2003 John Armitage Memorial season
Two concerts of the 2003 JAM season were performed. The first was at Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday March 13th and the second was at St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street on Friday March 14th.JAM co-commissioned Jonathan Dove to write a song cycle for 2003. The first performance of this piece was at Canterbury Cathedral on March 13th.
Jonathan's piece, The Far Theatricals of Day, is a 20-minute cycle of Emily Dickinson settings that follow the course of a day, starting with "Will there really be a morning?" and ending with "Good morning, midnight". The music, for four soloists, choir, organ & brass quintet, attempts to match the simplicity and the grandeur of Dickinson's vision, and is designed to exploit the spatial possibilities of Canterbury Cathedral and St. Bride's.
2003's programme also featured Timothy Jackson's No Answer, JAM's 2002 commission.
From a large number of pieces sent to the project, the JAM panel selected the rest of the programme for 2003. All the music has been written for brass, choir and organ, or any combination of these components.
The renowned conductor Nicholas Cleobury conducted both concerts. Nicholas has a particular affinity with voices and choirs, having been Assistant Director of the BBC Singers and Chorus Master/Repetiteur at Glyndebourne. He is also a passionate advocate and noted exponent of new music. Nicholas conducted four soloists from the choir of St. Bride's, Onyx Brass, The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge and Benjamin Bayl at the organ.
See full 2003 programme details here