Concert - Corvus Consort & Louise Thomson, choir & harp

Programme (on occasion, the artists may make minor changes to the published programme)

Imogen Holst Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow, 1st movement

Judith Weir We sekyn here rest

Olivia Sparkhall Lux aeterna

Hilary Campbell Our endless day

Caroline Lizotte La Madone

Elizabeth Poston An English Day-Book

Elizabeth Poston Jesus Christ the apple tree

Howard Skempton Into this world, this day did come

Peter Maxwell Davies The Fader of Heven

Trad. Ther is no rose of swych vertu

Benjamin Britten Ceremony of Carols
Listen to music from this programme on Spotify HERE

Corvus Consort's upper voices join with harpist Louise Thomson to present a festive concert, featuring music celebrating women's voices from their acclaimed album ‘Welcome Joy’ alongside Benjamin Britten's iconic Ceremony of Carols.

The first half of the programme comprises a selection of music from ‘Welcome Joy’, which was released in 2024 on Chandos Records. A celebration of women’s voices, both as singers and composers, the album received five stars from BBC Music Magazine, who also named it one of their ’13 best classical albums of 2024’.

Imogen Holst’s characterful Keats setting Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow opens the programme, before a set of beautiful works by living composers Judith Weir, Olivia Sparkhall and Hilary Campbell, all commissioned by Multitude of Voyces as part of a project to mark International Women’s Day in 2019. Caroline Lizotte’s La Madone for solo harp then provides a harmonic bridge to Elizabeth Poston’s remarkable An English Day-Book, a cycle of eleven short movements charting the course of a day in the English countryside, packed with strikingly vivid depictions of bells, clocks, songbirds, owls, and a mischievous bumblebee.

The second half is where things get festive, opening with a selection of a cappella Christmas pieces by Elizabeth Poston, Howard Skempton and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as the medieval carol Ther is no rose of swych vertu. Harp and voices will also sound together in the magical Peace on Earth by current Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen.

Finally Corvus and Louise will perform Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, undoubtedly the most famous composition that exists for women’s voices and harp. Mirroring Poston’s cycle at the end of the first half, the Ceremony of Carols also consists of eleven movements, in this case setting a series of medieval carol texts, with perfectly judged musical moods shifting between the lyrical, poignant, and joyful. It is one of the best-loved works in the English Christmas repertory, and will bring the concert to a fabulous festive close.

Freddie Crowley - Conductor

Louise Thomson - Harp

Ailsa Campbell - Soprano

Alice Beverley -Soprano

Clover Willis - Soprano

Hannah Littleton - Soprano

Sumei Bao-Smith - Soprano

Ellie Stamp - Alto

Helena Paish - Alto

Izzi Blain - Alto

Lily Robson - Alto

Watch a video of the Corvus Consort and Louise Thomson HERE

'Dazzling … under its founder-director Freddie Crowley, Corvus Consort is always full of fresh thinking.'

BBC Music Magazine

TICKETS

Adult single ticket £20. You do not need to print out your Eventbrite tickets.

Tickets for 18 and under are FREE on the door on the night of the concert.

Season ticket - BUY a season ticket for only £80 - only £13.30 per concert - find out more here.

Tickets will be on sale online from 1st September 2026 until 2 hours before the concert. You can also purchase tickets, in person, from Morpeth Tourist Information.

Any remaining tickets will be available on the door on the night of the concert.

Refund policy - you can request a refund via Eventbrite up to 24 hours before the concert.