Belfast Philharmonic Choir
Ulster Orchestra
James Grossmith conductor

Mary McCabe Soprano
Cicely Hé Mezzo-Soprano
Aaron O’Hare Tenor
Brendan Collins Baritone

Belfast Philharmonic Choir is joined by the Ulster Orchestra and guest soloists supported by Northern Ireland Opera to open the 2023/24 Season with the Belfast première of Stanford’s Requiem, commemorating the centenary of the Irish composer’s death. Chorus Director James Grossmith conducts what will be a wonderful night of music in the Ulster Hall.

Fans of Fauré’s Requiem and, indeed, of Stanford’s sea songs will thoroughly enjoy this masterful work – from the stormy, tempestuous drama of the Dies irae sequence to the gentle, reflective calm of the Requiem aeternam and the transcendent, soaring rapture of the Sanctus, his Requiem is a rich, warm and uplifting setting of the Mass.

A devoted student of Brahms, whose influence can be heard throughout the work, Stanford also studied Verdi’s Requiem in the years before he wrote this piece and you can sense that inspiration in his intricately crafted writing for the soloists. We are delighted to be joined for this performance by a fantastic team of local guest soloists in Mary McCabe (Soprano), Cicely Hé (Mezzo-Soprano), Aaron O’Hare (Tenor) and Brendan Collins (Baritone).

Stanford composed a diverse range of work, from opera and art songs through sea-songs to his well-known church music, but for all that his Requiem, a core work in his output, is little-known and has rarely been performed in a full concert setting. This is the first performance of his Requiem in Belfast and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir is pleased to begin the 2023/24 season by introducing this wonderful and far too long neglected work to audiences in the city.