2011

Cheltenham Festival 2011:
July 6th, 2011, Tewkesbury Abbey - 'To the Power of Three': Following the tremendous reception given to the group's Monteverdi Vespers in 2010, the Magdalena Consort has been invited back to perform an all-Bach programme. It takes as its theme Bach's fascination with numbers and the frequent significance of the Number 3. This programme will include the all-time favourite cantatas BWV 147 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben' (with the chorale known as 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring') and BWV 78 'Jesu, der du meine Seele', with the Brandenburg Concerto No.3, for 3 violins, 3 violas and 3 cellos. The soloists will be Julia Doyle, Robin Blaze, James Gilchrist and Peter Harvey. This concert will be broadcast (very aptly) Live on BBC Radio 3. (Cheltenham Festivals: website / Box office - 01242 505 444)

Forde Abbey:
September 15th, 2011, Forde Abbey, Dorset: A varied programme of instrumental and vocal works by Bach, Buxtehude and Schütz, with Elin Manahan Thomas and Peter Harvey as soloists, to include the solo cantatas for soprano and bass voices, 'Ich bin vergnügt in meinem Glücke' and 'Ich habe genug', respectively. Also to be performed is the delicious chaconne 'Herr, wenn ich nur dich habe' by Buxtehude, while the concert opens with Schütz's 'Es steh Gott auf' for both singers, which concludes with a sacred adaptation of Monteverdi's famously jaunty 'Zefiro torna'. (Forde Abbey Concert Society: website / tel 01460 220231 Mon to Fri, 9am-5pm)

Cranbourne Farm Concert Society:
16th September, 2011, Upper Cranbourne Farm, Sutton Scotney, Hants: A rural repeat of the programme given in Forde Abbey. (Sold out)

2010

Sopron Early Music Days:
June 21st, 2010, Sopron, Hungary: 'The Ages of Man' - J.S. Bach cantatas and other, smaller-scale works marking the various stages of human life, ending with Cantata 150, to which Brahms paid homage in his Fourth Symphony. Solists were Julia Doyle, Robin Blaze, Julian Podger and Peter Harvey (Sopron 'Early Music Days')

International Istanbul Music Festival:
June 24th, 2010, Sureyya Opera House, Istanbul, Turkey: a programme based around two of Bach's solo cantatas for bass voice (see 'Ich habe genug') presented as chamber-music.(International Istanbul Music Festival)

Cheltenham Festival 2010:
July 8th, 2010, Tewkesbury Abbey - Monteverdi's 'Vespers of 1610': a concert to mark the 400th anniversary of this iconic work. The solo line up will include sopranos Elin Manahan-Thomas and Julia Doyle, and tenors James Gilchrist and Charles Daniels.