St Peter’s Consort 40th anniversary concert in Wakefield Cathedral

Stunning setting and true-to-original composition will be a “powerful experience” for both audience and performers

Advertisement feature: St Peter’s Consort, the Wakefield-based chamber choir, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in some style

On March 18 at 7.30 pm in the beautiful setting of Wakefield Cathedral the 19-strong ensemble will be performing JS Bach’s extraordinary St John Passion.

James Bowstead, the choir’s musical director (and interim director of music at Wakefield Cathedral) said: “I regard this as one of the greatest pieces of music ever written and which I’ve wanted to direct for a long time. It has often been said of Bach’s two surviving passions that, whereas the St Matthew Passion is the more monumental and in some ways a more complete demonstration of Bach’s mastery, the St John Passion is more immediate, more visceral and arguably less ‘finished’, and as a result I think in many ways it is a far more powerful and affecting account of Jesus’s death.

“We will be joined by four fabulous soloists for this concert. Chris Why, who was a member of St Peter’s Consort for a several years, will be singing the very demanding role of the Evangelist, as well as singing the arias for tenor solo, and David Cane, a brilliant Manchester-based singer, will be singing the role of Christus and the arias for bass solo.

“Our line-up of soloists will be completed by Julianne Coates singing the alto arias and Molly Cochrane, former chorister at Wakefield Cathedral and a good friend of Consort, singing the soprano arias. The remaining roles will be sung by choir members, including our chairman Colin Powell singing the substantial role of Pilate.”

Close to original

He added that the orchestra for the concert will be Baroque in the North, a specialist period orchestra based in Manchester with their artistic director Amanda Babington.

“Hearing the work performed with period instruments and a relatively small ensemble of singers will be a really exciting opportunity to hear the work performed in a manner close to Bach’s original intentions. We will be performing the work in the original German which allows Bach’s sensitive and expressive setting of the text to come across properly.

“Bach very definitely intended his passions to be performed in the context of the liturgy, and I hope that performing it at the Cathedral under the stunning rood screen by Ninian Comper depicting Jesus’s crucifixion will be a very powerful experience for both performers and audience.”

St Peter’s Consort has won widespread critical acclaim for its performances of a wide range of sacred and secular music. Three subscription concerts are given annually. The Consort has sung services or given concerts in half the cathedrals of England, as well as at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, Westminster Abbey, Notre Dame and Brussels Cathedral. The choir’s previous Musical Director was Philip Collin, now artistic director and conductor of Halifax Choral Society, who highlights Consort as “one of Yorkshire’s premier chamber choirs”.

Tickets will be £15 per person payable at the door on arrival; interval wine and soft drinks will be available.

Find out more at www.stpetersconsort.co.uk