No rest for the wicked however, and our day-to-day focus has now turned to our charity concerts which this year are both taking place in Edinburgh. These concerts provide a chance to hear Cadenza perform a wide mix of often lighter repertoire as well as listen to some guest artists.

The first of these concerts takes place on Saturday 12 May at St Cuthbert’s Parish Church on Lothian Road, and will be in aid of the Friend’s of St Cuthbert’s in support of their work for the church. It’s a great acoustic, and one that we are all deeply familiar with now having spent hours of recording time there in February! We’re delighted to welcome guitarist Ian Watt as our guest artist for this concert.

A few weeks later we’ll be at St Peter’s Church, Lutton Place, this time raising money on behalf of St Andrew’s Children’s Society who are doing great work providing fostering and adoption services and support around our captital city. We’ll be joined by the Edinburgh Guitar Orchestra for this concert, who are sure to dazzle with original compositions for guitar ensemble and also arrangements of more familiar orchestral pieces.

As always directions, timings and ticket information for both of these concerts is available on our Concerts page. We really hope to see you at these concerts supporting these two worthwhile local causes.

Last month we had our annual weekend workshop, devoted (almost) entirely to a selection of the new CD tracks, and last week we were joined by our Patron, Ben Parry, giving his own unique insight into our performance of ‘Bright Star’ – the brand new carol he has composed specially for us.

This is a particularly exciting project for Cadenza. As far as we know there are no other CDs devoted to Christmas music from modern day Scotland, making it unique. Not all the carols on the CD will be new or unfamiliar, though the arrangements of some better known ones might be. But for several – not least “Bright Star” – it will be their first recording. We feel immensely privileged to be able to introduce some wonderful new music to the listening public.

The name of our new CD? Sorry, that’s still a secret – working title “Cadenza’s New Christmas CD” – but that just adds to the sense of anticipation, and all will be revealed soon. Watch this space for more news and the date of the launch later in the year, in plenty of time for your Christmas shopping!

Singing from the altar end of Greyfriars Kirk this year meant that there was much greater audience capacity than last year. Nevertheless, and spite of our programme not being unique at this year’s International and Fringe Festivals (The Sixteen, no less, also performed Handel’s “Dixit Dominus” to great acclaim in the Usher Hall, and at least two other groups were offering the Vivaldi “Gloria RV589”), there were very few seats left, all in the furthest, limited view side pews and under the organ gallery.

The tumultuous applause at the end of the concert said it all, but it was lovely to have so many compliments as well:

“That was a stunning concert – we really enjoyed it.”
“Just to say how much we enjoyed the concert on Saturday. It was really uplifting.”
“We all loved the music. It was beautifully sung.”
“…we all really enjoyed the concert – a real highlight of the festival…”
“…the best thing we’ve been to at the Fringe…”

Others were impressed by the choir’s projection, the balance between choir and orchestra and the attention to detail in our interpretation (all credit to our Musical Director!). Particular praise was reserved for our performance of “Dixit Dominus” in the first half of the concert:

“..[enjoyed] your excellent concert of Baroque music. “Dixit” was an exciting and disciplined performance of a challenging piece. “

with several audience members asking at the interval if we had done a recording which they could buy (sadly, no).

We must of course not forget the contributions of our four superb soloists – Wilma MacDougall (soprano) and Colette Ruddy (mezzo soprano/alto) who never fail to impress, and our exciting newcomers, Andrew Nunn (tenor) and Jon Stainsby (bass) who will clearly go far in years to come – nor our orchestra who did not disappoint with another splendid performance.

Our programme for the 2012 Fringe features Mozart’s Solemn Vespers K339, which includes the aria “Laudate Dominum” – always a great audience favourite. Book your tickets now!!

• From any choir member
• From our Concert Manager (Tel: 0131 337 5914)
• From our Contact page on the website, please select ‘Concerts’ in the drop-down box
• From the official Fringe Box Office
• At the door (if you’re lucky – the previous two Fringe performances have been totally sold out!)

We really hope to welcome you to our concert.

Cadenza at the 2011 Fringe

Soprano Wilma MacDougall has performed several times with Cadenza, most recently at our 2009 Fringe concert, when she thrilled our capacity audience in Mozart’s “Great” Mass in C minor and Mendelssoh’s “O for the Wings of a Dove”. We are delighted to welcome her back.

Dundee-born Colette Ruddy will undertake the mezzo soprano and alto solos in our programme. This is her only her second appearance with Cadenza, but her extensive oratorio, recital and concert work has taken her to all the major concert halls in Britain and Ireland, performing as soloist with all the major orchestras, choral societies and choirs, as well as touring overseas.

Tenor Andrew Nunn is a relative newcomer, currently a postgraduate student on a full scholarship at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he studies singing with Gordon Wilson. Andrew has extensive orchestral experience, but he says that choral music has been a large part of his life and a major passion. An alumnus of the National Youth Choir of Scotland and a member of the RSAMD Chamber Choir, he is now building his career as a tenor soloist.

Bass Jon Stainsby was a choral exhibitioner at Cambridge University and is now also a postgraduate student at the RSAMD, where he will progress to the Opera course next year. He is a Britten-Pears Young Artist, has sung with the Dunedin Consort, the Academy of Ancient Music and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Please join us on Saturday 27th August to hear this exciting quartet of soloists. Tickets will be available soon, but can be pre-ordered immediately by contacting our Concert Manager via the webform or tel: 0131 337 5914.

Don’t worry if you didn’t take part in the auction though – there is still plenty time to help us towards our fundraising.  No better time than tonight – with our Ceilidh!  For more details, see our Concerts page.

There’s still a way to go before we reach the target we need to cover all the many costs involved in producing a CD which will meet our performance standards. If you haven’t already placed a bid in our Auction of Promises, please have a look at the long and varied list of available lots. Something there to please all tastes from our multi-talented choir members. But don’t leave it too late – bidding closes at 6pm on Thursday 21st April.

Cadenza is offering a number of services to friends, the public and supporters. With such a mix of talented people within the choir we thought it would be a useful way to help raise funds for the production of our next CD if we offered our talents to the highest bidder! This auction of promises gives you the chance to purchase the time, genius and hard work of a choir member to complete some very special and rarely offered services. We are sure there is something here for everyone – from hosting a website to the design of bespoke jewellery to doing your garden! You can find the full collection of lots on our auction page, with the current bid price listed, as well as details on how to bid. Good luck!

As well as enjoying a varied programme of classical, contemporary, folk and jazz arrangements by a wide range of composers, performed by one of Scotland’s finest and most versatile choirs, our audience will also have the opportunity to win not one, but two bumper hampers full of goodies, and place bids for an amazing choice of lots in our Auction of Promises. Promises include a gourmet meal cooked in your own home, a trip in a 1958 MG Magnette Sports Saloon Car, custom made jewellery, paintings, Reiki and Head Massage, and much, much more.

More details will be on our website after the concert, but why not come to the concert and be amongst the first to find out all that is on offer – and enjoy a great concert!