- Leading composer offers to create new choral work based on your poem or verse.
Acclaimed Lichfield-based composer Paul Spicer.
An acclaimed composer is offering his services to help raise funds for a new project to mark the centenary of the First World War.
Lichfield-based Paul Spicer has agreed to set anyone’s original poem or prose to music, with all monies raised going directly to Birmingham Bach Choir’s Unfinished Remembering.
An ambitious new choral work, Unfinished Remembering will be premiered at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on 13 September 2014. Though marking the anniversary of The Great War, the piece is also dedicated to all those caught up in war or conflict over the past 100 years.
Birmingham Bach Choir’s Hilary Boszko said: “Paul has graciously agreed to compose music for a single voice or for a soprano, alto, tenor and bass ensemble. Typically, commissioning someone of Paul’s calibre could cost in excess of £5,000 – but we’re asking for a donation of just £1,500!
“The cost of staging September’s concert with full professional orchestra, two international soloists and semi-chorus is in the region of £115,000. Much of this has now been raised by the Choir with the support of the John Feeney Charitable Trust, public funding from the lottery through Arts Council England, and a number of other donations and activities. However, we are still actively raising funds, as we are hoping to afford a top quality recording.”
An award-winning graduate from New College, Oxford, and the Royal College Of Music, London, Paul is a world-renowned composer, choral conductor, conducting teacher, lecturer and author. As a record producer, he has over 50 discs to his name. Paul now teaches at Birmingham Conservatoire, where he also directs both chamber choirs, and at Oxford and Durham Universities. He also conducts Birmingham Bach Choir.
The compositional offer, titled A Song Just For You, is available until 30 April 2014 via online crowd-funding platform Indiegogo, where the Choir are also offering such ‘perks’ as VIP invitations, tickets, signed scores and special merchandise. Any text can be submitted as long as it’s either original or out of copyright.
Further information on the offer can be found via: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com
Tickets for Unfinished Remembering are available now priced £12-£25 from the same website or via THSH Box Office on 0121 345 0600.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
A SONG JUST FOR YOU
A unique opportunity to commission a song from Paul Spicer. The text is for you to choose but must be out of copyright (author’s lifetime + 70 years in the UK). It could be a solo or SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) arrangement with or without piano accompaniment. The song would be delivered early in 2015.
Direct link: http://igg.me/at/unfinished-remembering
The ‘perk’ is available for a limited period only: until 30 April 2014, or until it is purchased – whichever is the sooner.
About Paul Spicer
Paul is a passionate exponent of English music with a particular specialisation in choral music. For further details, see: www.paulspicer.com
About Indiegogo
Indiegogo is a crowd-funding platform where people who want to raise money can create fundraising campaigns to tell their story and get the word out. See: indiegogo.com
Concert Listings
Saturday 13 September 2014
Unfinished Remembering
Symphony Hall, 32 Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EA
T: 0121 345 0600
W: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com | www.thsh.co.uk
7.30pm
Tickets: £12, £18, £25; Concessions £10, £15, £22; Under 16s £5 (plus transaction fee). Available from THSH Box Office – T: 0121 345 0600; W: www.thsh.co.uk; E: tickets@birmingham.bachchoir.com
World premier of Paul Spicer and poet Euan Tait’s choral symphony marking the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in 1914; plus Dona Nobis Pacen by Vaughan Williams and the National Song ‘A Shared Singing’ to be performed by a new military choir.
Conductor: Paul Spicer | Birmingham Bach Choir | Orchestra of the Swan | Soprano: Johane Ansell | Baritone: William Dazeley | Midlands Military Community Choir (A Shared Singing)
Paul Spicer, librettist Euan Tait – Unfinished Remembering
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Dona Nobis Pacem
Paul Spicer & Euan Tait – A Shared Singing
Pre-concert talk at 6.30pm by Euan Tait.
ABOUT BIRMINGHAM BACH CHOIR
The Birmingham Bach Choir has been contributing to the musical life of the West Midlands since 1919, making it one of the oldest musical groups in the area. Although they perform music spanning over 300 years, their main focus is the music of JS Bach and the Baroque period. 2013/2014 marks Birmingham Bach Choirs’ 95th season and includes the World Premiere of a brand new choral symphony by Spicer and Tait to mark the outbreak of The Great War entitled Unfinished Remembering – a key event in the UK-wide First World War Centenary programme. For more information, see: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com
PR Images: Download a selection of ‘hi-res’ images of Paul Spicer for media use via: www.paulspicer.com/05_gallery.php
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