CONCERTS
Concerts
Past and future concerts. Ticket purchase.
Forthcoming concerts
Feel the spirit
Uplifting music for choir and piano
Spirituals by Allain, Rutter, Tippett and others.
Simon Harvey – piano
FREE un-ticketed concert.
Donations welcome
CONCERT ADMISSION PRICES
- FREE admission by ticket to under 18s
- Paid in advance: £12
- On the door £15
- No booking fee
BOOKING
- All seats unreserved
- To book online visit our ticket source page here
- To book by post: Send a cheque payable to the The Meljon Singers with a SAE to: Meljon Box Office, 34 The Seeleys, HARLOW, CM17 0AD
- Having trouble? Send us a message
- Box Office: +44 7719 817985
2024 Season
7.30pm Saturday
30 NOVEMBER 24
Fauré – Cantique de Jean Racine
Lizst – Missa Choralis op 47
Gounod – Messe Chorale
Conductor – Janette Ruocco
7.30pm Saturday 27 April 24
Come to me
A collection of familiar and unfamiliar a cappella European choral music
Conductor – Janette Ruocco
2023 Season
4pm Sunday 5 March 23
Music from the Diaspora: from sacred to swing
Choral music embracing different styles,centuries and moods.
From composers including Schubert, Rossi, Copland, Gershwin and Joel
concert was CANCELLED OWING TO ILLNESS
7.30pm SATURday 20 May 23
Music from the Tudor Dynasty
A programme of sacred and secular pieces from the reigns of Henry VII to Elizabeth I.
This lovely one-hour concert will feature works by Thomas Tallis, including his If ye love me and O Lord give thy Holy Spirit, John Taverner’s Dum transisset Sabbatum and William Byrd’s Haec dies and Ave verum corpus.
Also works by Robert Parsons, Thomas Morley, John Farmer and others.
7.30pm SATURday 28 OCTOBER 23
Singing Double
A programme of music for double choir.
Janette will lead us in a programme of sacred choral music for double choir featuring Rheinberger’s Mass in Eb, Bach’s Der Geist hilft.
Also works by Purcell, Schütz and Lotti.
7.30pm SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER 23
Now may we singen
Christmas Carols for choir and audience.
With Simon Harvey organ
concert was CANCELLED OWING TO ILLNESS
2022 Season
7.30pm Saturday 5 March
Magnificat
Uplifting music for choir and strings.
The Meljon singers together with the Dargason Ensemble present a programme comprising Magnificat settings for choir and soloists by Buxtehude, Telemann and Durante.
These will be interspersed with Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir and Vivaldi’s Credo in E minor.
4pm SUNday 27 March
Music from the Diaspora: from sacred to swing
Featuring choral music linked to Jewish themes and much of it by Jewish composers, embracing a range of different styles, centuries and moods.
The programme includes Schubert’s setting in Hebrew – Psalm 92, Lewandowski – Enosh Kechatsir, Lampl – Adon Olam, Rossi – Elohim Hashivenu, Castelnuovo-Tedesco – The Little Love God, Billy Joel – And so it goes.
4PM Saturday 21 May
Shall I compare thee?
Settings of texts by William Shakespeare.
The concert will feature the wonderful Three Shakespeare songs – Vaughan Williams.
Also I know a bank – Sarah Quartel, Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? – Libby Larsen, Blow, blow thou winter wind – Thomas Arne, Fear no more – Stephen Sondheim.
Also pieces by our own Janette Ruocco, Richard Sisson, George Shearing, Kevin Olson and more.
7.30pm Saturday 8 October
O sacrum convivium
The Meljon singers together with the Dargason Ensemble will present Fauré Requiem together with, Cantique de Jean Racine – Fauré, Salve Regina – Poulenc, Four motets on Gregorian themes – Duruflé, and
O sacrum convivium – Messiaen
7.30pm Saturday 3 December
O nata lux
Janette Ruocco will lead us through some lovely Christmas music including Bob Chilcott’s exuberant Twelve Days of Christmas and works by Poulenc, Vaughan Williams and more.
Contemporary carols by members of the Meljon Singers will also be performed, including some by our very own Janette Ruocco.
Enjoy some seasonal refreshments with us afterwards.
2019 & 2020 Seasons
A programme in which all the works are by women composers, is still something of a rarity.
Here we feature 100 years of works from Imogen Holst’s Mass in A minor, to works composed as recently as 2019, including excerpts from Pamela Slatter’s The Lady of Shalott, Janette Ruocco’s settings of William Blake’s poems Songs of Innocence and Experience and Miriam Mackie’s To the end of the world. We also sing works by Judith Weir, Cecilia McDowall and Rebecca Clarke.
Janette Ruocco conducts The Meljon Singers in works by contemporary Icelandic, Scandinavian and Baltic state composers including Uģis Prauliņš’s Missa Regensis. This was written to be performed in the ample space of Riga’s great cathedral. We have three pieces by Mårten Jansson, his Missa Brevis, Here is thy Heaven and The Choir Masters’ Burial.
Also included are Rihards Dubra’s Missa Simplex, Ilze Arne’s Cantemus and Kim Andre Arnesen’s deeply moving Even when he is silent.
Janette Ruocco and The Meljon Singers will take you on a journey from Toledo to Rome by way of some of the loveliest music in the choral repertoire. This will include three motets by Victoria, Padilla’s Missa Ego Flos Campi a work for double choir, Palestrina’s Stabat Mater and madrigals by Monteverdi.
Other works included are by Guerrero, de Lienas, Lobo, Rossi and Gastoldi.
Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass is simply sublime, a Latin Mass in which The Dargason Ensemble’s shimmering strings will complement the Meljon voices in a harmonious spiritual journey, from the ethereal to the temporal.
Those strings will also dance their way through Grieg’s Holberg Suite while the choir will sing a cappella pieces by these and two other Norwegian composers, Arnesen and Nystedt.
Janette Ruocco and The Meljon Singers are excited to be performing Bobbi Fischer’s Missa latina. This work joyfully blends European and South American styles, setting the traditional Latin words to the sounds and rhythms of a Latin jazz combo, featuring violin, bandoneon, piano, double bass, drums and percussion.
The band will also perform its own jazz set while the choir gives you popular songs from the ‘20s and ‘30s.
2018 Season
Music by Bach, Bruckner, Brunner, Rheinberger and Schnittke.
An hour of delightful music, including Lauridsen’s ‘Les Chansons des Roses’.
Exquisite choral music, including John Tavener’s Svyati and Richard Rodney Bennett’s A farewell to arms.
A capella pieces by a variety of composers including Janette Ruocco.
2017 Season
Sacred a cappella works by Britten, Howells, Parry and Rubbra, including Howells’ Requiem and Parry’s Songs of Farewell.
French and English songs by composers including Finzi, Britten, Moeran, Debussy & Ravel.
Exquisite choral music, including John Tavener’s Svyati and Richard Rodney Bennett’s A farewell to arms.
A concert showcasing choral music composed by women. A cappella works by composers including Imogen Holst, Rebecca Clarke, Thea Musgrave, Janette Ruocco, Miriam Mackie and Cecilia McDowall.
2016 Season
A glittering programme of Russian Sacred Music, including works by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and more. Part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival.
A ‘New World’ of music from Copland to Whitacre.
Frank Martin’s Mass for double choir and music by 20th century Swiss composers.
2015 Season
A sparkling selection of music by Antonio Vivaldi.
Raise a glass to Meljon, Vivaldi and the joys of music-making, as we join with soloists and chamber orchestra to perform some of the most scintillating music in the Italian repertoire.
A concert marking the significant birthdays of two champions of the English choral tradition, John Rutter and Bob Chilcott.
Music of the Spheres brings you the ethereal sounds of sixteenth century England, Portugal and Spain. The poetic idea that the revolution of the planets generated a celestial harmony ran through the medieval period into the Renaissance. Its echoes can be heard in our a cappella concert, which includes music by Pedro de Escobar, John Sheppard’s Media Vita and Duarte Lobo’s Requiem for six voices.
Four centuries of Russian Sacred Music.
No one who has ever heard Russian church music properly rendered can refrain from an expression of admiration and exaltation.
So said a visitor to Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, a golden age for Russian sacred music. This wonderful programme traces the development of Russian sacred music from the influences of Italian polyphony to the Golden Age of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. It brings you a rare opportunity to hear the innovative and influential music of composers like Kastalsky, Chesnokov and Grechaninov, little known in the West, who have enriched this unique tradition.
2014 Season
A collection of music from a region where the choral music tradition is deeply engrained; the Baltics. Support a local choir whilst being entertained with the music of Estonian and Latvian composers such as Dubra, Pärt and Prauliņš.
A concert of choral music from Eliabethan England featuring William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices and works by Tomkins, Tallis and Weelkes in the beautiful church of St John’s, Epping.
A concert of sacred and secular works by Britten, Finzi, Patterson and Ridout’s Ferdinand the Bull with violinist Kenneth Sillito and narrator Oonagh Segrave-Daly. All proceeds to go in the Alzheimer’s Society.
A programme of popular classics such as Ain’t misbehavin’, Blue Moon and Somethin’ Stupid, spirituals arranged by John Rutter and Eric Whitacre’s Animal Crackers as part of the Woodford Festival. Joined by Christine Petch (mezzo-soprano) and Simon Harvey (keyboard) The Meljon Singers provided an evening of uplifting music to help its audience Feel the Spirit and get In the Mood.
Programme of seasonal music including English and European carols and featuring Bob Chilcott’s On Christmas Night.
2012 Season
A programme of music from Scandinavia, Finland, Latvia and Estonia including Uģis Prauliņš’ Missa Rigensis and songs written by Nils Lindberg, Carl Nielsen, Per Nørgård, Knut Nystedt, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Rihards Dubra and Arvo Pärt.
A treasure trove of beautifully accessible a cappella pieces including jewels by contemporary American composers such as the profoundly moving When David Heard by Eric Whitacre.
The choir explored the rich diversity of musical responses to Shakespearean lyrics including settings by Vaughan Williams, George Shearing, John Rutter and Janette Ruocco – with Tim Smith (piano).
Liszt: Missa Choralis, Gounod: Messe Chorale and Motets by Rheinberger & Poulenc.
Simply beautiful and beautifully simple music to ease you into the Christmas season – with Simon Harvey (organ).
2011 Season
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Songs on the theme of Advent and Christmas to kick-start the festive season, including Cecilia McDowall’s Christus Natus Est (Christmas Cantata) and carols for audience – with Harlow Chorus Academy and Simon Harvey (organ).
ST. MARY’S CHURCH,
SOUTH WOODFORD
Saturday 3 December 2011
Viva Italia!
A taste of Italy with a programme including Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and a cappella works by Allegri, Gabrieli, Monteverdi and Palestrina. This concert formed a part of the Woodford Festival.
BANCROFT’S SCHOOL, WOODFORD GREEN
Saturday 15 October 2011
Vivat Regina
A showcase of music from the reigns of Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II including pieces by Purcell, Tallis, Holst, Byrd, Britten and Chilcott.
ST MARY’S CHURCH,
LOUGHTON
Saturday 21 May 2011
The Food of Love
Music inspired by Shakespearean texts including pieces by Vaughan Williams, George Shearing and John Rutter.
BARNARDO’S CHURCH, BARKINGSIDE
Saturday 19 February 2011
2010 Season
Blazing Baroque
The Meljon Singers joined with soloists and the acclaimed instrumentalists of the Spiritato! Baroque Ensemble for a spectacular collection of Baroque masterpieces.
ST GABRIEL’S CHURCH, ALDERSBROOK
Saturday 27 November 2010
Brahms Requiem
(London version for piano duet)
Following a welcome drink, the audience enjoyed Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem (London version for piano duet) to celebrate the choir’s 20th anniversary – with Beverley Lockyer (soprano), Gary Griffiths (baritone) and Simon Harvey and Caroline Finlay (piano).
BANCROFT’S SCHOOL, WOODFORD GREEN
Saturday 9 October 2010
Renaissance!
The ‘many sounds’ of a new world of music, including works by Gesualdo, Palestrina and Tallis.
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, HERMON HILL
Saturday 22 May 2010
A Suitable Job for a Woman
The Meljon Singers are joined by the piano and soprano duo Consonum for an evening celebrating vocal music by women composers from the 19th to the 21st century.
ST BARNABAS CHURCH, WOODFORD GREEN
Saturday 6 March 2010
2009 Season
Voice From Heaven
A cappella gems including the Howells Requiem and Rheinberger’s Mass in E Flat. Soloist Michael Ierace (piano soloist and 2009 Winner of the Philip & Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists) played two Preludes from Rachmaninov’s Opus 23 and Debussy’s atmospheric La Cathédrale Engloutie.
ST JAMES’S CHURCH PICCADILLY, LONDON
Saturday 21 November 2009
Night and Day
Music for living and loving, including works by Britten, Rutter, Hawley and Cole Porter. A Woodford Festival concert.
UNITED FREE CHURCH,
WOODFORD GREEN
Saturday 10 October 2009
American Dreams
Musical magic from the New World to celebrate Independence Day, with works by Whitacre, Helvey, Thompson and Ferko.
BARNARDO’S CHURCH, BARKINGSIDE
Saturday 4 July 2009
Ain’t Misbehavin’
A sparkling showcase of light music by Gershwin, Porter and Rutter and including the London premiere of Pictures of Night by Redbridge composer Alan Bullard – with Caroline Finlay (piano).
WOODFORD BAPTIST CHURCH, SOUTH WOODFORD
Saturday 9 May 2009
An Auld Alliance
A celebration of choral music from Scotland and France, including works by Carver, MacMillan, Messaien and Poulenc.
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, HERMON HILL
Saturday 7 March 2009
