Portal to Paradise

Former Music Director Alastair Carey returns from the United Kingdom to direct our next performance. Portal to Paradise will explore the transition from mortality to eternity featuring works by Tomkins, Lôbo and Howells.

Beginning with the stark simplicity of Thomas Tomkins's Funeral Sentences, the concert includes 17th Century Portuguese composer Duarte Lôbo’s Missa pro defunctis, Johannes Brahms's rich motet Warum ist das Licht gegeben, and Herbert Howells's ethereal Requiem.

The tragic death of Herbert Howells’ son Michael at the age of nine inspired him to write his radiant setting of the Requiem, an intensely personal work that was not released for publication until 1980, and is now an established masterpiece in the choral repertoire.

"These four remarkable works explore the idea of 'lux perpetua' - eternal light; its symbolism, its connection to eternity and the divine, and its power to console and uplift us in time of loss", explains Alastair. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to return to The Tudor Consort to conduct this beautiful programme, and I can't wait to see you all again very soon".

Since leaving New Zealand in 2007, Alastair has performed, recorded and broadcast with some of the United Kingdom and Europe's top choral ensembles, including The Gabrieli Consort, I Fagiolini, and The Oxford Camerata. As a conductor, he has directed more than 200 concerts throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and Oceania, including award-winning performances at the European Grand Prix and the World Choir Games. He currently directs professional, student and amateur choirs in Salisbury, Cambridge and London.

Alastair has a particular interest in sacred vocal performance and has performed extensively with the choirs of Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a lay clerk. He studied choral conducting with Stephen Layton at Cambridge and ensemble performance with Anthony Rooley at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland.

This performance is the third concert in The Tudor Consort's 30th anniversary series.

Programme

This concert was part of the 2016 Performance Series.