Duruflé: Requiem

Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine
Michael Higgins: The Cloths of Heaven
Mozart: Divertimento in D major

Whitehall Choir
Dionysus Ensemble
Jessica Reader: mezzo-soprano
Ian Tindale: organ
Joanna Tomlinson: conductor

Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem is one of the most serene and spiritually intimate settings of the Mass for the Dead. Drawing almost all of its thematic material from the ancient Gregorian chant of the Missa pro defunctis, Duruflé weaves chant lines into a glowing harmonic fabric that reflects both his deep training in the French cathedral tradition and his admiration for the purity of plainsong.

In Michael Higgins’ The Cloths of Heaven, Whitehall Choir is joined by a string quintet from the Dionysus Ensemble, for this sumptuous and emotionally charged setting of three love poems by Yeats.

Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine is one of the most popular pieces in the choral repertoire, due to its beautiful, and singable melodic lines and its intimate emotional feel. We will be performing it in an arrangement for choir, organ and strings, by Michael Higgins.

To complete the programme, the Dionysus Ensemble will perform Mozart’s three-movement Divertimento in D Major. This sparkling and charming work was written when the composer was just 16 but already writing with elegance and poise.

Whitehall Choir is one of London’s leading amateur choirs. Their recordings include "When Music Sounds" (2025), incorporating pieces by contemporary composers Alison Willis and Michael Higgins, as well as the work of baroque composer Isabella Leonarda. In 2026 they
recorded "Living Voices", pieces by Russell Hepplewhite, based on newly commissioned poems. Whitehall Choir recordings can be found on major streaming platforms and "Living Voices" will be made available from early 2027.

Joanna Tomlinson is also Artistic Director of the Military Wives Choirs and of Constanza Chorus. During her five years as Principal Conductor of National Youth Choir (9-15), she conducted at the Royal Albert Hall and for numerous recordings.

Ian Tindale, accompanist of Whitehall Choir, is 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.

Recently described by BBC Radio 3 as "One of the country's most prestigious chamber music groups", The Dionysus Ensemble’s music is regularly broadcast on radio stations around the world. A virtuosic chamber ensemble with a string quartet at its core, the ensemble is equally at home on the concert platform, playing for events in both formal and informal settings (such as at Marlborough House for former Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, and for the inaugural Commonwealth Day Heads of State Banquet) as well as providing music education projects.

Mezzo-soprano Jessica Reader is a member of the professional choir at St Mary’s Bourne Street and she has sung with groups including Siglo de Oro, The Sixteen and St Martin’s Voices of St Martin-in-the Fields.