St Albans choirs join orchestra for St Cecilia

THREE local choirs and the St Albans Symphony Orchestra will be coming together to perform Verdi s Requiem next Saturday evening, October 17. For more than 50 years the St Albans St Cecilia Festival Society has been bringing together local musical societi

THREE local choirs and the St Albans Symphony Orchestra will be coming together to perform Verdi's Requiem next Saturday evening, October 17.

For more than 50 years the St Albans St Cecilia Festival Society has been bringing together local musical societies to perform classics of the repertoire which need larger forces than any one of the groups can provide.

On Saturday, they will be performing the Requiem in St Albans Abbey, conducted for the first time by John Gibbons.

The local groups taking part are the Hardynge Choir, Radlett Choral Society and St Albans Chamber Choir, together with the symphony orchestra.

The post of conductor is rotated among the conductors of the member organisations and this year it is the turn of John Gibbons of the Chamber Choir.

He has already conducted the Requiem to great acclaim and commented: "This is a wonderful opportunity to do this dramatic Requiem with large forces and to bring my extensive Verdi operatic experience to this great masterpiece with a line-up of soloists who have worked with me in opera."

Society chairman Peter Coult said: "The St Cecilia concerts have been a part of local musical life for more than 50 years. They are not only valuable musical occasions but also give local singers and musicians the opportunity to take part in larger scale works.

"We are particularly pleased to have such a distinguished line-up of soloists including Miriam Murphy who sang Lady Macbeth in the acclaimed production of Macbeth in Holland Park and Elizabeth Sikora who is a principal at Covent Garden this season along with Dominic Natoli and James Oldfield."

Tickets for the Requiem are available from the ticket secretary on 0845 058 3912 or the Abbey Information Desk.