Autumn 2023

Salisbury Cathedral Choir

Our choristers maintain an unbroken tradition of church music at Salisbury, which
stretches back for over 700 years in the present Cathedral and for a further 200 years
before that at Old Sarum. Music has always played a vital role in the Daily Offices
provided by sixteen boy choristers, six Lay Vicars, the Director of Music, the Assistant
Director of Music and the Organ Scholar. In 1991 Salisbury took the historic step of
forming another ‘top line’, bringing young girl choristers into the Choral Foundation and
choir school. Today the singing duties are divided equally between the two sets of
choristers, usually singing with the men of the choir. In term-time, Evensong is sung every
day with a sung Eucharist and Mattins each Sunday. In addition to maintaining the music
for the Opus Dei, Salisbury Cathedral Choir regularly broadcasts, records, tours and gives
concerts. In recent times, the choir has toured Austria, France, Germany, the USA and the
Channel Islands and its most recent recording – of Christmas Carols – has just been
released.

If your child or grandchild is enthusiastic about singing, they may be interested in
becoming a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral. To find out more, please go to the following
link: www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/worship-and-music/choirs-and-music/choirs/choirrecruitment/
“Qui cantat, bis orat” “Who sings, prays twice” – St. Augustine

Florilegium

Regular performances in some of the world’s most prestigious venues have confirmed
Florilegium’s status as one of Britain’s most outstanding period instrument ensembles.
Since their formation in 1991 they have established a reputation for stylish and exciting
interpretations, from intimate chamber works to large-scale orchestral and choral
repertoire, working as an instrumental ensemble and also in collaboration with some
outstanding solo singers and choirs.

Concert venues have included Sydney Opera House, Esplanade (Singapore), Teatro Colon
(Buenos Aires), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Beethoven-Haus
(Bonn), Handel-Haus (Halle) and Frick Collection (New York). Among the numerous
residencies Florilegium have held was Ensemble-in-Residence at London’s Wigmore Hall
from 1998 to 2000, performing several series of concerts each year and becoming actively
involved in the Hall’s education work. They are Ensemble in Association at the Royal
College of Music, working regularly each term with students on both period and modern
instruments in the area of baroque chamber music.

Florilegium’s recordings for Channel Classics have been awarded many prizes including
two Gramophone Award nominations, three BBC Music Magazine awards, numerous
Editor’s Choice from Gramophone, and half a dozen Diapasons d’Or and Chocs de la
Musique in France, and their Bach Cantatas disc with Johannette Zomer was awarded an
Edison Award, Dutch music’s most prestigious prize. In 2014 their 25th recording of the
complete Bach Brandenburg Concertos was awarded a Dutch Luister 10 Award, Classical
CD Choice CD of the Month and was Classic FM Featured Album.

The Performers

Ana Beard Fernandez (Soprano 1)

Ana Beard Fernández is a Spanish-British soprano. She enjoys a career that encompasses several strands of music making: recent performances include Monteverdi Vespers with Huddersfield Choral Society, a ‘Liederabend’ with Mark Padmore and Roddy Williams, Strauss’ Four Last Songs in St. Albans Abbey, Dido and Aeneas (Belinda/First Witch) at the Queen Silvia Concert Hall in Stockholm with Ensemble O/Modernt, and a baroque smörgåsbord in Norway with renowned groups Barroksolistene and i Fagiolini, alongside late-night jazz with legend, Ethan Iverson. Last summer she jumped in as ‘Micaëla’ for Longborough Opera Festival’s new production of Bizet’s Carmen, and enjoyed portraying a very chavvy ‘First Niece’ in Britten’s Peter Grimes at the St. Endellion Festival. She sang at the Wigmore Hall with La Nuova Musica, and in I Fagiolini’s dazzling ‘Angels and Demons’ programme, which will tour later this year. Next year she will sing a concert of Haydn arias with Steven Devine and the English Haydn Orchestra, and record Paul Bowles’ opera Yerma (Yerma) in conjunction with Teatro Colón, Argentina. Ana Beard Fernández grew up in Manchester and was a chorister at Manchester Cathedral. She studied at the University of York and the Royal College of Music, graduating with Distinction in 2020. In the same year she was a semi-finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Competition. Further information about upcoming projects can be found on her website: www.anabeardfernandez.co.uk

Jessica Cale (Soprano 2)

Welsh Soprano Jessica Cale is the 2020 First Prize winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and Joint Audience prize winner at the 2020 London Handel Festival International Singing Competition. In 2022, Jessica made her European opera debut at Teatro La Fenice playing 2nd Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes and her role debut as Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for Waterperry Opera Festival. This year Jessica covered the role of Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and played the title role in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea for English Touring Opera. Jessica is a graduate of the Royal College of Music International Opera Studio. Jessica’s operatic roles whilst at the RCM include the title role of Rodelinda (Handel); Flaminia (Haydn’s Il mondo della luna) and Susan (Berkeley’s A Dinner Engagement). On the concert platform, Jessica has performed under the batons of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Paul McCreesh, Harry Christophers, Jonathan Cohen and Christian Curnyn. Notable concert highlights include: Handel’s Scipione at the London Handel Festival; Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Britten’s Les Illuminations in Vilnius, Lithuania; Bach with the Dunedin Consort at Wigmore Hall; Jessica’s debut at Cadogan Hall with The Mozartists; Porpora and Handel at Bilbao’s Musika Música Festival; Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Berlin Philharmoniker.

Hugh Cutting (Countertenor)

Hugh Cutting is a graduate of the Royal College of Music. In 2021, Hugh became the first countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrier Award and is the first countertenor to become a BBC New Generation Artist (2022-24). In the 2022/23 season, Hugh made his debut at Opernhaus Zürich singing Monteverdi madrigals in Christian Spuck’s ballet setting. Future opera appearances include his debut at Teatro alla Scala as Corindo in Cesti’s Orontea as well as appearances at Grange Park Opera and Garsington Opera. 12 On the concert platform, Hugh reunites with Les Arts Florissants/William Christie for multiple projects including Polinesso in Handel’s Ariodante, a solo programme of Italian baroque arias at the Philharmonie de Paris, and a duet programme with Carlo Vistoli at Wigmore Hall; a European tour of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Masaaki Suzuki; Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Wiener Symphoniker/Matthew Halls and on tour with Collegium Vocale Gent/Philippe Herreweghe; Bach’s B Minor Mass with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin/Vladimir Jurowski; Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Bernard Labadie, two tours with Il Pomo d’Oro; a solo programme of Bach’s Cantatas with the Dunedin Consort; and The Boy in Benjamin’s Written on Skin with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra/George Benjamin. A committed recitalist, in 2023/24 Hugh appears in recital at the Oxford International Song Festival and returns to Wigmore Hall.

Gwilyn Bowen (Tenor)

Born in Hereford, Gwilym Bowen performs internationally with orchestras and ensembles of the highest calibre throughout the UK, in Europe, North America and Australasia. Recordings include B Minor Mass with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Hyperion), St John Passion with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging (All of Bach); Petrus Brockes Passion with Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) and Concerto Copengagen (cpo); and Dussek’s Messe solemnelle (AAM). Current engagements include First Soldier/Lucano L’Incoronazione di Poppea at The Grange Festival, J. S. Bach Cantatas with Accentus, Christmas Oratorio with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; St John Passion with Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia; and St Matthew Passion with Music of the Baroque, Chicago; Britten War Requiem with Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano; Alexander’s Feast with La Scintilla; Jephtha with Bachchor Heidelberg; Messiah with Polyphony; and La Resurrezzione with Concerto Copenhagen. With Les Ambassadeurs and La Grande Écurie, he sings J. S. Bach’s Magnificat and Zelenka’s Te Deum, whilst with Brecon Baroque, he appears in Bach Actually.

James Newby (Baritone)

James Newby is a former BBC New Generation Artist and Rising Star for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He was nominated by the Barbican Hall for the European Concert Hall Organisation Rising Star scheme and was presented by them in recitals throughout Europe in the 2022-23 season. At the 2015 Wigmore Hall/Kohn International Song Competition he received the Richard Tauber Prize for best interpretation of a Schubert Lied. Most recently, he was awarded a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, in recognition and support of his emerging status as one of the most outstanding young musicians of his generation. Following his French opera debut last year at Opéra National du Rhin and his Berlin debut at the Komische Oper Berlin, James will make his debut at the Theater an der Wien. He will also make his Garsington Opera debut in 2024 and at Opéra de Lausanne in the 2024/25 season. Past concert performances included Haydn The Creation with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. He has also appeared in baroque repertoire, including touring in Europe with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century singing Bach. The release of his debut solo CD I Wonder as I Wander on BIS Records in 2020 was described in Gramophone Magazine as “a performance that sets the tone, announcing Newby as an impressive artist”.

Conductor – David Halls

Born in 1963, David Halls was taught the piano from the age of four. Whilst a pupil at Harrogate Grammar School, he was Assistant Organist at St. Wilfrid’s, Harrogate, studied the organ with Adrian Selway at St Peter’s Church, Harrogate, Ronald Perrin at Ripon Cathedral and later with Thomas Trotter in London. David won an Organ Scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford and graduated in 1984 with an Honours Degree in Music. He passed both the Associate and Fellowship Examinations of The Royal College of Organists in the same year, being awarded five prizes and the Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He studied in Winchester for a post-graduate Certificate in Education and was Organ Scholar of Winchester Cathedral under the guidance of Martin Neary and James Lancelot. He was appointed Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral in September 2005. Photo: Ash Mills In addition to his daily duties in the cathedral, he has toured Austria, Estonia, France, Holland, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the USA with the cathedral choirs and has appeared as conductor, accompanist and soloist in many concerts and recordings. In demand as a recitalist in cathedrals and churches throughout the UK, he has recorded four solo CDs on the Willis Organ in Salisbury Cathedral; a recording of organ music from St Wilfrid’s Church, Harrogate, was released in 2015. His organ DVD and CD ‘The Grand Organ of Salisbury Cathedral’ was released in 2012 to great acclaim. He is active as a composer with many choral and organ works published in the UK and USA. He is the President of the Salisbury and District Organists’ Association and conducts the Salisbury Musical Society and the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra. Recent work includes Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Beethoven’s Symphony 6, Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony, Dvo?ák’s Symphony 7, Brahms’s Requiem and Handel’s Coronation Anthems.