Hackney’s leading choir will bring a masterpiece of early classical music to the borough when they perform Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at Hackney Church, London E5 0PD, on Saturday 27 April 2024 at 7.30pm.

The concert by the 130-strong Hackney Singers will be a rare opportunity to hear a monumental Early Music work performed in a space similar to those for which it was composed.

Scored for up to ten voice parts and instruments including cornetts, sackbuts, strings and a Renaissance drum, the Vespers mixes a choral “wall of sound” with virtuosic solos – for which the classical Georgian Hackney Church will provide the perfect acoustic.

Like Hackney, the Vespers is a melting pot. Monteverdi offers us the sounds of late Renaissance Italy, beats from Middle Eastern musical cultures, traditional church chants and intimate love songs based on the Song of Solomon, such as I am black and beautiful. 

As the Vespers has something for everyone, tickets range from £25 (full price waged adult) to £15 (concessions), and a special student offer of £10.

Hackney Singers, who recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, are an amateur non-audition choir who focus on performing two high-quality concerts a year. Last year their performance of Verdi’s Requiem in collaboration with Lewisham Choral Society sold out at London’s Festival Hall.