Last Thursday’s rehearsal was spent beginning to discover the delights of Karl Jenkins’ Stella Natalis, which we will perform at the Christmas concerts on December 3rd and 4th.  It was by all accounts a fun time, learning to s s s s sing and achieve other unusual vocal effects. It should not come as a surprise to those of us who have sung Jenkins’ The Armed Man and The Peacemakers.  Although these affects are unusual, they never dissolve into triteness as Jenkins always uses them skilfully and effectively.

Karl Jenkins’ next major work will be premiered this coming October in Wales.  It commemorates the Aberfan disaster of 1966, when a coal spoil heap collapsed, engulfing a school and surrounding buildings with horrific loss of life.  Click here to read more about Cantata Memoria.