New Musical Director to feature at Choral Society's Stoller Hall concert

Oldham Choral Society will be performing Mendelssohn’s dramatic and beautiful oratorio Elijah at the Stoller Hall on Sunday, April 30.

Elijah was given its premiere in Birmingham in 1846 to an ecstatic audience of 2,000 people.

It had taken Mendelssohn some ten years to prepare, including penning most of the libretto himself.

It was very much the ‘Messiah’ of its day: hugely popular, cementing Mendelssohn’s position as one of the greatest composers of sacred music.

This will the Oldham Society’s first concert under the inspirational baton of new musical director, Dr David Cane.

David has a Ph.D. in Musicology from the Royal Northern College of Music, and previously was a boy chorister at Leicester Cathedral and a choral scholar at King’s College Cambridge.

After achieving a Cambridge degree in Theology and Religious Studies, he undertook three years of postgraduate vocal studies at the RNCM.

He has experience as a solo performer (he has a fine baritone voice), teacher of singing, piano and music theory and as a choral director.

Oldham Choral Society has a fine line-up of professional soloists for this performance.

The role of Elijah is sung by baritone Terence Ayebare.

Terence stepped aside from a career in electrical engineering to study voice and piano at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

He is an experienced opera singer and soloist with orchestras and choral societies.

Alongside his music-making, Terence teaches mathematics at a Grammar school in Trafford.

Rita Wood will be the soprano soloist.

She began her music studies in Nova Scotia, Canada, where she was raised.

She holds a Master’s degree in Music in Performance and Literature from the University of Western Ontario, and recently completed the International Artist Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Rita has performed a wide range of operatic roles and has received several scholarships and prizes for excellence in music.

Cumbrian mezzo-soprano Emma Stannard (pictured above) has sung many operatic roles and is an experienced performer on the concert platform.

Emma has a wealth of experience singing oratorio repertoire and has sung with choral societies across England.

She trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and on the Royal Academy Opera Course.

She has won the Bampton Classical Opera Competition, the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Award and the Audrey Strange Memorial Award at the final of the Royal Overseas League Vocal competition.

The tenor soloist is Brian McNamee.

Brian is an operatic tenor, music teacher and conductor from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Having initially grown up as a guitarist playing pop, rock and Irish music, Brian was encouraged by his jazz guitarist uncle to have some singing lessons...very quickly a love of opera was born.

Brian has performed internationally as a freelance operatic tenor appearing in operas and musicals across the world.

His oratorio performances include Handel's Messiah and Ode's for Saint Cecilia's Day, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Elijah.

Alongside his opera career, Brian’s love of Irish music has never diminished.

While at home in Northern Ireland he is the assistant Musical Director of the Omagh Community Youth Choir, a cross community youth project set up in the aftermath of the Omagh bombing to promote peace through music.

The choir will perform with the National Festival Orchestra, a well-regarded professional ensemble led by Sally Robinson.

Based in the North of England, the NFO is one of the country’s leading concert and theatre orchestras.

Oldham Choral Society will be performing at the Stoller Hall, which is on Hunts Bank in Manchester (M3 1DA).

Tickets are £16, or £10 for full-time students, available from the OCS Ticket Secretary on 0161 797 3583, and (plus a £1 booking fee) from the Stoller Hall Box Office, 0333 130 0967, open 2-4 pm Tuesday – Thursday, and for one hour before performance.

The concert begins at 7pm on Sunday, April 30.

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