April 3, 2001

St.

Margaret’s Choir to perform two dates at Middlebury on national

tour

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—The choir of St.

Margaret’s, the historic parish church in Great Britain’s

Westminster Abbey, will spend two evenings performing at Middlebury

College during its current national tour. The group will participate

in an Anglican evensong service at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, in

Mead Chapel on Hepburn Road off College Street (Route 125). The

following night, Friday, April 20, the choir will present a concert

at 8 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall on South Main

Street (Route 30).

St. Margaret’s organist, Thomas

Trotter, will open Thursday evening’s event with a short

recital. The choir then will offer an Anglican evensong—a

service of lessons, prayers and music. The service will include the

premiere of “Middlebury Venite,” a special piece commissioned to mark

the College’s 200th anniversary. Created by Andrew

Gant, the newly appointed composer to the Chapel Royal at St. James

Palace, “Middlebury Venite” includes the phrase “The Strength of the

Hills is His Also”—a passage especially familiar to the College

community since it is carved above the entrance to Mead

Chapel.

Friday’s concert will include

both a cappella and accompanied selections by the 16-member chorus in

a program titled “Royal Peculiar” directed by Simon Over, director of

music at St. Margaret’s. Over explained: “A few of the ancient

churches of England have remained outside the domain of the diocesan

system, falling instead under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch.

As these special—or ‘peculiar’—churches include

the Chapels Royal and Westminster Abbey, they have always attracted

the finest musicians. Over almost 500 years, that provides a vast and

very rich store of material to choose from.

“The choices are many—from early

anthems by Byrd or Fayrfax to great classical composers from outside

England such as Handel, Mozart and Haydn, who have Abbey

associations, and even Wagner, whose works often premiered in England

on St. Margaret’s organ. An example of a contemporary musician

whose work has been performed at the church is John Tavener, whose

powerful composition was heard at the funeral of Diana Princess of

Wales.”

The choir’s members are all

accomplished professionals in their own right, and also perform with

other groups, including the Monteverdi Choir and the BBC Singers.

Trotter is a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music in

London, where he trained. He regularly tours, performing at festivals

around the world and with leading orchestras such as the Royal,

London, Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. His award-winning

recordings include selections by Mozart and Liszt. Over’s

independent ventures vary from working with the Royal Opera to

accompanying and directing singers and instrumentalists in a variety

of venues.

As part of Westminster Abbey, St.

Margaret’s Church dates back to the late 11th century

and is familiarly known as the parish church of the House of Commons.

The choir often performs at state and royal occasions and sings for

scores of weddings, memorials and special services held in the church

each year. In recent years, the choir sang for a papal audience

during a tour of Europe and visited 11 locations on the East Coast of

the United States. Its current tour began in New York and, after

leaving Vermont, will continue in Colorado and on the West

Coast.

Admission to the Thursday evening

service is free. Tickets to Friday’s concert are $10 for general

admission and $8 for senior citizens. For information or tickets,

call the College box office at 802-443-6433.

— end —