Cranbrook Choral Society

Our Next Concert:

Spring Concert 27th April 2024 – Rossini: Petite Messe Solenelle

 

Upcoming Dates for your diary:

Saturday, 22 June, Music for Midsummer Concert

Saturday, 16 November, Faure Requiem and Derufle Requiem

Saturday, 14  December, Christmas Concert with Cranbrook Town Band

 

CRANBROOK CHORAL IN THE COMMUNITY:

 

Last Year, just before Christmas, we visited Iden Manor Nursing Home, Staplehurst to share some Christmas fun with the residents. Other visits were planned but thwarted by the snow. This year we have planned a full day, singing at 3 residential homes in the area.

Every year we also perform a concert in aid of a specific charity, which for the last 3 years has been Hospice in the Weald. We are proud to be able to support the local community in this way.

Our most recent concerts:

November 2023: Britten, Saint Nicolas

July  2023: Summer concert – Headcorn Church with Headcorn Primary School – Light summer music.

April 2023: Coronation Concert, Handel’s Coronation Anthems, Haydn St Nicolas Mass

Feb 2023: Charity Concert in aid of Hospice in the Weald – Etchingham Church

December 2022: Christmas concert with Cranbrook Town Band

November 2022 – Dvorak , Stabat Mater.

July 2022- Summer concert in Marden Church.

April 2022 – An evening of British Music, which included the wonderful Rutter requiem, and two pieces by Parry.

November 2021 – Handel – Messiah

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Sadly, we had to cancel three concerts due to the pandemic.

April  2020: Spring Concert in St Dunstan’s: Dvorak: Stabat Mater

June 2020: Summer Concert with Cranbrook School – Queen’s Hall Cranbrook School.

Nov 2020: MESSIAH – HANDEL

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15 Feb 2020: Community/Charity Concert  in aid of Hospice in the Weald – Tenterden Church

21 Dec 2019: Christmas Concert with the children from Colliers Green School.

23 November 2019                –              Autumn Concert in St Dunstan’s at 7.30pm

                                                                  Faure: Requiem; plus Vaughan Williams: 5 Mystical Songs

15 June 2019             – Summer Concert – Goudhurst Church

13 April 2019          – Spring Concert

Hummel: Mass in Bb;  plus Mozart: Te Deum in C; Ave Verum

November 2018

ARMISTICE CONCERT IN CONJUNCTION WITH PADDOCK WOOD CHORAL SOCIETY.

This essentially anti-war piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries for the millennium and is very dramatic with the representation of marching feet and the shrill tones of a military band interspersed with many reflective passages.  If you have never heard this work before, you are sure to find it extremely moving and exciting.

As always we had some wonderful top quality professional soloists and orchestra to accompany us with the Jenkins and also to perform some other supporting pieces including the exquisite Serenade for Strings  by Elgar.

It was a stunning evening with an audience of over 400 people. The roof almost lifted off the church !

Thank you to everyone involved and a particular thank you to the singers and choral director of Paddock Wood Choral Society for joining us for such a magnificent evening.

PADDOCK WOOD CHORAL: http:/pwcs3.weebly.com

 

The orchestra opened the evening with Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings” and this was followed by Tippett’s “Five Spirituals” sung unaccompanied..  After a very short interval, the Jenkins’ “Armed Man” was performed.  Our soloists were Rebekah Smith, Soprano, George Bartle, Tenor, and Will Pate, Bass.  The first half was conducted by Jeffery Gray, Music Director for Cranbrook and the second half by Kevin Ashman, Music Director for Paddock Wood.  This concert also welcomed Dr Hafiz Upmani, Imam of Maidstone Mosque who sang the traditional Call to Prayer which is the second movement of the “Armed Man”.

We filled the church with over 400 people and it was a truely memorable and wonderful evening.

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Summer Concert June 23 , 2018

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HANDEL – ALEXANDER’S FEAST – April 2018

For our Spring Concert Cranbrook’s fine 100 voice choir were joined by wonderful professional soloists

 

Cranbrook Choral Society’s Director of Music Jeffrey Gray will conduct the Cranbrook Sinfonia, a substantial orchestra of mainly professional musicians including former players from major orchestras.

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Dec 2017:Christmas Concert. Wonderful brass and feast of Christmas music, congregational carols and readings.

Brahms German Requiem:  18 November 2017: Cranbrook St Dunstan’s

Gorgeous soloists and a magnificent orchestra accompanied this truely majestic piece. An energetic and high octane sing, but we kept up the stamina and produced a polished and accomplished performance.

Summer ConcertJune 2017

An evening of  light music accompanied by the choirs of Colliers Green Primary School and  Marlborough House School, with wonderful solo performances including  BBC Chorister of the Year 2016 Edward Hyde.

 Spring Concert – 29 April 2017 – Rutter: Gloria – Cranbrook St Dunstan’s 

This was a highly successful evening with a fabulous brass and organ orchestra. We sang our hearts out – it was great!

Haydn: The Seasons  19 November 2016 : Cranbrook St Dunstans 

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The photos below were taken at the afternoon rehearsal prior to our November concert. We spend the Saturday afternoon before a concert running through with orchestra and soloists. It’s an exciting and buzzy time before we all get ‘glammed up’ for the evening event.

 

 

 

 

PAST CONCERTS:

Please click on the link to view all past CDCS concerts.

cdcs-past-concerts