VOCES8
Give Me Your Stars
VOCES8 make a welcome return to the Festival with a programme exploring the profound and diverse beauty of music inspired by the heavens, human connection, and the places we call home.
At its heart is Lucy Walker’s eponymous new work, written for VOCES8, which captures the delicate balance between celestial wonder and the deep, personal connections that make us human.
The programme spans centuries of choral music, from the luminous polyphony of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Regina Caeli to timeless jazz standards.
Along the way, we encounter the reflective sentiments of Eric Whitacre’s All Seems Beautiful to Me and Ola Gjeilo’s Ubi Caritas, folk traditions in Danny Boy and Michael McGlynn’s Dúlamán, and evocative tales of cities and starlight in April in Paris and New York, New York.
Performers
Savannah Porter soprano
Eleonora Poignant soprano
Barnaby Smith countertenor
Blake Morgan tenor
Euan Williamson tenor
Chris Moore baritone
Dominic Carver bass
Programme to include:
Lucy Walker new work
Tomás Luis de Victoria Regina Caeli
Eric Whitacre All Seems Beautiful to Me
Ola Gjeilo Ubi Caritas
Trad. Danny Boy
Michael McGlynn Dúlamán
John Kander & Fred Ebb New York, New York
Vernon Duke & Yip Harburg April in Paris
Sponsored by
Mr and Mrs Patrick Hungerford
Mr and Mrs Toby Ward
The Newbury Spring Festival
Newbury Spring Festival is one of the most popular and successful music festivals in the South of England.
Over the last years the Festival has grown hugely in size and quality building up a reputation of international status.
The very best young musical stars appear alongside some of the world’s most distinguished and famous names.
Newbury Spring Festival is a glorious fortnight of world class music in Newbury and its beautiful neighbouring villages, with up to 45 events in 18 venues, and where international symphony orchestras, ensembles and soloists rub shoulders with jazz legends, world music artists and the stars of tomorrow.
The Festival was founded in 1979 to provide the opportunity to promote culture in the region by creating an annual festival accessible to all.
It aims to bring excellent, new and innovative work from around the world to a variety of local venues adding to the economic and cultural wellbeing of the area, and to continue to create opportunities for young people, existing and new audiences to enjoy the arts.
Newbury Spring Festival is funded entirely by private donation, charitable giving and corporate sponsorship and enjoys its reputation as one of the most important cultural events in the region, attracting audiences of several thousand each year from the immediate area and beyond.
Over the past few years, highlights have included the Soweto Gospel Choir at Douai Abbey which has become one of the Festival’s major venues and established a tradition of world class choirs.
Also in 2006, the Victoria Mullova Ensemble performed an unforgettable concert at Englefield House.
In 2008 John Williams and Emanuel Ax both performed in the Corn Exchange, developing a pattern of an International Celebrity Recital Series in this venue.
In 2004 the Tibetan Monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastry took part in an exciting week long Festival residency.
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