Christmas Concert

On-line sales are now closed but there are some tickets available on the door.

Please note:
- Doors open 5.30pm
- For adults, please have proof of vaccination status (or negative test in past 48 hours) ready to show on your phone or card.
- For adults, please wear a mask.
- Please have change available to buy programmes and drinks, to make a donation for a mince pie and to our retiring collection for           The Chiltern Centre.

CONCERT INFORMATION

HCS and our brilliant Henley Youth Choirs come together to get your Christmas off to the most Festive start possible!

FEATURING:

Onyx Brass

Henley Choral Society

Henley Youth Choirs

Henry Metcalfe, organ

Anita D’Attellis, piano

Peter Asprey, conductor Henley Choral Society

Alex Haigh, conductor Henley Youth Choirs

With a programme including Handel's Zadok the Priest, Christmas Cantata by Daniel Pinkham, music by Onyx Brass, described as 'the classiest Brass ensemble in Britain,' award-winning organist Henry Metcalfe, the opportunity to sing your favourites carols...and as if all this were not enough, there will also be mince pies! Henley Choral Society’s ever-popular Christmas Concert is bound to send you out into the December night with a spring in your step. Note start time. Please book early as the Christmas Concert is often sold out.

Tickets in advance: £18 (under 18s £5)

Family ticket in advance £36.00 (2 adults and 2 under 18s)

Tickets on the door: £20 (under 18s £5)

Family ticket on the door: £40.00 (2 adults and 2 under 18s) 

Onyx Brass

Celebrating its 30th anniversary season in 2023, Onyx Brass continues to be the leading light in establishing the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music, combining “staggering virtuosity” (Sarah Walker, BBC Radio 3) with the entertaining and articulate style that has become the group’s trademark.

The group’s extensive discography (16 albums and counting!) is regularly featured on BBC R3 and has received huge critical acclaim, Gramophone hailing “some of the most thrilling chamber brass-playing of its kind” and Record Review describing the group as a “wonderful, virtuosic brass quintet”.

New music and education are both at the heart of the ensemble’s remit: it has commissioned and premièred over 200 new works and has led workshops and masterclasses from primary schools through to the Juilliard School; Onyx has held several residencies, including 15 years at Imperial College, London. The group also specialises in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for professional musicians and has led several sessions for British Army Music in this area.

Work with singers also forms a central part of Onyx’s work, often under the auspices of the John Armitage Memorial trust, with whom Onyx Brass has been affiliated since its inception.

Henry Metcalfe

Henry Metcalfe is currently Director of Music of St Mary's Church, Woodford, having recently finished as organ scholar of St Mary's, Bourne Street. Before moving to London to read music at King's College, he was organ scholar at Hereford Cathedral whilst undertaking a gap year before university. Aside from actively taking a part in the musical life of the cathedral, he was the organist for the cathedral's Voluntary Choir during their tour to Nuremberg and played a number of recitals in the cathedral and surrounding churches. Henry has been playing the organ since he was 10, and first started studying with Martyn Rawles whilst being the junior organ scholar at Lichfield Cathedral.

In 2016, Henry was awarded the Sir David Willcocks Organ Scholarship at Clifton College and took up the position of organ scholar at Bristol Cathedral for the same duration. Whilst at Clifton, Henry directed the Chamber Choir, who sang the office of Compline weekly in the school chapel. He also regularly accompanied and directed the chapel choir for services in chapel, and tours to Bath abbey and Exeter College, Oxford. Henry can be heard playing on the most recent CD as both an accompanist and solo player and directing the Chamber choir for one of his own compositions.

COVID-19 requirements

It is a condition of our use of St Mary's that all attendees are asked for proof of COVID-19 status on arrival. This could be:

• NHS COVID pass on your phone
• The card detailing vaccination dates
• Proof of a negative PCR test or rapid lateral flow test within the previous 48-hours

You will be encouraged to wear masks while moving around. Hand sanitiser available.