Music for a Winter's Night

Featuring harpist Tomos Xerri, this year’s Music for a Winter’s Night concert is a sparkling tapestry of contemporary choral gems guaranteed to get you in the mood for the festive season.

The programme opens with a series of incredible recent works by women composers, fast becoming modern classics of Christmas repertoire. These range in style from pulsing medieval-inspired carols such as Sparkhall's All and Some and Tabakova's Good-will to men, and peace on Earth to the tonally rich and shimmering numbers by Briggs (A tender shoot), Hazrati (Coventry Carol) and Dunphy (O Oriens). Mary Slept, by the late Margaret Rizza is a stunning, intimate and rarely performed setting of a mystical text by the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton.

In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, the concert also features Benjamin Britten's much loved Ceremony of Carols, in the setting for mixed choir and harp. Composed on board a Swedish cargo ship as Britten travelled back from America with his partner Peter Pears, this lively collection of songs sets an assortment of early poems, mixing texts in Middle English, Scots and Latin, that Britten encountered in Halifax, Nova Scotia shortly before he and Pears departed on the month-long journey during which the work was completed. By turns celebratory and meditative, the series gives a modern voice to facets of the Christmastide celebration from ages past.

Performing for the first time in Holy Sepulchre London, also known as "The Musicians' Church", The Fourth Choir's Music for a Winter's Night is a concert packed full of choral treasures offering a perfect prelude to the festive period.

Doors will be open from 4:45pm for pre-concert mulled cider and mince pies, included with the ticket price. Wine will also be available to purchase from the bar.

The concert lasts approximately one hour (5:30–6:30pm) with no interval.

Programme

A tender shoot  Kerensa Briggs
All and Some  Olivia Sparkhall
Coventry Carol  Emily Hazrati
Good-will to men, and peace on Earth  Dobrinka Tabakova
O Oriens  Melissa Dunphy
Mary Slept  Margaret Rizza
The Manger is Empty  Sarah MacDonald
A Ceremony of Carols  Benjamin Britten

The Fourth Choir

The Fourth Choir is a chamber choir established in 2013 with the aim of representing the LGBTQ+ community on London’s classical music scene. Since then, the Choir has performed at many of London’s iconic cultural venues, including the Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, the British Museum, Wilton’s Music Hall, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and the Royal Festival Hall. Last year included many important firsts for the Choir including their solo debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, their first live broadcast on Radio 3 as part of the In Tune Christmas special and the release of their first album Songs of Ourselves. The album which showcases works by underrepresented composers received enthusiastic reviews in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine and, appropriately for the Fourth Choir, entered the classical charts at number four.

Jamie Powe

After completing his BA degree in Music at Somerville College, Oxford, Jamie received a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, where he achieved a distinction in his choral conducting MA. He was also awarded the Thomas Armstrong prize for outstanding choral leadership. Jamie was one of the 2018/19 Young Conducting Scholars with Sing for Pleasure and has worked with Genesis Sixteen as conducting scholar. In addition to The Fourth Choir, he is currently Musical Director of The New London Singers, Laurelin Voices, The Arcadian Singers, Putney Choral Society and The Aubrey Singers. He was also the Associate Director of Ware Choral Society 2022-23 and was Director of the Chapel Choir of Regent’s Park College, Oxford 2019-21. Jamie studied composition at Oxford with Toby Young and Deborah Pritchard, achieving a first class grade for his composition portfolio. He continued his studies at The Royal Academy of Music with David Gorton and Gareth Moorcraft, alongside his choral conducting MA. His latest commission, ‘The Gun Mass’ premiered in both the US and UK in April 2023.

Tomos Xerri

Tomos Xerri is a Welsh harpist who performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Educated at Eton College and Trinity Laban Conservatoire—where he graduated with First Class Honours and a Master’s with Distinction—he has won top honors including the Hattori Foundation Senior Award and First Medal at the Paris UFAM Competition. Xerri’s high-profile solo appearances include performances for the Royal Family, Downing Street, and prestigious venues such as the Barbican Theatre and Wigmore Hall. He regularly records, tours, and performs with premier ensembles including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Britten Sinfonia, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Proms. Championing new music, he co-founded the flute-and-harp duo Siren and collaborates directly with contemporary composers, while also maintaining a select teaching practice and running community outreach programs in schools and hospitals.

Photo of The Fourth Choir by Kathleen Holman.