(天使之聲、童聲飛揚、天使童聲、純音天籟、空中云雀、清澈童聲、玫瑰之歌)

—英國威斯敏斯特男童合唱團音樂會

Westminster Boys’ Choir, UK

Tickets: 30 60 90 120 180 380 580 yuan

曲目

14. 丹尼少年          傳統民歌 克里斯?哈澤爾改編

--休息--

15. 同一個聲音         貝瑞?曼尼洛

27. 我的路          克洛德?弗朗索瓦，雅克?赫霍

Program

14. Danny Boy         Trad. arr. Chris Hazell

--Intermission--

15. One Voice         Barry Manilow

27. My way          Claude Fran?ois & Jacques Revaux

英國威斯敏斯特男童合唱團

Westminster Boys’ Choir

英國威斯敏斯特男童合唱團享有出眾的聲望，經常在倫敦顯要場所演出，其中包括圣約翰史密斯廣場，巴比肯音樂廳，卡多根音樂廳還有威斯敏斯特大教堂。自從在皇家節日音樂廳首演馬勒第三交響樂后, 該團在BBC無線3臺、4臺現場演出，并在BBC、倫敦周末臺、電視4臺等表演， 還為2個BBC電視劇錄制主題音樂。該團還同皇家愛樂樂團、英國室內樂團、南岸交響樂團以及Julian Lloyd Webber等著名演奏家合作演出。2007年該團參加Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di Montepulciano國際藝術節末場演出, 在Jan Latham-Koenig 指揮下表演 奧爾夫的布蘭詩歌。2010年11月作為BBC無線3臺合唱大賽決賽參與者將在伯明翰交響樂大廳演出。

英國威斯敏斯特男童合唱團的生源長期以來是由威斯敏斯特附屬學校提供的。該合唱團成員曾在眾多國家級儀式上表演：如為伊莉莎白女皇表演，在蘭貝斯宮，在議會大廈以及皇室婚慶等場合表演。 他們還為教皇保羅二世在圣比得廣場和梵蒂岡西斯汀教堂演唱。

在音樂總監杰瑞米?沃克的帶領下，威斯敏斯特男童合唱團曾去歐洲、美國、加拿大、阿根廷、巴西、智利及南非等地巡回演出。2005年，在巴西舉辦的演唱會為當地兒童慈善機構募集了上千英鎊。2007年他們返回南美洲，先在智利及阿根廷主要劇院和歌劇廳表演，隨后再度回訪里約熱內盧，他們在Candelária的現場演出會由巴西電視臺向全國播放。2008年，該團最近一次巡回演出他們去了波士頓、紐約和華盛頓分別在哈佛及哥倫比亞大學演出。

合唱團演唱曲目跨越5個世紀包括許多專門為該團創作的作品，作曲家包括Anthony Caesar、 John Gardner、Chris Hazell、Edmund Jolliffe、Simon McGregor、Giles Swayne 及John Woolrich, 其作品《憂郁的歌》(Faber)在意大利阿西西圣弗朗思科大教堂首演。

合唱團中的獨唱演員常在倫敦音樂會、歌劇及清唱劇中露面。在作曲家的邀請及英國文化協會的資助下，合唱團為馬耳他的馬諾伊爾劇院上演的John Gardner兒童歌劇提供獨唱演員。越來越多的合唱團成員離校后從事音樂職業，他們或進入英國領先的音樂學院深造或在牛津、劍橋大學獲取聲樂獎學金，在皇家歌劇院、英國國家歌劇院經常能看到該團老成員的演出如男低音Leigh Melrose、小提琴家Thomas Gould、還有曾排名第一的男子樂隊A1主唱Ben Adams。

他們的錄音碟片包括《圣誕選曲》、《Benedicamus Domino》 （曾在古典音樂電臺播放）、 《Laudate Pueri》（被評為最受喜愛的圣歌集）、《在音樂會中》 （一組古典及現代選曲） 以及《凱萊在星際》。

威斯敏斯特男童合唱團獲得了眾多評論家和媒體的好評如：作曲家, 國家歌唱大使Howard Goodall 在2008年BBC三臺全國合唱比賽決賽中評價道：“能見到那么多男童一起興致勃勃地歡唱令人欣慰. 但更令人喜悅的是觀察你們歌唱時富有表情的面容. 作為觀眾, 觀看你們時我完全沉浸在你們歌聲的世界里, 即被你們臉上的表情也被你們動人的歌聲感染”；"歌聲"基金會創辦者Susan Digby說：“給人心里一股暖流...一種既有聲勢又有良好支撐的音質. 真正發自內心的演唱. 非常感人”；伊頓公學音樂總督Ralph Allwood評價說：“此合唱團演唱時具有高度的信念, 達到控制與敏感交融一體的境界”；《巴西晨報》評論到：“在里約熱內盧圣本圖 修道院 輝煌的巴洛克裝潢中, 屬于天堂的音色演唱跨越五個世紀的樂曲.閃亮的頭發和眼睛, 玫瑰色的臉頰還有天使般的聲音.. 威斯敏斯特男童合唱團演示了出眾的紀律和完美的技巧”； 圣地亞哥《水星報》的Gilberto Ponce：“我被他們巨大的熱情和職業性所感動.我的注意力被他們的紀律, 他們的音樂措辭, 他們自然的悟性, 他們的高低起伏還有他們歌聲中的快樂深深吸引住”。

Westminster Boys’ Choir

Westminster Boys’ Choir enjoys a fine reputation and frequently performs at prestigious London venues, including St John’s, Smith Square, the Barbican Hall, Cadogan Hall and Westminster Abbey. They made their South Bank début in Mahler’s 3rd Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall and have since performed live on BBC Radios 3 and 4, have appeared on BBC, LWT and Channel 4 television, and have recorded theme music for two BBC television series. The choir has also appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Hilary Davan Whetton, the English Chamber Orchestra under Jan Latham-Koenig, with Simon Over and the Southbank Sinfonia and in concert with Sir Thomas Allen and Julian Lloyd Webber. In 2007 they took part in the final concert of the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di Montepulciano, performing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana under Jan Latham-Koenig and, as finalists in the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year Competition 2010, they will perform at Birmingham Symphony Hall in November of this year.

The choristers of St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey – the historic church of Parliament – are also drawn from the Under School and boys from the two choirs have performed at a number of state occasions: in the presence of HM the Queen, at , in the Houses of Parliament and at a royal wedding. They also sang for Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Square and in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Under their director, Jeremy Walker, the Westminster Boys’ Choir has toured throughout Europe and to the U.S.A., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and South Africa. In 2005 they toured Brazil, where their concerts raised thousands of pounds for children’s charities in the country, and they returned to South America in 2007, performing in the principal theatres and opera houses of Chile and Argentina before revisiting Rio, where their concert in the Candelária was broadcast on Brazilian TV networks. Their most recent tour to the U.S.A. (Boston, New York and Washington) included concerts at Harvard and Columbia Universities.

The choir’s varied repertoire spans over five centuries and includes many pieces composed especially for the choir, including works by Anthony Caesar, John Gardner, Chris Hazell, Edmund Jolliffe, Simon McGregor, Giles Swayne and John Woolrich, whose setting of Smart’s A Hymn on Melancholy (Faber) was first performed in the Basilica di San Francesco, Assisi.

Soloists from the choir can be heard in concert, opera and oratorio in the capital and, at the composer’s invitation, the choir provided soloists for performances supported by the British Council of John Gardner’s children’s opera, at the Manoel Theatre in Malta. On leaving school an increasing number of former choristers choose music as a career, taking up places at the UK’s leading conservatoires or, as choral scholars, at Oxford and Cambridge. Ex-choristers have recently been heard on stage at both the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and at the English National Opera. Former choristers include operatic baritone, Leigh Melrose, the violinist, Thomas Gould, and Ben Adams, who went on to achieve No 1 success in the boy band, A1, and recently appeared on Celebrity Big Brother!

Their CD recordings to date include a Christmas selection, Benedicamus Domino, which has been featured on Classic FM radio, Laudate Pueri, a collection of favourite anthems, In Concert, a programme of classical and popular songs, and Gloria in Excelsis.

What the critics say:

 “Absolutely brilliant to see so many boys singing together and obviously enjoying your singing so much. But what I think is fantastic is that you have unusually expressive faces when you sing and, as a member of the audience, it’s wonderful to watch you because I feel totally brought in to your singing world, as much by your faces as by the very lovely sound that you make.”

—Howard Goodall, Composer and National Ambassador for Singing giving his adjudication at the finals of the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year Competition 2008

“Heart-warming… A wonderfully powerful and well-supported sound. Really heart-felt and committed singing. A very moving performance” 

—Susan Digby, Founder of The Voices Foundation

“The choir sang with excellent conviction and achieved admirable blend with poignant control and sensitivity to the words.”

—Ralph Allwood, Precentor and Director of Music, Eton College. Director of the Rudolfus Choir.

“In the baroque surroundings of the Monastery of Sao Bento, in Rio de Janeiro, celestial voices sang music that crossed five centuries. Shining hair and eyes, rosy faces and voices of angels… the Westminster Boys’ Choir display exemplary discipline and technical mastery.”

—Bom Dia Brasil, 1 April 2005

“I was much affected by their tremendous enthusiasm and professionalism. My attention was grasped by their discipline, their phrasing and by their natural musicianship, their handling of dynamics and by the joy that they convey when singing.”

—Gilberto Ponce in El Mercurio, Santiago, April 2007

 “At the Candelária, the Westminster Boys’ Choir, with a lingering pennywhistle and their delicate vibratos, closed the evening with Shenandoah. I nearly cried. Leaving the church, I think of the street children we know, wondering if there will ever be a chance to bring them to things this beautiful.

—From the online diary of Jenna, Rio de Janeiro, April 2007

杰瑞米?沃克，音樂總監

Jeremy Walker, music director

杰瑞米?沃克于1988年任威斯敏斯特附屬學校音樂總監至今, 是當今英國首屈一指的少年合唱教練。作為歌唱家，他幾乎與英國最出色的室內合唱團都合作演出過，并在歌劇和清唱劇里擔任獨唱。他錄制的英國歌曲系列曾在BBC電臺播出。2006年開始擔任英國國家青年歌劇團音樂副總監。今年夏天，他為該團導演了Stephen Sondheim的音樂驚險劇《理發師陶德》來慶祝作曲家誕辰80周年。在作曲家John Gardner的要求和馬耳他英國文化協會的資助下，杰瑞米?沃克制作了兒童歌劇《美女和龍》并在瓦萊塔馬諾伊爾劇院演出，第二年指導該團在同一劇院公演了韓德爾的《彌賽亞》，一共有100名舞蹈演員參加本場演出。

杰瑞米?沃克還是著名室內合唱團Voyces的發啟人和音樂總監。該團成員都是倫敦一些最出色的專業歌唱家。此外，二十年來他還兼任達廷國際暑期學校聲樂班教練。

Jeremy Walker, music director

Widely regarded as one of the UK's leading exponents in the training of young voices, Jeremy Walker has been Director of Music at Westminster Under School since 1988.

As a singer, Jeremy has performed with some of the UK’s leading chamber choirs, appeared as soloist in oratorio and opera (including Thomas Hemsley’s production of Rigoletto at Dartington Festival) and he has recorded a programme of English song for BBC Radio. Since 2006, he has also been Associate Musical Director of the National Youth Music Theatre of Great Britain, for whom this summer he is to direct Stephen Sondheim's musical thriller, "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street", as part of the composer's 80th birthday celebrations in London. With the support of the British Council in Malta, and at the composer’s request, Jeremy directed John Gardner’s children’s opera, "Bel and the Dragon", in the Manoel Theatre, Valletta and, the following year, a specially choreographed performance of Handel’s "Messiah", involving over one hundred young singers and dancers.

He is also founder-director of the acclaimed chamber choir, Voyces, which draws upon some of London’s finest and most versatile, professional singers and he has for some twenty years directed annual choral courses at Dartington International Summer School.