Hear The Angels Sing

Posted on by St Peters Singers of Leeds

Christmas Greetings from St Peter’s Singers!

This message comes with our warmest wishes of goodwill, comfort and joy to you as Christmas approaches. We hope most sincerely that you are able to celebrate it this year as you would wish.

For many of us, Christmas would not be Christmas without hearing a choir singing carols and other beautiful seasonal music. This important chance to remind ourselves what really matters was denied us all last year. Like many other aspects of the pandemic, we have no wish to repeat that grim experience.

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So St Peter’s Singers will be giving a festive concert of carols and other heavenly music at Leeds Minster on Friday 17 December at 7.30pm.

A glass of wine or juice will be served in the interval.

Why not take this opportunity leave behind the noise for a short while and hear the angels sing!

The concert will finish by 9pm

The programme

Happily, touching base with this Christmas tradition is not an exercise in pure nostalgia. Composers of today continually find new and often captivating things to say. And so this treasure trove, liberally stocked with music from a rich and ancient tradition, is continually being renewed. Our programme will feature some of the better works composed in recent times mixed with traditional carols and well-known arrangements.

This will be a feast. Popular arrangements of traditional English carols such The Holly and the Ivy, The Sussex Carol, and We wish you a Merry Christmas, will join with with Edgar Pettman’s deceptively simple arrangements of two traditional Basque carols.

These will be complemented by John Rutter’s Dormi Jesu, John Tavener’s The Lamb, Will Todd’s My Lord has come, James MacMillan’s O Radiant Dawn, and Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, all recent works by contemporary composers and stunningly beautiful in their different ways. There will be carols for everyone to sing, and more besides. Alex Woodrow directs, with David Houlder at the organ.

Covid precautions

From a Covid security perspective, Leeds Minster is a large, airy and well-ventilated building with plenty of seating in which you can space out, while the choir will be singing at the far (East) end of the church. It is now Government policy to require the wearing of masks indoors. And to make the event as safe as possible for everybody, we would also suggest taking a lateral flow test before coming if you can.

We look forward very much to welcoming you.

Please note: should Government advice on Covid-19 force us to cancel the concert, we will fully refund the price of purchased tickets.

Welcome, Alex !

Posted on by St Peters Singers of Leeds
IMG 3464 - Welcome, Alex !

We are delighted to welcome Alex Woodrow as our new Director of Music.

Alex is a musician of the highest quality, with a passion for choral and organ music. He has a strong record as both organist and choral director.

Born in York in 1986, Alex read music as Organ Scholar at Magdalene College, Cambridge, studying with Anne Page. He became Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the age of 19, winning first prizes in all categories. He is a Fellow of Trinity College London and recipient of the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

Alex is a distinguished recitalist, and has regularly broadcast on BBC Radio and Television. He has performed in many of the major churches and cathedrals of the UK. York Minster, King’s College, Cambridge, and Westminster Abbey are among the prestigious venues where he has played.

Career

After graduating, Alex progressed to positions at Guildford Cathedral, St Albans Cathedral and Hexham Abbey. While at Hexham he directed the chamber choir Cappella Novocastriensis and founded his own ensemble Suspirans.

In 2011 Alex took up the position of Organist and Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral. At that time he was the youngest cathedral organist in the country. His tenure was distinguished by substantial restoration of the choral foundation at the cathedral, including the re-establishment of a boys choir and the nurture of many young musicians. After almost five years there, he moved on to be Head of Choral Music at Solihull School.

Alex returned to West Yorkshire in 2020 following his appointment as Organist and Director of Music at Leeds Minster, while retaining a role at Solihull teaching keyboard. To these roles he will now add the position with St Peter’s Singers.

On joining St Peter’s Singers

Alex writes:

“I am delighted to have been appointed as Director of Music of the St. Peter’s Singers of Leeds. Since its inception, St Peter’s Singers has developed a strong and visible reputation within the North of England for excellent music, high choral standards and inspired programming. As we resume our musical activities once more, I am greatly looking forward to our music-making in the months and years to come as we continue to be a firm and enriching presence within the cultural life of Leeds and Yorkshire. As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, it will be a privilege to reconnect with our longstanding supporters and patrons, while sharing something of the beauty, majesty and breadth of the choral repertoire with new listeners.”  

We extend the warmest welcome to Alex, and look forward to starting a new era under his leadership.

Farewell to Dr Simon Lindley

Dr Lindley’s retirement brings to a close a remarkable era spanning some 44 years. During that time he built up the choir from its foundation in 1977 to the versatile, skilled and enterprising ensemble of the present day, well-known to music lovers throughout Leeds and the West Riding. A charismatic and knowledgeable musician and speaker, Dr Lindley’s persuasive advocacy of a wide range of choral music will be greatly missed by singers and audiences alike. We send him our grateful thanks and every good wish for a long and peaceful retirement.