an atmosphere of musical reflection, where medieval chant and renaissance works are interspersed with the contemporary. The carefully selected singers use the acoustic and atmosphere of the building to enable the audience to experience the power and intimacy of the human voice. Singers are drawn from outstanding musical backgrounds - King's College Cambridge, Westminster Abbey and Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, ENO - to create a unique vocal mix with an extraordinary range of vocal power and colour.
Tenebrae's recordings include their own commission, Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles, nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2007. Recording work is complemented by a schedule of regular performances for festivals and venues, including the Barbican, City of London Festival, Edinburgh Festival and the Proms, throughout the UK, Europe and America. The group has appeared as guest chamber choir with the LSO in live performance and recording and has recently recorded works including Poulenc's Figure Humaine for Signum Classics.

Nigel Short (Director) began his musical training as a chorister in Birmingham, going on the the Royal College of Music. He went on to be a member of the choir of Westminster Abbey, and pursued a career as a soloist in opera and oratorio and as a member of specialist vocal ensembles such as The Tallis Scholars. He toured widely for seven years as a member of The King's Singers.

In founding Tenebrae in 2001, his aim was to bring together what he loves best as a singer - the full-blooded sound of a large cathedral choir and the virtuosic precision of ensembles like The King's Singers. Alongside his directorship of Tenebrae and vocal training career, he has recently been appointed Director of Music at St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London.