A Mass of Life
at the cinema
Friday 20 October 2023, starting at 14:00 UK time
Choir of the Earth is delighted to announce details of how to attend the world premiere screening of our Frederick Delius’
A Mass of Life
Featuring Choristers of the Earth and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, with Roderick Williams singing the role of Zarathustra and Sir Mark Elder conducting, this is a rare opportunity to see and hear choristers from around the world perform on the big screen alongside some of most prolific names in the classical world today.
On Friday 20 October 2023 at 14:00 UK time, this impressive concert will be screened at the prestigious British Film Institute headquarters, BFI Southbank.
This will be the crowning achievement on our landmark project as the first digital choir to learn, record and perform this underrated masterpiece by British composer Delius - and indeed, we believe, any full work of this scale. It also breaks exciting new ground in terms of collaboration between live performers and those whose performances have been recorded at a different time and/or a different place.
The result here is a beautifully shot concert with a rich, blended sound that showcases and combines the best of digital and live performance - a project that would have seemed impossible until the recent developments in digital choral singing spearheaded by innovators like Choir of the Earth, its members and supporters.
We are therefore thrilled to invite you to join us in London for
A Mass of Life
at the cinema
Friday 20 October 2023
starting at 14:00 UK time
and ending at approx 16:30
At the BFI Southbank, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XT
Our venue: BFI Southbank
Photo credit: British Film Institute
The concert will be preceded by a short introduction by Choir of the Earth Founder Mark Strachan and Musical Director Ben England.
There are only 120 tickets available for this event. Please note that many of our choristers will be in London that weekend attending a separate choral event, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
If you are a wheelchair user please contact us before booking as we are still engaging with the venue on wheelchair seating.
Project Background
We recorded each voice part (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) during performances in Bergen, Norway, in September 2022. These recordings were given to our partners Fieri Consort to create professional guide tracks.
Our Musical Director Ben England BEM then used these tracks to teach A MASS OF LIFE to us at home all over the world on YouTube.
We then used the tracks with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra to record our voices on top of them. We had to use the tracks provided by Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra so that Choir of the Earth could sing A Mass of Life alongside in the same tempo.
Finally, we mixed Choir of the Earth voices with those of Bergen and added this final audio track to a newly created video featuring the in-room Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, both the Bergen Choir, Choir of the Earth and soloists, conducted by Sir Mark Elder.
Now we are in a position to reveal the finished video of this unique performance to the world. We cannot wait.
Making the impossible, possible
This event pushes forward the boundary of music making. As a result, we shall be inviting distinguished members of the Delius Society and Delius Trust as well as members of the Press.
We do this because music can now be enjoyed and performed in ways which Frederick Delius and other composers would not have believed possible. And yet the advent of the internet makes is entirely possible and new music can now be performed by people from all over the world.
No longer do we have to go to the music to hear it in a large concert hall. The music can now come to us which opens music up to everyone.