Two Debuts And A Première!

City Choir Dunedin will present Alleluia! Music for Eastertide in a performance on Saturday 22 April 2023, in Knox Church, Dunedin. The concert features a widely varied selection of Easter music from the classical choral repertoire, together with the première of a contemporary New Zealand composition.

We are excited and looking forward to welcoming promising young soloists and the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra who will join the choir on stage. Two soloists are making their debut with City Choir Dunedin at this performance: Erin Connelly-Whyte (mezzo-soprano) and Brendon Shanks (tenor). The other soloists are Caroline Burchell (soprano) and Edward Smith (bass).

Choral performances at Easter tend to focus on the repertoire inspired by the crucifixion story, and in particular Bach’s two great Passions, and various settings of the Stabat Mater. But there is a wealth of beautiful music which celebrates Christ’s resurrection and the events which followed, and this will be the focus of the “Alleluia” concert.

First on the programme is the lively Surrexit Christus Hodie (Christ is risen today) by Samuel Scheidt, renowned 17th-century German composer, organist and teacher.

One of J.S. Bach’s earliest surviving church cantatas follows, Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lay in death’s bonds) which is based on a hymn by Martin Luther that reflects on Christ’s death and resurrection.

The initial musical darkness of Bach’s work is then set aside for the sumptuous Osterhymne (Easter Hymn) by 19th-century composer, Josef Rheinberger, a work for unaccompanied 8-voice choir, filled with organ-like sonorities.

Georg Philipp Telemann was a contemporary of J.S. Bach and one of the most prolific composers in history. His cantata Zwei Jünger gehn nach Emmaus narrates the post-resurrection meeting of Jesus with two disciples on the road to Emmaus in a simple tuneful idiom which contrasts with the darker contemplation of Bach’s cantata.

Mozart’s joyful Regina Coeli sets the text of the Latin hymn to Mary celebrating Christ’s resurrection. It features a floridly operatic soprano solo.

By way of further contrast, the choir will also perform the première of a post-Easter hymn O Sons and Daughters, written by David Burchell. This was composed especially for this concert to add a more contemporary musical flavour, and uses an old English hymn text which narrates the discovery of the empty tomb on Easter morning. David has been Musical Director of City Choir Dunedin since 2000, and is the longest serving conductor in the Choir’s rich 156-year history.

Tickets will be available from Eventfinda or at Music Planet and MusicWorks.

More about the featured soloists:

Erin Connelly-Whyte, mezzo-soprano

Erin Connelly-Whyte is in her 5th year at the University of Otago studying towards a Bachelor of Science (Anatomy) and a Bachelor of Music (Honours Classical Voice Performance). Voice studies are under the tutelage of Tessa Romano, Rebecca Ryan and Anna Leese. In 2022, she received the ‘Most Promising Singer’ award at the Christchurch Competition’s Aria Final. Erin is no stranger to the stage, with some of her highlights including Opera Otago’s Miss Brill (2022), Musical Theatre Dunedin’s Les Misérables (2021), Featured Soloist in Mid-Canterbury Summer Singing School (2017-2023), Dracula (2015), and Fame Jr. (2014). When she is not studying or performing, Erin can be found teaching Flute, Musicianship Theory and multiple other instruments at Saturday Morning Music Classes Dunedin, and recently Classical Voice and Musical Theatre at The Voice Lab.

Brendon Shanks, tenor

Brendon was born in Dunedin and raised in Alexandra. As a school student, he learned singing from Ruth Reid and developed a passion for choral singing as a member of the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. He completed a Bachelor of Science (physics) and Bachelor of Music at Otago University, where he studied singing under Judy Bellingham. During his time as a student he conducted the Southern Youth Choir and sang in the New Zealand Youth Choir and the University Capping Sextet. He is a current member of Voices New Zealand chamber choir. Brendon combines his love of music and knowledge of physics working as an acoustics consultant in Dunedin. He is married and has three children.

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