Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor | Bruckner Motets: Ave Maria, Os Justi Meditabitur, | Bach Chorale: Jesus bleibet meine Freude | Bach Concerto for Violin in A minor | Bruckner Mass in D minor
This concert will deliver a powerful punch! A mighty combo of Bach + Bruckner + Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra + Auckland Choral promises to deliver a glorious and stirring concert.
The masterful works penned by musical titans J.S Bach and Bruckner can often only be described in the grandest of superlatives. Indeed, both highly devout composers had a clear intention to deliver their craft to the highest level: Soli Deo Gloria - Only for the Glory of God.
Bruckner's Mass in D Minor is an uplifting offering on a grand scale, taking the listener on a spiritual journey. His Motets blend expansive Renaissance polyphony with his unique approach to harmony and counterpoint.
Three works by J.S Bach complement those of Bruckner. The choir will perform the ever-popular Chorale: Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) and Dr Philip Smith will unleash the iconic Toccata and Fugue in D minor on the Town Hall’s mighty organ. As an intimate contrast, Andrew Beer, Concertmaster of the APO will feature in the lyrical and melancholic Concerto for Violin in A minor.
Uwe Grodd conductor
Isabella Moore soprano
Sally-Anne Russell mezzo-soprano
Robert Macfarlane tenor
Joel Amosa bass
Andrew Beer violin
Dr Philip Smith organ
Auckland Choral
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Sunday 15 September, 5.00pm
Auckland Town Hall
ticketmaster.co.nz
09 970 9700
Like so many contraltos, I first got put in the alto section as a school girl because I could read music and manage to sing a line of harmony. I joined Auckland Choral when I was in high school and now I’ve been a member for 40 years! I started singing with my mum as a toddler, sitting on her knee while she played the piano and sang soprano and tenor Messiah arias. I used to come to Auckland Choral’s Saturday dress rehearsals in the Town Hall and follow the score in my early teenage years, and it was a natural step to join Mum in the choir when I was 15. I remember Choral Hall in Airedale Street where we used to meet (before Mayoral Drive was built). It was a dusty old building and freezing in winter, but the ladies in the alto section were very kind to me and welcomed me into the back row. Nothing really changes in that respect; the Auckland Choral altos today are a great bunch of people as well!
I learnt to sing on my mother's knee and have been singing ever since! In school in Wales I sang in small and large choirs in the eisteddfod. As soon as I left school I joined a choral society and have always been a member of one choir or another. I joined Auckland Choral in 2006 and have been on the management committee for the last 2 years. Choral singing has given me opportunities to make and keep wonderful friends, to travel, to see magnificent buildings, to hear all the major works and many new compositions, and to be part of a fabulous music making machine, always striving to improve. I have sung Handel's Messiah in 4 continents, in 2016 clocked up my 70th Messiah, and I still love it. I am also a semi retired speech language therapist and enjoy spending time with my 5 grandchildren.
Kimberley joined the choir as a Soprano in January 2015 for Handel's Israel in Egypt. It was a daunting, split choir piece with a short rehearsal period but this didn't scare her away! Kimberley has been singing since before she could talk, her first words were sung, being Old MacDonald's E-I-E-I-O. Kimberley joined the Auckland Girls Choir as a foundation member in 1998 under Leonie Lawson and found she enjoyed Choral Music but left in 2000 as a 13 year old and found enjoyment throughout her high-school years in musical stage performances and often performed singing solos at school assemblies and talent contests. 
