Hillsborough singers and musicians feature in Waterfront concert
Hillsborough parish church will be well represented when John Rutter, one the greatest living composers of sacred choral music, conducts a major concert in Belfast this month.
On Saturday 25 September a specially-invited massed choir and orchestra, drawn from the top musicians in Northern Ireland, will perform his Magnificat in the Waterfront, in a concert called 'A Celebration Of Music with John Rutter' and in aid of the Down Cathedral Restoration Appeal.
Among those singing will be parish church choristers Michelle Hutchinson, Nicola Prentice, Penny Scott, Anna Hunter, Colin Darling and Derek Gallop. Soloists on
the night include St Malachy's organist and musical director Julie Bell (violin), who will perform the beautiful Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams.
Other soloists are flautist Jenny Heaney and soprano Elizabeth Ross. Also performing will be the BBC’s Songs Of Praise Junior Choirs Of The Year, from Ballyholme and Waringstown Primary Schools. It is hoped the evening will be hosted by BBC TV’s Noel Thompson.
John Rutter, 64, is best known for his many Christmas carol compositions and arrangements, and popular anthems such as Look At The World, I Will Sing With The Spirit, For The Beauty Of The Earth, The Lord Bless You And Keep You and A Clare Benediction, which are sung regularly in churches throughout the world, including St Malachy's.
In 1981 he founded his own choir, the Cambridge Singers, which he conducts and with which he has made many recordings. He lives near Cambridge, but frequently conducts other choirs and orchestras around the world. In 1996 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate upon him in recognition of his contribution to church music.
Tickets (£25 or £20 concession) are available from the Waterfront Box Office (tel: 9033 4455), or online at www.waterfront.co.uk
(This article first appeared in the Hillsborough Parish Outlook Magazine).