Paradise Lost – Teapot Valley Choral Camp

The Teapot Valley Choral Camp Choir is giving its last concert ever on January 19 at 2 pm! "We plan to go out with a bang,” says well-known vocal coach and Chair of the Teapot Summer School Trust, Judy Bellingham. “With a track record of 22 previous concerts put on by choristers from all over New Zealand since 2001, this will be our last hurrah.”

Featuring well-known soloist Moses Mackay, the New Zealand String Quartet, and an 85 voice choir, under the baton of Danish conductor Ebbe Munk, the concert will present a programme called Paradise Lost, about the creation of our earth and human existence.

The centrepiece of the concert is Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation”.Haydn based “The Creation” on John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Haydn composed the work late in his career inspired by Handel’s still popular oratorio concerts in London.The first public performance of The Creation took place in Burg Theatre, Vienna in 1799 and was conducted by Haydn himself. It was a triumphant success and ever since it has been regarded as one of the top master pieces in the world of choir music.

Complementing Haydn‘s work are two other works, one being new, commissioned for this concert, and another composed in 2010 which in a very short time has caught the attention of many choir singers and audiences around the world.The new work commissioned from Auckland composer, Takerei Komene, is entitled “Aku Ringa” (My Hands). The composer chose a traditional Māori kupu (saying) as his text. This kupu is about the life and strength we carry in our own hands: fire, breath, earth, peace, water, dance, thunder, joy.From the other end of the earth comes “Only in Sleep” by Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenwalds. Here the words of American poet Sara Teasdale touch the theme of the beginning of human life – looking back longingly to the wonders and innocence of childhood, but also acknowledging the challenges of keeping these wonders as part of adult life.

GUEST ARTISTS:

For this concert Peter and Gill will be joined by violinist Ursula Evans and cellist James Bush. Get to know them!