Choir of the Earth presents
Christmas with John Rutter
Under the expert teaching of Ben England BEM, we shall learn, record and perform
seven wonderful Carols and Christmas Songs all written by John Rutter CBE.
We shall learn the music during online sessions starting on Monday 8th November for 3 weeks.
After this, we will invite you to record your own voice and send it to us. We shall then combine all voices in the recording studio and play this back to the whole choir in a Concert Performance on Wednesday 22nd December at 17:00 UK time.
Join us for
Christmas with
John Rutter
The Music
We’ll be learning the following beautiful pieces:
Wexford Carol
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Jesus Child
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Mary's Lullaby
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Candlelight Carol
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Nativity Carol
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Deck The Hall
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We wish you a Merry Christmas
Here is a playlist from Spotify. Please click on each track to hear 20 seconds of the carol. To exit the carol, click on the “X” on the top right of the black screen to return to this menu.
About John Rutter CBE
John Rutter was born in London and studied music at Clare College, Cambridge. He first came to notice as a composer during his student years; much of his early work consisted of church music and other choral pieces including Christmas carols. From 1975–79 he was Director of Music at his alma mater, Clare College, and directed the college chapel choir in various recordings and broadcasts. Since 1979 he has divided his time between composition and conducting.
Today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. His music has featured in a number of British royal occasions, including the two most recent royal weddings. He edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs.
In 1983 he formed his own choir the Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings, and he appears regularly in several countries as guest conductor and choral ambassador.
He holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and in 2007 was awarded a CBE for services to music. Rutter is also a Vice-President of the Joyful Company of Singers, President of The Bach Choir, and President of the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD).
Course Director
Following last year’s success of Christmas at Home, we are delighted that this course will be under the leadership of Ben England BEM.
He will lead Choir of the Earth in rehearsals for each carol to be sung by the choir. He will teach us LIVE as usual, with the sessions recorded for viewing later on or at any time.
How It Will Work
This is how it will work: we shall learn all 7 carols online with Ben England BEM as a full choir and in sectional voice parts (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass) so that we can enjoy full attention to our own part. We shall issue a link to all the sessions by email once you have joined the course.
Timings
All sessions will be at 17:00 UK time (GMT) on the following days - you can watch later as often as you wish (subject to change):
WEEK ONE
8th November - Course Launch / Full Choir Rehearsal
9th November - Soprano Rehearsal
10th November - Alto Rehearsal
11th November - Tenor Rehearsal
12th November - Bass Rehearsal
13th November Submissions open for week one
WEEK TWO
15th November - Full Choir Rehearsal
16th November - Soprano Rehearsal
17th November - Alto Rehearsal
18th November - Tenor Rehearsal
19th November - Bass Rehearsal
20th November Submissions open for week two
WEEK THREE
22nd November - Rehearsal
23rd November - Soprano Rehearsal
24th November - Alto Rehearsal
25th November - Tenor Rehearsal
26th November - Bass Rehearsal
27th November Submissions open for week three
Backing Tracks
Fieri Consort, with whom we have worked on many previous occasions, will sing our backing tracks. These will be recorded with each voice part “louder” to help us learn the music. These will be sent to you after you join the course.
Scores, Recording & Concert Performance
The publishers, Oxford University Press, have put together a digital scorepack especially for us. This can be downloaded directly to your computer/phone/tablet and can also be printed out. There is an extra charge of £10 for this as we must protect the copyright of John Rutter.
At the end of the course, you are invited to record your own voice and send these to us (audio only - no video). We shall then combine all voices in the recording studio and replay the complete choir back to us all in an online Concert Performance presented live by Ben England BEM on Wednesday 22nd December at 17:00 UK Time.
If you are new to Choir of the Earth, we shall provide you with instructions on how to record your own voice and where to send it, so please do not worry.
