A message from the Principal:

I am delighted to announce that Benjamin Goodson is joining Somerville as our new Director of Chapel Music, in succession to David Crown who has moved on after eight very successful years at Somerville.

Ben is a gifted musician and experienced choir conductor.   He studied originally at Hertford College and quickly built up an impressive career, as – among other  posts – music director of the Bath Camerata and (his most recent appointment) chorus master at the Dorset Opera Festival.  His biography can be found here.  Ben will be spending a few days each week in college.  He has already carried out the auditions for choral scholars, and will be sending out a notice very shortly to invite people to audition for the college choir.  I know he has exciting plans, and I look forward very much to hearing the choir go on from strength to strength under his leadership.

Please join me in welcoming Benjamin Goodson to Somerville.

With all best wishes,

Alice Prochaska

This week sees the release of Robert Pecksmith's first commercial solo CD, a portrait of the newly built Franz Liszt Memorial Organ in Weimar (Germany). The CD was co-produced by Somerville's former choir manager Stefan Schwarz and released by the well-known classical music label JUBALmusic.

Based on the programme of Robert's 2014 summer tour to Germany, the album features works music by Bach, Liszt, Reger, Howells and Elgar as well as the premier recording of a piece by young composer Bertie Baigent, himself another former member of Somerville Choir. Baigent wrote this piece specifically for the tour and dedicated it to Robert and Stefan. The work even attracted the attention of the BBC and will be published in print later this year.

Robert is probably the first Oxbridge organ scholar to have released a professional solo CD immediately upon completing his undergraduate degree.

The album is available for purchase and streaming from Spotify, Qobuz, Amazon UK, Amazon USA, Amazon Germany, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal and through Robert's website. Click here to see a promotional video. A more detailed article about the CD can be found on the college website.

The first video recording of our concerts and services in America has now been uploaded to YouTube: 

The Choir of Somerville College (conducted by David Crown and accompanied by organist Robert Pecksmith) sings Charles Wood's Expectans expectavi at Washington National Cathedral.

UPDATE

More live recordings from our US tour:

Charles Wood: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D
(Washington National Cathedral, 1 July 2014)

Arthur Somervell: O Saviour of the World
Andrew Carter: Go before us, O Lord
(St. John's Episcopal Church, Northampton/Massachusetts, 5 July 2014)

John Joubert: O Lorde, the maker of al thing
Paul Simon: Bridge over troubled water (arr. Sechler)
(Christ Church Christiana Hundred, Wilmington/Delaware, 3 July 2014)

Full programmes of all our six concerts and services in America are now available for download from the tour page.

On Thursday at 1:15pm Robert Pecksmith (Organ Scholar) will be playing a recital on the brand-new Dobson organ at Merton Chapel. His programme will feature works by Bach, Duruflé, Vierne, Pärt and Sousa. See the Facebook event page for further details.

One day later (Friday at 1:15pm) he will be playing a piano recital at Somerville College Chapel as part of Somerville Music Society's lunchtime recital series.

Today's service at 6pm will be the last chapel service of term and a chance for all members of the college community to come together to celebrate the end of another year at Somerville and say goodbye to those who are leaving (including Chapel Director Fiona Gatty and several members of the choir).

The service will feature the usual mix of speeches, readings and music. The choir will be singing works by Hassler, Wood, Händel, Guest and Rutter. The service will also include two hymns: the college song (Omnes laetae nunc sodales) and Jerusalem. The organ voluntary will be Robert Pecksmith's arrangement of Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever, a preview of the choir's upcoming US tour.

In the first week of July we will be going on our most ambitious foreign tour so far: We will be performing three full-length evening concerts, two services and one organ recital in churches and cathedrals in Washington D.C., Delaware and Massachusetts.

Details of all our performances in the USA are now listed on the tour page. Full programmes and publicity material will be added to the page over the course of the next few weeks.

The concerts and services will feature 20 members of the Choir of Somerville College, David Crown (conductor) and Robert Pecksmith (organist).

This US tour, which we have been organising since last summer, was made possible by the generous support of Somerville College and our friends.

On Friday at 6pm the Choir of Somerville College and Somerville Music Society will be presenting West End Favourites and Film Music, a gala concert in aid of the choir's US tour.

Members of the Choir of Somerville College, Robert Pecksmith (organ/piano) and special guest star David Crown (baritone) perform a selection of favourite show tunes and film music. The concert features extracts from The Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Cats, Star Wars and Show Boat as well as 'One Day More', the rousing finale from Act I of Les Misérables. See the Facebook event for full details of the programme.

Performers:
Ruth Akinradewo (soprano), Ian Buchanan (tenor), David Crown (baritone/conductor), Katie Jeffries-Harris (mezzo-soprano), Matt Kerr (baritone), Douglas Knight (piano). Christoph Schnedermann (bass), Stefan Schwarz (baritone), Robert Pecksmith (organ/piano), Alexandra Worrell (soprano), Emily Winkler (soprano), Orly Watson (piano)

Admission is free. There will be a retiring collection in aid of the choir's summer tour.