Thursday 24 November 2022 St Barnabas Church

Vigilia Estoniae

The Carice Singers

An ARVO PÄRT…and a Littlemore event

With a focus on Estonian female composers, this programme from The Carice Singers celebrates Galina Grigorjeva’s 60th birthday with the UK premiere of her powerful 2017 work Vespers and commemorates the recent death of Ester Mägi, who would have been 100 in 2022. Also included are works by Evelin Seppar, Alfred Schnittke, and Arvo Pärt, showing the rich diversity of styles that have become vitally important to this ‘singing nation’.

There will be a talk with George Parris and two of the composers featured in this concert earlier in the evening in our Meet the Composers event.

About the artists

The Carice Singers is emerging as one of the most distinctive vocal ensembles in the UK, defined by its unique sound and imaginative choice of repertoire. Founded in 2011, the ensemble began life focusing on Elgar’s part-songs, naming themselves after the composer’s daughter and only child. Just as Carice showed a quiet but resolute sense of duty in securing her father’s legacy, so is the group committed to promoting curiosity and appreciation for its ever widening repertoire amongst people of all ages.

As a young enthusiast of Elgar’s music, George Parris (b. 1993), was awarded the Elgar Society’s Certificate of Merit in 2011 for his commitment to the research and performance of Elgar works. He then studied for a BA in Music at the University of Cambridge, followed by an MSt in Musicology at the University of Oxford.

He founded The Carice Singers in 2011, and conducted the ensemble’s first concert only a few days after his eighteenth birthday. Since then he has been the choir’s Conductor and Artistic Director, making his first recording with them for the Naxos label aged 20.