The Christmas Spirit

Quire perform programme of seasonal music at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward

Chiswick-based Quire (from the ancient spelling of the word “choir”) is performing their annual programme of seasonal music at the Church of Our Lady of Grace and St Edward, Chiswick (corner of Chiswick High Road and Dukes Avenue, W4) on Saturday 4 December 2010 at 7.30pm.

They will present a miscellany of Christmas music, ancient and modern, from Britain and around the world. The aim is to rekindle that elusive Christmas spirit by a reminder of what Christmas is really about! The programme includes traditional carols for choir and congregation, set alongside works by Bruckner, Whitacre and Mendelssohn.

Quire came together 18 years ago with a common interest in early English choral music, although their current musical repertoire is considerably broader. Now busy doctors, lawyers, teachers, consultants and researchers in “real” life, Quire still sings for fun, but to very high standards. They typically number some 14 to 18 singers with experience of a wide range of other first-class groups including the Tallis Scholars, the Corydon Singers, the Holst Singers, and the New London Chamber Choir.

Quire has performed in many UK venues including Westminster Abbey and the royal church in Edinburgh. It is also increasingly in demand for festivals throughout Europe, and has already sung in Berlin, Frankfurt, St Petersburg, Rome and Belgium. They have just returned from a successful tour to Prague where they sang in the Augustinian monastery of St Thomas, raising money for the monks’ outreach programme for young people. December is Quire’s third Christmas visit to Our Lady of Grace and St Edward.

Entrance is free but there will be a retiring collection in aid of local charities.

See www.quire.info for further information.

November 23, 2010