Photography by David Green; More photos available on Dave’s website and available to purchase on Photobox

An Easter performance of Handel’s masterpiece, by a 300-strong choir uniting voices from North and South London.

George Frideric Handel’s Messiah is often performed during the Christmas season, but this thought-provoking work was originally an Easter offering, first performed at Musick Hall in Dublin on 13th April 1742 to a grand audience of 700.

Dan Ludford-Thomas conducted a combined choir from the Hackney Singers and Lewisham Choral Society, with the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra and soloists Helen Meyerhoff (soprano), Timothy Travers-Brown (alto), John McMunn (tenor) and Philip Tebb (bass).

“What a fabulous evening”

“The word on the street is ‘really moving’”

“You should all be really proud of the event and yourselves – absolutely fabulous evening.”

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…I thoroughly enjoyed it . . the singing was superb; The sopranos especially, I thought, came over so beautifully. The Forest Philharmonic, as usual, were brilliant; …

Just thought I would let you know that I went to hear Hackney Singers and Forest Philharmonic yesterday, … It was brilliant, the orchestra were great and Mozart’s Requiem which I love was beautifully executed by the choir. So if any of you get the opportunity to hear them in the future I would recommend the experience.

The Dies Irae was terrifying – it was like being hit by a wall of sound.

No piece of music is so bound up in its own mythology as Mozart’s Requiem, one of the most enigmatic pieces of music ever composed. This was a stunning performance by the 150-strong Hackney Singers to a capacity audience at St John at Hackney. Accompanied by the Forest Philarmonic with renowned conductor Mark Shanahan, the programme also featured performances of Holst’s St Paul’s Suite and Elgar’s Serenade for Strings.

Hackney Singers’ next concert will be the Christmas Concert at St Peter’s De Beauvoir, on Sunday December 11th, followed by a performance of Handel’s Messiah in March 2012 at the Royal Festival Hall.

Hackney Sings The Blues: A Unique Choral Event

Hackney Singers performed Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, a jazz setting of the Latin Mass, accompanied by the Will Todd trio with the composer at the piano, and renowned jazz­ singer Bethany Halliday. The programme also featured the whimsical Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare by jazz legend George Shearing who died earlier this year.

The 130-strong Hackney Singers choir were conducted by Associate Conductor and long-standing friend of Will Todd, Dan Ludford-Thomas, and the choir’s Repétiteur, Andrew Storey.

Written in 2003, Will Todd’s Mass in Blue is a brilliant mix of driving jazz grooves and clear, strong, choral writing against which the solo piano and solo soprano voice weave and blend in a delightful aural tapestry. The work reflects not only the composer’s love of jazz music and his admiration of jazz performers, but also his own experiences of improvisation and of church choral music. www.willtodd.com

Watch excerpts from Mass in Blue on YouTube

Born in Battersea in 1919, George Shearing became one of the great jazz pianists and band leaders. He emigrated to the US in 1947, performed for three US Presidents and composed over 300 works including the famous Lullaby of Birdland. Songs & Sonnets from Shakespeare, first performed in 1999, was his second “collaboration” with Shakespeare, the perfect showcase for his English musical background combined with American jazz influences.

The Songs and Sonnets of Shakespeare were ‘delightfully presented and showed the choir in well-controlled, reflective mood’ – Andrew Storey, Conductor.

The Mass in Blue was ‘tailor-made’ for the enthusiastic Hackney Singers.  With the Will Todd trio and soloist Bethany Halliday, the Hackney Singers sang ‘with a fantastic fusion of energy and enthusiasm which was channeled into a vibrant performance. I thought the whole evening was charged. Members of the choir sang with purpose and high intensity, enhanced all the more as smiles continually broke out throughout the singing” – Dan Ludford-Thomas, Conductor.

Audience comments

“I’ve never really been into jazz singing but I found this performance of Mass in Blue by the Hackney Singers and the superb soloist truly dynamic and I enjoyed it immensely”

“The singing was incredibly moving I had goose pimples at time hair standing up my neck at others and could not stop moving along to the exciting rhythms. Great that HS are broadening their repertoire - so enjoyable, so timely!”

“I really enjoyed the concert last night – particularly the second half, which I thought went with a real swing. It sounded really tricky to sing, but the choir did very well – I didn’t detect any moments of uncertainty. The soloist was amazing too.”

“What a wonderful jazz night. I couldn’t stop tapping my feet.”

“Such an exciting programme and so unexpected. I loved it.”

“It was a privilege having the composer there.”

Photography by Rishi Coupland

Loyal Hackney Singers fans braved the arctic weather conditions on Saturday night to attend what one regular described as our “best concert in years” at St Peter’s de Beauvoir. This despite one choir member having to stand in for our accompanist literally at the last moment. Undaunted the choir sang with great gusto under the direction of Dan Ludford Thomas inspiring a trio of young choir supporters to steal the show with their rendition of A Way in A Manger.

Other Christmas favourites performed included The Angel Gabriel, Ding Dong Merrily on High, I Saw Three Ships, Good King Wenceslas and Hark the Herald Angels Sing and traditional carols such as The Truth From Above, Sans Day Carol and All This Time, which were greeted with rapturous applause.

The audience also gave generously to a collection for St Peter’s cold weather shelter for homeless people raising hundreds of pounds for the charity.

“I appreciated the efforts that the choir made to make the audience feel part of the performance”, said Simon Pether, from Bethnal Green. “Christmas wouldn’t feel the same without the Hackney Singers concert”.

Botswana’s Sedibeng Choral Society inspired community choir Hackney Singers and the audience in a dazzling joint performance at a full St. John-at- Hackney on Friday 8 October. “The Hackney Singers were truly inspired to reach another level tonight by the Sedibeng Choral Society”, said Mark Shanahan, Hackney Singers Musical Director. “To see the way they were inspired when they sang – especially during the encore – was just fantastic”.

The Sedibeng Choral Society journeyed to Hackney as part of their first tour outside of Botswana to launch Mma Ramotswe’s Cookbook, a spin-off from the BBC TV series the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, for which Sedibeng provided music. Members of the choir stayed with Hackney Singers in Hackney, Stoke Newington, Waltham Forest and further afield. For many, it was their first trip outside Botswana.

They opened Friday night’s musical extravaganza with a choreographed performance entitled ‘Made in Botswana’, featuring beautifully-sung traditional African music, dancing and drumming, injected with a unique sense of humour and fun that brought a bit of Botswana to Hackney. “It is not the first Hackney Singers event that I have attended, but it was my favourite – I loved it!” said Martina Breslin, from Canning Town, one of the 600/700 audience that attended. “I really enjoyed the Batswana performance. It was beautiful and I loved how animated they were. I loved that you did a piece together – there was an energy about it.”

Sedibeng Choral Society received a five-minute standing ovation from the audience – a hard act for Hackney Singers to follow. However, buoyed by the energy of the Sedibeng performance and bolstered by the bold sounds of the internationally-renowned Onyx Brass, they rose to the occasion. “The Sedibeng Choral Society provided us with energy, movement and a really sincere performance”, said Dan Ludford-Thomas, Hackney Singers Associate Conductor. “It inspired the Hackney Singers to go to an extra level tonight. It was thoroughly enjoyable and to see the two contrasts was amazing. I could hear the buzz behind me from the Sedibeng Choral Society appreciating the Hackney Singers performance.”

Hackney Singers Repétiteur, Andrew Storey put in an impressive performance on the organ, keeping pace with the fast rhythms and complex arrangements as Hackney Singers sung John Rutter’s ‘Gloria’ and Hubert Parry’s ‘I was glad’. He called the performance a “triumph” and “one of the best in the 20 years that I have been doing this”.

Click here to see the full press release

Photo Graham Turnbull

Sunday November 8th, 2009, 6.30pm at St. John at Hackney

Dvorak – Te Deum

Vivaldi – Magnificat

Mozart – Kyrie

Sibelius – Be Still, My Soul

“The choir came alive and brought the audience alive with it” – Audience member

photo Graham Turnbull

“The performance was very special. Hackney Singers performances always are. The atmosphere was actually unlike any other concert, truthfully. It’s a real privilege to be asked to sing with the choir.” – Soprano, Helen Meyerhoff

“I can fairly say that I have never quite experienced a concert like it. It was an absolutely magnificent idea because you’ve obviously got a very loyal audience and it was a means of getting the audience to closely connect and bond with the choir and it was a fantastic success. Everyone got involved, everyone got hyped and excited – they could see some of Mark’s techniques and that gave them an insight into how to perform at a concert – it was just a fantastic experience” – Baritone / Bass, Andrew Mayor

Click here for press release

There’s just something about a Hackney Singers concert.  Audiences come back time and time again because they know it’s going to be special and this concert was no exception. Inspired by Mark Shanahan’s direction the choir, orchestra and soloists gave a performance that was joyous, energetic and full of exuberance” – Rachel Gallagher, Clapton

“On top form”. Hackney Singers, Mark Shanahan and the Forest Philharmonic play Puccini’s Gloria to a packed St John’s

“I was truly impressed by the Hackney Singers on Saturday night, they were bloody brilliant. Cheers” – Michael, St John’s website

Photos:  Imogen Radford

Spring Concert

St John-At-Hackney Church

Sat 9th May 2009

Hackney Singers

The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor Mark Shanahan

Tenor Thomas Herford

Bass-baritone Andrew Greenan

Puccini: Messa Di Gloria

A work of boundless vitality and self assurance, filled with colour and invention. It’s a switchback ride for the listener, as Puccini lurches gleefully from key to key and sidesteps into different forms. The music is protean, always moving on in new directions, constantly surprising us. At its premiere in Lucca on 12 July 1880, the Mass was
extremely well received, but it was never performed again in Puccini’s lifetime. Already the composer had settled on opera as a career choice. He would later write ‘The Almighty touched me with his little finger and said, “Write for the theatre, mind, only for the theatre!”‘.

Mozart: Divertimento in B flat major, K 137

The 18th-century divertimento was a multi-movement entertainment piece, intended, as its name suggests, to divert rather than to inspire profound thoughts. Mozart wrote three orchestral divertimenti in the 1770s, at a time when he was in the service of the archbishop of Salzburg.

Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus, K 618

This work dates from 1791, the last year of Mozart’s life, when his creative genius was at its height. Other works of that year include his Requiem, the opera The Magic Flute, his clarinet concerto and his last
two string quartets. He wrote it for a celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi in the parish of Baden, just outside Vienna. The poem Ave verum corpus (‘Hail, true body!’) dates from the 14th century. It has been attributed to Pope Innocent IV (died 1362).

Download the programme text in 18pt type

The Audience

“The playing and singing at the concert were excellent. The whole thing went off splendidly – one of your best. The Puccini especially was for me a rare delight. It’s good to hear a choir sing with such passion and commitment.” Michael Friess

“The Puccini was a delight. Wonderful tunes and rousing choruses, the choir and orchestra were on top form and the soloists excellent. Roll on the next time!”. Jill Eakins, Crouch End

“Good to see local businesses supporting the choir with their ads in the concert programme. And thanks for the excellent translation of the Latin. I followed every word”. Visitor from Wales (aged 88)

The Conductor

Mark Shanahan

This season Mark makes his debut in Marseilles with Jenufa and returns to Frankfurt Opera for Nabucco. Concerts include Forest Philharmonic, his debut in Denmark, Alpine Symphony with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and his first visit to the Orchestre de pays de Loire for the Haydn festival 2009.

The Perfomers

Thomas Herford: Tenor

THOMAS HERFORD is a Cambridge graduate and is now studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Rudolf Piernay. His recent concert appearances include Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bach’s Magnificat, and his Barbican debut with the London Symphony Orchestra, singing the tenor roles in ‘Two Sisters, A Rose, A flood and Snow’ by Alasdair
Nicholson.

Andrew Greenan: Bass-baritone

ANDREW GREENAN was a Choral Scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge. He then went on to the Royal Northern College of Music
where he studied with John Cameron. He made his operatic début at La Scala, Milan in Schoenberg’s Die Glückliche Hand. His concert repertoire ranges from Bach to Walton, Tippett and beyond, including the major choral works of Haydn, Beethoven, Rossini Dvorak, Elgar and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, for which he is particularly noted. He has appeared with many leading orchestras including the RPO, BBC
Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, English Chamber and Belgian National Orchestras.

“Hackney Singers connect to the emotions of the music. The drama and the standard of performance are a triumph”

The Hackney Singers made the impressive Victorian Gothic setting and acoustic of St Marks resound to powerful music. The 130-strong local community choir performed Rossini’s delightful Petite Messe Solennelle, conducted by Mark Shanahan, to a packed and delighted audience of over 500.

Scenes from the rehearsal earlier in the day (photos Imogen Radford)

Autumn Concert

St Mark’s Church

Sat 8th Nov 2007

Hackney Singers

Conductor Mark Shanahan

Soprano Linda Richardson

Mezzo Leah-Marian Jones

Tenor Dan Ludford-Thomas

Bass Simon Thorpe

Piano Andrew Storey

Harmonium Ben Saul

Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle

Rossini achieved both fame and fortune early in his career and “retired ” at the age of 37 having written nearly 40 operas.  He was later asked by a friend, Countess Louise Pillet-Will, to write a solemn mass for the consecration of a private chapel and scored the work for intimate forces – two pianos, harmonium, four soloists and small chorus.

The “Petite Messe Solennelle” was first performed in Passy near Paris in March 1864. At the end of the score he rather touchingly wrote: ‘Good Lord, there it is, finished, this poor little mass. I do not know if this music is sacred or sacrilegious (“musique sacrée’ or ‘sacrée musique”). I was born for comic opera as You well know. Little skill, some feeling and that’s all. Therefore let me sing Your praises and grant me your paradise. G. Rossini – Passy 1863.’ His description ‘little’ has stuck to the work so that it is customarily referred to as the ‘Petite’ Messe Solennelle, in spite of taking over 80 minutes to perform!

Edited version of programme note by Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. This note was supplied through the Programme Note Bank of Making Music, the National Federation of Music Societies.

Download the full programme text in 18pt type

The Audience

“It was lovely, and I especially enjoyed the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei. It finished on a high.” Lucy Fincham

“It’s been a lovely evening, with fantastic voices, and it’s good to see this magnificent church full of people getting into it.” Revd Josh Zvimba

“It was lovely to hear how wonderful the choir sounds.” Margaret Peirce

“It was great to be part of such a large audience in a fine Hackney church.  The choir surpassed itself in some inspiring passages, and clearly enjoyed an excellent relationship with their conductor, pianist and harmonium player, as well as with the impressive soloists.” Oliver Williams

The Conductor

“The venue has a fine acoustic, and gives a real sheen to the sound. The piece is good for the choir. It takes a lot of a vocal stamina – there are two big fugues, and as there is no orchestra they really have to carry it off themselves. And they are living up to it magnificently.” Mark Shanahan, Conductor

The Performers

“It’s great to be back to perform with Hackney Singers again, and I am enjoying building up my rapport with the choir. They’ve grown in size and stature, and they carry off this intimate piece in this great venue. The Rossini has something for everyone – jolly moments and lovely passages.” Linda Richardson, soprano

“I am very excited to be doing this piece again – I last did it in 1992, and it’s great to work with Mark and the other soloists and the choir. I love the music.” Leah-Marian Jones, mezzo soprano

“I have worked with Mark before and it’s very nice to be here with the Hackney Singers. This Rossini is a real treasure – fabulous, uplifting, and it rolls and rolls on with one joyful moment after another.” Simon Thorpe, baritone

“The work plays to the strength of the chorus and the conductor. Hackney Singers always do well what the conductor demands, which is to connect to the emotions of the music. The drama and the standard of performance are a triumph.” Dan Ludford Thomas, tenor

“It just sounds fabulous. It’s great that the conductor can rehearse the music at a higher level as the choir is so confident. And it’s lovely for us all to work with these marvellous soloists.” Andrew Storey, pianist

“It’s a great ensemble performance – the soloists and the chorus sound absolutely great. They’re all going for it, and the choir is sailing through the fugues imperially”. Ben Saul, harmonium and piano

“Incredibly good, wonderfully atmospheric”

“Powerfully interpreted, I loved it”

“It felt like we were on a boat, they were so effective in evoking the sea”

“The quiet parts were particularly moving.”

Click here for press release

Photos: Imogen Radford

Spring Concert

St John at Hackney

Lower Clapton Road E5

Sat 10th May 2008

Hackney Singers

Forest Philharmonic

Conductor: Mark Shanahan

Soprano: Linda Richardson

Bass baritone: Philip Tebb

Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony

‘Behold the sea itself’ – the opening words of Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony. And we can scarcely avoid seeing it, in our mind’s eye, and indeed feeling its force in the pit of our stomach, as the full orchestra crashes in at the word ‘sea’. Never can vast breakers pounding against rocks, sending up great jets and spouts of spray, then washing backwards, have been so powerfully evoked in music.

The Sea Symphony certainly loses nothing in comparison with other 19th- and early 20th-century musical portrayals of the sea – Debussy’s La mer (1905), for instance, or those in Wagner’s Flying Dutchman (1843).

The sea is presented in many moods. In the second movement, for example, we are at its edge, on a silent lonely shore, gazing out over a flat calm sea at night, as the waves splash gently at our feet. In the sprightly, bracing, ozone-filled third movement, we are out at sea again, clutching at the rails as a great sailing ship battles the swell, its timbers, canvas and ropes creaking and groaning. And the final movement portrays, in its epilogue, the unknowable vastness of the ocean, for ever stretching out before the voyager.

© John Ayto

Download the programme text in 18pt type

The Audience

I started as rector here just before your concert one year ago, and I am delighted to see the church being used again by the Hackney Singers and the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra for this event. The choir and orchestra performed to great effect in the building, and it felt like we were on a boat, they were so effective in evoking the sea.  Reverend Rob Wickham, Rector of Hackney

It was incredibly good, wonderfully atmospheric, and gave a marvellous sense of seascape. I was really mesmerised by the changes of mood. It was the first time I have heard the Sea Symphony live, and I was blown away by the music and the way it was so powerfully interpreted. I found it inspirational and I loved it. Deb Laycock, choir member not singing in this piece

Wonderful, I was dabbing my eyes often during the piece. I found it very moving and I am very glad I came.  Mike Dempsey

I cried three times, especially where the piece evoked the words of the poet, and some of the quiet parts were particularly moving. The soloists were great, and the orchestra, but when the choir was singing unaccompanied it was stunning.  Monica Forty

It was very striking how 101% committed everyone is – singing their hearts out, watching Mark, coming in so confidently, keeping quite still at the end of each movement – really professional.  I was really sad not to be able to sing but I had the privilege of seeing how all the hard work had paid off. It was a great performance! Clare Wooldridge, choir member not singing in this piece

The choice of greens and blues for the choir was an excellent one. The mass affect looked brilliant, jewel-like and fresh.  An actor friend who came commented on the professional way we came on, stood etc. Christine Hodgson, choir member not singing in this piece

The Conductor

I never thought a few years ago that we would have the courage to put on such a powerful and challenging work. It’s a great credit to the choir. They have been improving the speed at which they learn the music so much lately. Not many of them have even heard the piece let alone sung it, which makes the achievement even more remarkable. It’s always nice to be joined by the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra for these big events, to give the chorus their immense support. And the Hackney Singers rose to the occasion marvellously, as ever. Mark Shanahan, conductor

The Musicians

Hackney Singers have yet again captured the spirit of the piece, and are putting over the full range of colours and dynamics, and conveying the drama of the piece. They’re singing in such a concentrated way, showing a sense of security, that I’m sure it’s going to be a delicious performance. Dan Ludford Thomas, associate conductor

I think the choir has started to feel very comfortable with the work and the English choral sound is beginning to take shape. An hour’s input from Mark at this rehearsal has started to give the performance real colour and vibrancy. Saturday evening is going to be one of the highlights of my last 18 years with the choir. It is a wonderful work sung by some wonderful people.  It was well worth doing, it sounded lovely. I was very impressed. Andrew Storey, répétiteur

It’s difficult for people to appreciate how much of an achievement it is to put on a piece like this with just one rehearsal with everyone in the choir and orchestra together. It’s sounding amazingly good  John Crawford, leader of the orchestra

The Soloists

It’s lovely to return to sing with the choir and to see them sounding so robust and healthy. I joined the Hackney Singers four years ago to sing A Child of Our Time, which was a wonderful experience. Once again I am coming to sing a challenging piece with you. It’s going to be a great concert. There’s a very good atmosphere, and the choir is working very well with the orchestra and the conductor. Linda Richardson Soprano

I sang the piece a couple of years ago, and I am pleased to be here to do it again. It’s a wonderful piece, but it’s not performed as often as it should be. It needs a good orchestra and choir and this is what we have today. Philip Tebb Bass Baritone