Choir of Westminster Abbey to sing at prestige Moscow Festival
Wednesday, 12th January 2011
The Choir of Westminster Abbey will sing at a major international choral festival in Moscow next week.
The choir – Choristers and Lay Vicars – will perform a repertoire of music associated with the Abbey, as well as Christmas music, at the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre next Friday, 21st January 2011.
James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers, who will conduct the concert, said:
We shall be performing works by Purcell, Parry and Walton. We shall also include Poulenc’s Four Christmas Motets and other seasonal music.
The Choir will fly out to Moscow next Wednesday and return on Saturday 22 January.
James O’Donnell will be President of the Royal College of Organists for the next two years.
James, who has a distinguished career as a conductor and as an organ recitalist, joined the Abbey ten years ago from Westminster Cathedral where he was Master of Music
He has worked with many of the country’s leading orchestras and ensembles and in 2004 was appointed Associate Music Director of St. James’s Baroque. He is also much in demand as an organist, having appeared in concert in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, throughout Europe, and at the Royal Festival Hall and the BBC Proms. He is Visiting Professor of Organ at the Royal Academy of Music.
The Royal College of Organists was established in 1864 and received a Royal Charter in 1893.
James O'Donnell said this week:
The College exists to further the art of organ playing and choral direction.
It also awards diplomas following a demanding examination in keyboard skills as well as academic work such as harmony and composition.
