Queens’ College Chapel, Cambridge

Fairhaven Singers

Conducted by Ralph Woodward

The concert begins with works by French composers, performed on the choir’s recent tour to the south of France. The second half is a feast of lyrical words set to lush music, with settings of poems by Goethe and Tennyson and a series of songs about the sea, punctuated by the charged silence of John Cage’s iconic avant-garde work, 4’33”.  The programme ends with a rousing medley from the exuberant Broadway musical South Pacific.

Strawberries and sparkling wine will be served on the banks of the Cam during the interval, which will also be marked by an unusual charity event: the choir’s Musical Director, Ralph Woodward, and tenor Chris Young will have their heads shaved for charity before returning for the second half of the concert! More info and donate

Tickets £14, £12 (concessions), £6 (under 16s). Tickets always sell quickly for this concert so do book early!

Pierre Villette (1926–98): Three motets
Frédéric Chopin (1810–49): ‘Raindrop’ Prelude
Marc de Ranse (1881–1951): Première Symphonie Vocale
Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900): Evening
Franz Schubert (1797–1828), arr. Woodward: Wanderers Nachtlied
John Cage (1912–92): 4’33’’
Joseph Barnby (1838–96): Sweet and low
Charles Dibdin (c.1745–1814), arr. Woodward: Tom Bowling
Charles Trenet (1913–2001), arr. Woodward: La mer
Richard Rodgers (1902–79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), arr. Clay Warnick: Selection from South Pacific