The Passing of the Year

Whitehall Choir
Conductor: Joanna Tomlinson
Baritone: Sam Hird
Organ: Ian Tindale

Whitehall Choir is thrilled to present the world première of Russell Hepplewhite’s Riddle, a setting of a wonderful new poem by Alice Oswald. This is part of Hepplewhite’s national Living Voices project: Whitehall Choir has the honour of being selected to represent London. Each choir involved with the project will perform his settings of newly commissioned texts including by Pam Ayres, Andrew Motion and Michael Rosen.

The concert celebrates the exciting soundscape of contemporary choral music and features music related to the passing of time. Jonathan Dove’s much-loved The Passing of the Year was written in 2000, in memory of the composer’s mother and is a collection of seven songs, including poems by Blake and Tennyson. The composer’s use of double choir gives a thrilling variety of colours and drama.

Whitehall Choir, under its dynamic Music Director Joanna Tomlinson, is one of London’s leading amateur choirs.

Joanna Tomlinson is also Principal Conductor of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain Girls’ Choir and Artistic Director of Constanza Chorus. Recent engagements include conducting Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony with the London Mozart Players.

Ian Tindale, accompanist of Whitehall Choir, is increasingly in demand as a song pianist and chamber musician. Recent engagements include song recitals across Europe and the UK, including performances at the Edinburgh International Festival and at London's Wigmore Hall, and Ian frequently appears as a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Concert programme

• Russell Hepplewhite - Riddle (world première as part of the Living Voices project)
• Jonathan Dove - The Passing of the Year
• Ralph Vaughan Williams - Five Mystical Songs
• Ellen Gilson Voth - The Circle of Time
• Michael Higgins - When Music Sounds