The priests and congregation at St Mary the Virgin, Bathwick, are looking forward to welcoming Dorset choir Cantamus when the group gives a Lenten concert at the church in March.
The group, which has been described as “a musicians’ choir”, has been performing for two years and is gaining a reputation for its varied repertoire and quality of tone. It rehearses in Charmouth, west Dorset, and members come from the surrounding area.
Musical Director Malcolm Knowles compiles concert programmes with an expert hand, mixing early music with later pieces, and the programme for the Bathwick concert, ‘Sacred Songs of Hope and Lamentation’, is no exception.
Opening with unusual but accessible pieces by Gibbons, Lotti and Alonso Lobo, moving on to works by Rossini and Poulenc, and closing with Brahms’s sublime ‘How lovely are thy dwellings’, the concert promises to delight lovers of quality choral music.
The Revd Peter Edwards, Parish Priest at St Mary’s, sang with Cantamus when he lived and worked in Bridport, Dorset, and has happy memories of his time with the group.
“I’m very pleased that my singing friends from my old ‘patch’ are coming to perform at my new church,” he says. “They make a wonderful sound and their blend is really lovely. It’ll be the first time they’ve given a concert so far afield, but I’m sure our Bath audience will give them a warm welcome.”
The concert will be at St Mary the Virgin, Darlington Street, Bathwick, Bath BA2 4EB on Saturday 22nd March at 6pm. Tickets are £10 (£8 concessions) and will be available on the door.
For more information about the choir, please visit www.cantamus-dorset.org.
