Reviews

For this concert, Nota Bene invited back former members to join with current singers, bringing the choir up to 40 in number. Nota Bene was also joined by special guest, former Radio NZ presenter Geoff Robinson, who toured with the choir for its theatrical Sentimental Journey series. Guest conductors Peter de Blois and Julian Raphael shared the conducting honours with Christine Argyle, and were joined by pianist Emma Sayers and bassoonist Penny Miles.

Nota Bene has always had a strong commitment to performing New Zealand music, with several composers writing specially for the choir. To mark its 10th anniversary, the choir has commissioned a work from noted choral composer David Hamilton. With lush choral textures and rich harmonies, Canción de Invierno is a setting of a poem by Juan Ramón Jiménez, based on the theme of singing.

Nota Bene’s 10th Anniversary concert was at St Andrews on the Terrace,

at 4.30pm on Sunday 14 September.

Bold as Brass

Works for choir and brass

Dufay, Croce, Gabrieli, Bruckner, Brahms, David Hamilton

Nota Bene, conducted by Peter Walls, with Ingrid Bauer (harp), Matthew Allison, David Bremner and Tim Sutton (trombones), Carsten Williams and Heather Thompson (horns), Douglas Mews (organ and piano)

Sacred Heart Cathedral

Saturday, 29 March 2014, 7.30pm

Pieces of Eight

Works in eight parts

de Monte: Super lumina Babylonis / Peter Philips: Ecce tu pulchra es

Byrd: Quomodo cantabinus / Purcell: Prelude (organ) Hear my prayer

Lotti: Crucifixus / Bach: Alle Menschen müssen sterben, BWV 117 (organ) Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225

Brahms: Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen (organ) / Unsere Väter hofften auf dich Wenn ein starker Gewappneter / Wo ist ein so herrlich Volk

Greene: Voluntary in E flat (organ) / Pearsall: Lay a garland /Great God of love

Holst: Ave Maria / Mendelssohn: No.4 from Lieder ohne Worte Op.19 (organ)

Kyrie, Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, Heilig, heilig

Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Peter Walls, with soloists, and Erin Helyard (chamber organ)Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill StreetSaturday, 15 June 2013, 7.30pm

Spring Sings: Lovers, birds and all these things

English songs by Moeran, Finzi, Michael Head, Parry, Holst and Rutter, arrangements by John Walker and Philip Walsh.

New Zealand songs by Janet Jennings, and American songs by Ken Neufeld, Scott Wilkinson, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Loesser and Charles Collins

Sharon Talbot (soprano), Stephanie Gartrell (mezzo), Juliet Kennedy (soprano)Nota bene conducted by Peter de Blois, with Rosemary Russell and Peter de Blois (piano)

Sunday, 16 September 2012

May Magnificat

Sarah MacDonald: Magnificat Tonus Peregrinus

John Tavener: Magnificat (Collegium Regale)

Arvo Pärt: Magnificat

Gerald Finzi: Magnificat

Doublas Mews (snr.): The May Magnificat

Janet Jennings: Magnificat

Charles Villiers Stanford: Magnificat in B flat for eight-part chorus

Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Peter de Blois, with soloists, and organ (Michael Fletcher)

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill Street

Sunday, 6 May 2012, 2.30pm

A Britten Christmas - St Nicholas

Alla Marcia; A Hymn to the Virgin; Simple Symphony; Rosa Mystica; Sweet was the Song; The Sycamore Tree; Saint Nicolas cantata.

Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Michael Vinten, with soloists, and orchestra, Amber Rainey and Ken Ryan (piano) and Douglas Mews (organ) in Saint Nicolas.

Sacred Heart Mary Cathedral, Hill Street

Sunday, 11 December, 2.30pm

Requiem

Herbert Howells: Requiem; Albinoni: Adagio; Schütz: Two choral pieces; Pearsall: ‘Lay a Garland’; Lukáš: Requiem Aeternam; Sam Piper: ‘Kyrie’; Jan Sandström: ‘Sanctus’; Barber: ‘Agnus Dei’; David Hamilton: Lux Aeterna; Fauré: ‘Pie Jesu’ from Requiem in D; Tavener: Song for Athene

Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Peter de Blois, with Lara Denby (soprano, in Fauré’s ‘Pie Jesu’) and Douglas Mews (organ, in Albinoni and Fauré)

St. Mary of the Angels Church, Boulcott Street

Sunday, 3 April 2011, 2.30pm

A Snow-free Christmas

Nota Bene Choir

Guest Conductor: Peter Walls

Carolyn Mills (harp) Frances Moore (soprano) / Peter Barber (viola) / Fiona McCabe (piano)

Saturday 6th December 2008

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill St, Wellington

Reviews

from Nota Bene concerts

20 September 2020, St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street

14

Petite Messe Solennelle

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Works for choir and brass