October 18 @ 5:15 pm – 7:15 pm
This concert forms the climax of a day when we celebrate the life and music of Dr Simon Lindley (1948-2025).
It features some of the glorious music with which he had an especially close connection: works by Vaughan Williams, JS Bach, Elgar, Bairstow and Harris, and then Part I of Handel’s Messiah concluding with the epic Hallelujah chorus.
We are delighted that Simon’s friends and family will be in attendance.
On-line booking is recommended.
The performers will include stars with whom Dr Lindley collaborated extensively: David Greed (formerly leader of the Orchestra of Opera North), Margaret McDonald (international mezzo) and Darius Battiwalla (Leeds City Organist).
The choral singing will be led by St Peter’s Singers and feature the massed voices of a choir drawn together earlier in the day for the occasion, including many singers from the choirs with which Dr Lindley was associated. They will be accompanied by Darius Battiwalla and Lee Ward, and directed by Alexander Woodrow.
Everyone is welcome to this joyous festival of music!
Programme
| I sat down under his shadow | Edward Bairstow |
| The Lark Ascending (excerpt) | Ralph Vaughan Williams |
| Erbarme dich (from the St Matthew Passion) | Johann Sebastian Bach |
| Bring us O Lord God | William Harris |
| The Angel’s Farewell (from The Dream of Gerontius) | Edward Elgar |
| Messiah (Part I and Hallelujah Chorus) | Georg Friedrich Handel |
Margaret McDonald mezzo
David Greed violin
Darius Battiwalla organ
Lee Ward organ
St Peter’s Singers
Come and Sing for Simon choir
Alexander Woodrow conductor
Doors will open at 4.45pm.
There will be a short comfort break before Messiah, and the concert is expected to conclude at about 7.15pm.
Seating and Accommodation
Please note that due to the logistical considerations of accommodating a choir of 200 or more singers in Leeds Minster’s space, the choir will occupy the ground floor of the nave. The audience for this concert will be seated in or between the choir stalls, on the raised space in front of the altar, and in the galleries above the nave. These are good places from an acoustical point of view, but some seats may not afford uninterrupted sightlines. As with all our concerts, seats are not reserved and are taken on a first-come-first-served basis.
Welcome
St Peter’s Singers are passionate about the music we sing and want to share it with as many people as possible. We will do all we can to make anyone who comes to our concerts feel welcome and at ease. So if you’ve not tried this music out before, why not come along and bring a friend? Leeds Minster is an accessible venue with good facilities. Everyone is welcome. What to expect at a St Peter’s Singers concert.
Would like to sing ?
Find out how to participate in the Come and Sing
You may also be interested in…
Gala Organ recital in memory of Dr Lindley on Saturday 18 October 12.30pm
JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (Parts I-III) on Saturday 22 November 7.30pm
Access and Accessibility
Leeds Minster is about 5 minutes walk from Leeds Bus Station, and about 15 minutes walk from Leeds Railway Station. There is on-street parking on the side streets nearby, as well as the NCP Markets carpark (5 minutes) and the John Lewis carpark (10 minutes).
There is ramp access to the main doors beneath the tower, with entrance to the grounds at the West End by the Lamb and Flag pub recommended to avoid the steps up from the street level. Once inside there there is step-free access to the concert seating and to the City of Leeds Room for refreshments and toilets. Wheelchairs and mobility devices are welcome and can be accommodated.
Artists
Margaret McDonald
Margaret McDonald ( Maggie ) is a renowned international mezzo-soprano and voice-coach. She sings regularly in major venues with leading conductors and orchestras both in the UK and abroad, encompassing an extensive repertoire. She has sung on the operatic stage for Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera, Opera North, ENO, Scottish Opera and Opera Go Round, CBTO and Chelsea Opera to name but a few. She has recorded works for Nimbus, Marco Polo and the BBC, including Scottish débuts of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Jacobite Rising and Sea Elegy, and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius in Latvia! She has sung for the Royal family at Windsor castle and Braemar, and in the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
Maggie enjoys planning and presenting recitals, on different themes, including a range of repertoire from different genre. Her most recent recital was with David Jones at the piano, which opened up her world of synaesthesia. It showed how she experiences sounds, musical notation, numbers and letters, in colours and textures. The audience could watch the colours Maggie “sees” on two screens linked to a computer programme – while she sang a range of repertoire creating a real multi–media experience!
Maggie now combines her singing schedule with her Vocal Consultancy work – being in demand for master-classes, workshops and examining. She has taught at Chetham’s School of Music, the Scottish Conservatoire and the RNCM (where she indeed studied) and is the vocal coach for the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and the Hallé Choir. This year, she is also delighted to accept the position of Patron with the Bury Choral Society.
When she has any free time, Maggie loves to meet up with family and friends, as well as enjoying playing the church organ, cooking, swimming and driving.
David Greed
David Greed held the position of Leader of the Orchestra of Opera North for 44 years from 1978.
His solo and concerto repertoire is extensive and he has appeared with most of the regions orchestras as concerto soloist.
He has also been engaged as guest leader with orchestras throughout the country – including the Philharmonia, Royal Opera, Halle, Royal Liverpool, CBSO, BBC Scottish and BBC Philharmonic orchestras.
He has been violin tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of GB, Chetham’s School and European Union Youth Orchestra.
He has recorded VW’s ‘The Lark Ascending’ on the Naxos label with the Orchestra of Opera North and also the Elgar Concerto with Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra.
He is Music Director of the Sinfonia of Leeds and the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra.
Darius Battiwalla
Darius took up the post of Leeds City Organist in 2017, programming the very successful Town Hall recital series and giving regular solo concerts. He is currently overseeing the renewal of the Leeds Town Hall organ. Recent performances include the recitals at the Cathedrals of Coventry, Lincoln, Ripon, and St Albans, as well as appearances with Collegium Vocale Gent in Ghent and Amsterdam, and the annual recital for the Royal College of Organists conferment of diplomas.
In 2024 he was part of the premiere of a new work for four organs by James Wood commemorating the Great Storm of 1674, to be performed simultaneously by organists across Europe. He has recently released a CD, recorded by audiophile label Base2 Music, including the Whitlock Sonata and works by Fela Sowande and Percy Grainger.He has appeared as soloist with the Halle and London Philharmonic Orchestras, and is a regular orchestral organist and pianist for the BBC Philharmonic and Halle orchestras.
As a pianist, he gives regular chamber concerts with members of the Manchester orchestras, and on the harpsichord he has played continuo with many UK orchestras, and performed and broadcast harpsichord concertos: most recently soloist in Frank Martin’s Harpsichord Concerto for the Northern Ballet Theatre.
Lee Ward
Lee Ward is a Leeds based organist, harpsichordist, conductor and teacher. He has had a rewarding career in schools, churches and cathedrals in the UK and Brazil including most recently at the University of Liverpool. There he lectured in classical music performance and was a collaborative pianist and harpsichordist, working with student and professional singers and players.
He originally studied organ at the Royal College of Music as a Foundation Scholar, where he won all the organ prizes. He has given recitals in many cathedrals and town halls in the UK and abroad and has recorded and broadcast as soloist and accompanist including for the service of Beatification of Cardinal Newman in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI.
He specialises in harpsichord with a particular interest in that of the twenty first century. He enjoys playing continuo on organ and harpsichord and has worked with Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal (OSM) and Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) in Brazil and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and other northern chamber orchestras. He continues to play the organ, accompany soloists and direct choirs on a freelance basis.
