Details of our recent concerts
Want to know what we've been up to recently? This page lists our concerts from 2018 onwards.Looking further back, you can browse an archive of concerts from 2012 to 2021 (PDF format)
Spring Concert - Hope, Faith, Life, Love
For Southern Voices’ opening concert of 2025, Jamal has chosen a rare treat with a programme that features one of the greatest unaccompanied pieces of the 20th century: Frank Martin’s: Mass for Double Choir has been a total revelation to many of us who feel privileged to be able to sing this wonderful work. Described as: ‘utterly compelling’, ‘arresting and rich’, ‘glorious’, ‘surpassing beauty’, ‘beguiling’, and ‘quite simply one of the most beautiful pieces ever written’. Frank Martin’s main influence was Bach – and so it is fitting that we will also perform a Bach chorale: Dir Jesu, Gottes Sohn, sei Preis, and a Bach motet: Ich lasse dich nicht.
Poetry is a theme to the evening as poems provided both William Harris and Eric Whitacre’s musical inspiration: William Harris’ sublime, choral anthem: Faire is the heaven, based on a poem by Edmund Spenser, is one of the most loved pieces of the Anglican repertoire. Eric Whitacre: Three Songs of Faith is a setting of three of Whitacre’s favourite poems by E.E. Cummings: I will wade out; hope, faith, life, love; I thank You God for most this amazing day. In these songs Whitacre demonstrates his consummate mastery of choral writing.
Jamal has included a handful of shorter choral works, all unaccompanied, and all chosen for their intimacy and rich sonority. We look forward to welcoming you to share with us the gorgeous soundscapes of this musical adventure.
Programme
Conductor: JAMAL SUTTON
Frank Martin - Mass for Double Choir
J.S. Bach - Ich lasse dich nicht
Eric Whitacre - Three Songs of Faith
Holst - Nunc Dimittis
K Briggs: Media vita
C McDowell: I know that my redeemer liveth
B Ponniah: Light of lights
Harris: Faire is the heaven
Christmas concert, including Britten Ceremony of Carols
We return to the beautiful setting of the Chapel of St. Cross, with its characteristics and atmosphere fit for any festive celebration. As usual, favourite carols will be on the programme for you to join in and celebrate, alongside some true Christmas gems that the choir will perform.
In a slight change of tack this year, we are thrilled to welcome Alis Huws to play the harp alongside Southern Voices. Benjamin Britten is one of this country’s finest composers and will be remembered for a whole host of contributions to the music world. Undoubtedly, one such gem is his Ceremony of Carols, an extended choral composition for Christmas from 1942. Originally scored for and most frequently performed by three-part treble chorus, Southern Voices will treat you to its 1943 arrangement for mixed choir. Less frequently performed, this will be a real treat and the perfect way to round off what has been a superb year of music-making.
Programme:
- Audience Carol: Once in royal David’s city
- Es Ist ein’ Ros’ Entsprungen - harmony by Michael Praetorius
- Virga Jesse, floruit - Bruckner
- -- Organ solo
- Audience Carol: O little town of Bethlehem
- Gabriel’s Message - Stephen Paulus. Alis Huws harp
- The Three Kings - Cornelius
- -- Harp solo
- Audience Carol: O come, all ye faithful
- Quelle est cette odeur agréable - arranged Willcocks
- A Ceremony of Carols - Benjamin Britten. Alis Huws harp
- -- Organ solo
- What sweeter music - John Rutter
- Audience carol: Hark! The herald-angels sing
- O be joyful - Toby Young
Retiring collection in aid of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Full Programme Review
Gala Concert, Vivaldi and Bach
The Gala Concert was the centre-piece of our year of celebration, with two enduring favourites of the choral repertoire, both wonderful to perform and a special treat for any audience.
Vivaldi’s Gloria is a timeless classic and we welcomed many former members back to the choir to perform, including former conductors of Southern Voices.
JS Bach’s Magnificat (BWV243) is, put simply, one of the greatest compositions ever written. Composed in 1723, it was his first major liturgical composition on a Latin text, having just taken up the exalted position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig. It is scored for five vocal parts (SSATB) and Baroque orchestra that includes trumpets and timpani; this has become one of the composer’s most popular vocal works.
The concert opened with two relatively new works by composer Matthew Martin, beginning festivities with settings of Laudate Dominum and Jubilate Deo. Celebratory music for the most celebratory of occasions.
We were thrilled to welcome Endelienta Baroque to perform alongside Southern Voices for this concert.
Director: Jamal Sutton
Soloists:
- Soprano: Lucy Cronin
- Soprano: Lucy Mellors
- Mezzo-soprano: Claire Williams
- Tenor: Gwilym Bowen
- Bass: Jamie W. Hall
Full Programme Review
Come and Sing! with Southern Voices
Come & Sing! with Southern Voices
40 years of singing together is a big achievement and the choir’s popularity has endured throughout the years. Over 50 singers came to join us and our fantastic conductor, Jamal Sutton. Our programme for the day had a 'joyful' theme, with music drawn from the English Choral tradition over the last 120 years. It was on the ambitious side, but all enjoyable music and we had a great sing!
Accompanist: the immensely talented George Castle.
Repertoire
God is Gone Up - Finzi
Great is the Lord - Elgar
Hail, Gladdening Light - Wood
Learned poets - Chilcott (from Little Jazz Madrigals)
Fire, fire - Chilcott (from Little Jazz Madrigals)
Reviews
Spem in alium
Thomas Tallis's Spem in Alium is somehow ahead of its time and therefore full of intrigue and wonder. Southern Voices welcomed alumni members to join to perform this extraordinary work. St Cross was the ideal venue for its performance, with a generous yet spacious acoustic, allowing the blend of sound to encompass the audience. The choir surrounded the audience so that music came from all corners of the building as each of the eight choirs interjected its musical statements.
Henryk Górecki and Eric Whitacre were the newer faces on this programme, with works that took advantage of the acoustic whilst being celebratory in text. Stephen Paulus used a mediaeval text but with a modern flavour, again a celebration of the past and present.
Diliges Dominum, William ByrdSplendid Jewel, Stephen Paulus
In ieuinio et fletu, Thomas Tallis
Sainte-Chapelle, Eric Whitacre
Interval
Totus tuus, Henryk Górecki
Ego flos campi, Clemens non papa
Ne irascaris Domine – Civitas sancti tui, William Byrd
Spem in alium, Thomas Tallis
Conductor: JAMAL SUTTON
Christmas with Southern Voices
Southern Voices, directed by Jamal Sutton, presented their annual Christmas Concert, once again in the stunning, medieval setting of the Chapel of St Cross in Winchester.
Jamie W Hall - O nata lux
Boris Ord - Adam lay ybounden
Victoria - O magnum mysterium
Ed Newton-Rex - I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Sally Beamish - In the still of the night
Howells: Three Carol-Anthems
- Here is the little door
- Sing lullaby
- A spotless rose
Wilcocks - Sussex carol
John Rutter - Candlelight carol
Wilberg/Stevens - Ding! Dong! Merrily on High
In the retiring collection, the audience raised a fabulous £488 for Jamie Hall's #ChoirsAgainstCancert project which supports Macmillan Cancer Care.
CONCERT: Music for Remembrancetide
Southern Voices, directed by Jamal Sutton, returned to Winchester with a beautiful and evocative programme for the season of including the hauntingly beautiful Duruflé Requiem, works by Finzi and Arvo Pärt and John Tavener’s meditative and poignant Svyati for choir and cello.
The choir was joined by cellist Nicola Heinrich, mezzo-soprano Claire Sutton-Williams, and organist Gavin Roberts, who used the remarkable technology of the HauptwerkOrgan – a system that allows the choir to be accompanied, through sampling, by one of the great instruments of the organ world!
- John Tavener: Svyati
- Arvo Pärt: The Beatitudes
- Finzi: Lo, the full final sacrifice
Interval
- Duruflé: Requiem
Organist - Gavin Roberts
Cellist - Nicola Heinrich
Mezzo-soprano - Claire Sutton-Williams
Directed by Jamal Sutton
CONCERT: Music for a Summer's Evening
Music for a Summer’s Evening was a programme celebrating the art of song in all its glorious forms, from madrigals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to music being composed and arranged today. American composer Jake Runestad wrote "Your Soul is Song" very much as a celebratory composition, taking a text that affirms the power of music to touch our souls and lift our spirits. Music for a Summer’s Evening encapsulates those sentiments through madrigals and folksongs, together with settings of Shakespearean and Elizabethan texts by Ralph Vaughan Williams and the renowned jazz pianist and composer George Shearing.
Drawing the strands of the concert together is the ever-popular choral composer Bob Chilcott, who has taken the madrigal texts heard earlier in the programme and produced new, jazz-infused, toe-tapping settings. Southern Voices, conducted by Jamal Sutton, are joined by pianist Nicholas Salwey (Head of Keyboard, Winchester College) and double bassist Alastair Hume (founder member of the King’s Singers).
Programme
- Your Soul is Song - Jake Runestad
- Four English madrigals - Morley, Bennet, Gibbons
- Three Elizabethan Part Songs - Vaughan Williams
- Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare - George Shearing
Interval
- Three traditional folksongs - arr. Knight, Carrington, Rutter
- Little Jazz Madrigals - Bob Chilcott
Piano - Nick Salwey
Double bass - Alastair Hume
Directed by Jamal Sutton
CONCERT: GERMAN CHORAL MASTERPIECES
In the hauntingly beautiful setting of St Cross Church, Winchester, an uplifting programme of choral masterpieces from Germany and Austria, celebrating the journey towards Easter and Passiontide and including:Josef Rheinberger - Abendlied
Anton Bruckner:- Four Motets
Johannes Brahms:- Motets::
- Op.30 (Geistliches Lied) and
- Op.110 (Ich aber bin elend & Ach, arme Welt)
Rheinberger - Mass for double choir Op.109 "Cantus Missae"
Rheinberger's Mass for double choir in E-flat is his most famous choral work. Written in 1878, the Mass shows the composer's new-found compositional freedom and flexibility in his approach to sacred music. With echoes from Bach to Mendelssohn, combined with affectionate emulation of Renaissance 'cori spezzati', this is a work to be enjoyed in its full glory; the acoustics of St. Cross could not provide a better setting.
Equally, the spacious and somehow orchestrally influenced choral motets of Bruckner and Brahms celebrate an approach to choral writing that complements the music of Rheinberger. Glorious in outlook, these well-known motets epitomise the wonderful tradition of choral music of the period. directed by Jamal Sutton
organ - George Castle
CHRISTMAS WITH SOUTHERN VOICES
CHRISTMAS WITH SOUTHERN VOICES
A selection of carols for choir and audience
We celebrated Christmas at our much-loved charity Christmas concert, returning to the beautiful church of St. Cross for a concert of gloriously festive music. Amongst well-known classics were lesser-known but beautifully atmospheric works, and the opportunity for the audience to join in some favourite carols.
Director - Jamal Sutton
organ - Richard Moore
This year we were delighted to support the essential work of The Winchester Beacon (www.wcns.org.uk): "The Winchester Beacon is open 365 days a year and provides accommodation, food and vital support services to help break the cycle of homelessness and enable our residents to rebuild their lives". There was a retiring collection in support of the Beacon.
MUSIC FOR REMEMBRANCETIDE
Music for remembrance, including the hauntingly beautiful setting of the Requiem by Herbert Howells and his anthem Take him, Earth, for cherishing, which was written for the funeral of US President J F Kennedy.
Tallis: Salvator Mundi & Thou art, O God
Howells: Requiem
Howells:: Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing
Duruflé: Notre Père & Quatre Motets
Director - Jamal Sutton
Organ - George Castle
CONCERT: STEAL AWAY HOME
At St Johns Church, Alresford, a celebration of American choral music including:Samuel Barber: - Agnus Dei
Aaron Copland:- Four Motets
Eric Whitacre:- Three Flower Songs
Michael Tippett - Spirituals from Child of Our Time
CONCERT: FAIREST ISLE
A selection of music from across the British Isles, including:Vaughan Williams: Five English Folksongs
Britten: Hymn to St Cecilia
James MacMilllan: O Radiant Dawn
CONCERT: CHRISTMAS NIGHT
St Cross Church is one of Winchester's most iconic buildings, and it provided the ideal venue for our Christmas concert. We performed a selection of Christmas music old and new and, as usual, the audience were encouraged to join us in some of the most popular and well-loved carols. This was our final concert under the leadership of Katherine Dienes-Williams, after 10 exciting and fulfilling years as our Musical Director.
A selection of carols for choir and audience, including:
Cecilia McDowall: Before the paling of the stars -
John Rutter: Candlelight carol
arr. Mack Wilberg: Ding dong, merrily on high
Morten Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium
arr. David Willcocks: On Christmas night (Sussex carol)
Bob Chilcott: The Shepherd’s Carol
Matthew Owens: The holly and the ivy
John Gardner: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
Musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams
Organ - George Castle
There was a retiring collection in aid of the charity GRACE, which funds research and raises awareness for all gynaecological cancers www.grace-charity.org.uk
CONCERT: Elegy
Walford Davies composed A Short Requiem in 1915, an intriguing collection of nine short motets. Along with part-songs by Elgar, Holst and Richard Rodney Bennet, this was presented alongside some splendid settings of spirituals and other works from across the Atlantic.
| Walford Davies: A Short Requiem Edward Elgar: They are at rest Richard Rodney Bennett: A Good-Night Gustav Holst: The Evening-Watch arr Craig Hella Johnson: Two Spirituals arr Undine Smith-Moore: We shall walk through the valley |
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| musical director / organ - Katherine Dienes-Williams soprano = Ruby Skilbeck |
CONCERT: Let's Begin Again!
| Celebrating the return to music-making |
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| Kile Smith: Everyone sang Finzi: My spirit sang all day Elaine Hagenburg: O love Jonathan Dove: Vertue H.I. Thorsteinsson: Nunc dimittis Stanford: Justorum animae Rachmaninov (arr. Peter Gritton): Vocalise Eric Whitacre: hope, faith, life, love Adrian Batten: O sing joyfully John Rutter: Let’s begin again Handel: The many rend the skies |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams piano - Richard Moore cello: - Kate Ryan |
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The newly refurbished St Paul’s Church is an ideal venue for music-making and we were delighted to return there and perform this musical miscellany, celebrating the resumption of live music-making and remembering those who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This concert was limited to around 60 minutes with no interval.
CONCERT: The Colours of Christmas
| A Concert of Christmas Music |
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| including
John Rutter
The Colours of Christmas Edvard Grieg Ave maris stella Cecilia McDowall Now may we singen and carols for choir and audience |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams organ - Claudia Grinnell |
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| retiring collection in aid of Tommy’s | ||
This was a splendid and atmospheric evening -- just the thing to escape from the stress and clamour of Christmas shopping, and the tedium of watching repeats on the small screen!
A retiring collecting was held in aid of Tommy’s, the charity that provides expert information and support to women and their families throughout their pregnancy journey.
CONCERT: Saxtopia
| A selection of music for choir and saxophone | |
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James Whitbourn: Son of God Mass & Requiem Canticorum Tarik O’Regan: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
variations for choir
Kim André Arsenen: Making or Breaking Cecilia McDowall Standing as I do before God |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams soprano saxophone - Kyle Horch |
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CONCERT: Fly me to the moon
A selection of “lunar” music to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing |
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including:
Starsby Eric Esenvalds Goodnight Moon by Eric Whitacre and, of course Fly me to the Moon by Henry Mancini with piano works by Beethoven and Debussy |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams piano - Ashton Gray |
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Throughout human history, the moon has always been an object of fascination - as a symbol of continuous renewal, love and beauty and as the lantern of the night sky, borrowing light from the more powerful sun. It is not surprising that it has also been an inspiration for music-makers and this is reflected in the varied programme we have assembled for this concert.
Our programme comprised moon-related music by composers old and new, from classical figures such as Beethoven, Brahms and Reger to contemporary choral composers from around the globe, including Eric Whitacre (USA), Erik Esenvalds (Latvia) and David Hamilton (New Zealand). And, as the concert title suggests, we included a group of familiar songs from the mid to late 20th century.
We were delighted to be performing alongside Ashton Gray, who stepped out of the choir ranks to be our pianist and accompanist for the evening.
CONCERT: Music from the Time of Leonardo
| A concert to accompany the display of Leonardo drawings from the Royal Collection In association with the Leonardo Art Exhibition |
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| Mass L’homme armé & motet Absalon, fili mi by Josquin des Prez (c.1450-1521) Angeli, archangeli by Heinrich Isaac (c.1450-1517) Leonardo dreams of his flying machine by Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams lutenist - Toby Carr |
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This concert comprised music related to Leonardo, which we were delighted to be able to perform amid a display of twelve of his original drawings. Southampton’s City Art Gallery was chosen as one of only 12 venues across the country to display items from the Royal Collection, marking the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death.
Leonardo was a master in many areas and, while he is not known to have composed music himself, he was undoubtedly interested in music and it is believed that he played the lute. The works we performed were mostly contemporary with Leonardo’s life in Italy, with the exception of one item that was written by the American composer Eric Whitacre in 2001. Whitacre collaborated with the poet Charles Anthony Silvestri to produce a fascinating work that imagines Leonardo dreaming about a machine that would allow a man to fly.
CONCERT: Angels Sing
| A Concert of Christmas Music and Readings | ||
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including
Cecilia McDowall: Christus Natus Est Roxanna Panufnik: Angels Sing and carols for choir and audience |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams organ - Richard Moore |
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| retiring collection in aid of Winchester Hospice | ||
Our Christmas concert is firmly established as an annual event in St Cross, with an evening of Christmas songs and carols. Our 2019 programme included Angels Sing - a set of four Polish carols arranged by Roxanna Panufnik - and Christus Natus Est by Cecilia McDowall - a cantata based on five Christmas carols - and a number of shorter pieces, all written by women composers. And there were, of course, opportunities for the audience to add their own voices, joining the choir and organ in traditional carols.
This was a splendid and atmospheric evening -- just the thing to escape from the stress and clamour of Christmas shopping, and the tedium of watching repeats on the small screen!
A retiring collecting was held in aid of the new Winchester Hospice, which was scheduled to open in early 2019.
CONCERT: Distant Shores
Hubert Parry (1848-1918) Songs of Farewell Philip Moore (b. 1943) Requiem |
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| musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams organ - Richard Moore readier - James McConnachie |
We enjoyed our first visit to All Saints Church, Odiham, which is near Hook in northern Hampshire. The concert comprised two major works on the theme of mortality and life beyond the grave, interspersed with a series of readings.
Parry’s Songs of Farewell are the last works in that composer’s repertoire, and something of a reflection of his resignation to his terminal illness, shortly before the end of the First World War. These six unaccompanied works are masterful examples of Parry’s harmonic and melodic talents, reflecting the emotions behind verses penned by a selection of English poets from the 17th and 19th centuries.
Philip Moore’s Requiem was first performed almost exactly one hundred years later, in November 2016. Philip Moore has an international reputation as a composer, primarily of organ and choral music, having held posts at Eton College, Canterbury Cathedral, Guildford Cathedral and, finally, at York Minster where he was the Master of Music from 1983 to 2008.
WINCHESTER FESTIVAL: Opening Concert
| An evening with J S Bach | ||
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Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor BWV 1067 Ashley Solomon flute Cantata “Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!” BWV 214 Magnificat BWV 243 |
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| with period orchestra Florilegium (director: Ashley Solomon) and the Choir of St Katharine’s Church, Braunschweig (director: Klaus-Eduard Hecker) musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams |
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sopranos - Claire Seaton , Nina Bennet tenor - Gwilym Bowen bass - Thomas Humphreys |
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Blazing trumpets, Baroque dance and uplifting choral singing were all part of this concert, which opened the 2018 Winchester Festival. An Anglo-German co-operation between the region’s top chamber choir and their partner choir from Braunschweig in Northern Germany filled the soaring vaults of the Nave with the glory of Bach.
From the intimacy of solo flute to the power of voices and the excellent players of Florilegium, a wide range of emotions were touched and stirred.
CONCERT: Bach St John Passion
| St JOHN PASSION | |
** Edward Ross (Evangelist) Jamie W Hall (Christus) Ruth Provost (soprano) Tom Lliburn (countertenor) ** Peter Davoren (tenor) Thomas Humphreys (bass) |
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| with the renowned period Orchestra Florilegium musical director - Katherine Dienes-Williams |
Our March concert fell shortly before the start of Holy Week, the ideal time to hear Bach’s fantastic telling of the Easter Story as set out in the Gospel of St John. We were joined by a first-rate band of soloists, including bass-baritone Jamie W Hall singing the part of Christ and tenor Edward Ross as the Evangelist. We were also delighted to be performing once more with Florilegium, one of the country’s most outstanding period orchestras.
** We are particularly grateful to Edward Ross and Peter Davoren who stood in a short notice in place of Mark Wilde (Evangelist) and Joel Williams (tenor soloist), who were unwell. Their excellent contributions were very much appreciated.
