DURHAM - 17 April 2008 - 320 words
Sculptures inspire new music for Ushaw
A new piece of music inspired by the work of Northern sculptor Fenwick Lawson will be premiered to celebrate the bicentenary of Ushaw College.
Tim Harrison, Director of Music at Ushaw College, has composed two new works that will be performed for the first time during a series of concerts at Ushaw between April and June. Gloria will be played at the opening concert on April 26, and The Risen Christ inspired by five of Fenwick Lawson's sculptures will have its debut on Saturday, May 17.
Tim Harrison said: "I was asked what I could do for this festival. We had just had Fenwick Lawson at Ushaw talking about his sculptures, so I asked his permission to write something inspired by them. He was delighted by the idea. They are some of his darker works, but there's a ray of hope, too. The piece is not only about the sculptures themselves, and the act of creating them hacking at large pieces of wood with a chainsaw, so there will be a whole lot of percussion but most importantly how they reflect humanity."
The works that inspire The Risen Christ The Condemned, The Burning Bush, The Scream, The Hostage, and The Weeping Women are all currently on display at Ushaw, and will be used as part of the performance. The concert will feature the choir Palatinate Voices, conducted by Keith Wright, the sub-organist at Durham Cathedral, with Philip Watson on percussion. The programme includes music from the renaissance and Tippett's spirituals from "A Child of our Time".
The series of six concerts begins on Saturday, April 26, with the Grand Opening Gala Concert, a combined event featuring Ushaw Singers, Bede Wind Philharmonic and Bede Chorus. As well as the premiere of Tim Harrison's Gloria, it will also feature the first performance of O Clap Your Hands by Ernest Young. The rest of the concert is made up of a selection of folk music and period pieces.
Saturday, May 3, will feature the Durham Singers, conducted by Julian Wright, the Bishop of Durham Tom Wright's son. On Thursday, May 15, there is Music to Dine for an evening of guitar music and poetry to accompany dinner in the magnificent surroundings of Ushaw. May 30 will be a performance by organist Emma Gibbins, former organ scholar at Pembroke College, Cambridge who is now much sought after as a performer. And finally, on June 4, the Newcastle-based chamber choir, Cappella Novocastriensis, conducted by Peter Coulson, will give a varied programme of vocal masterpieces.
Tim Harrison said: "We hope to be able to appeal to a wide variety of people. Anyone interested in music or sculpture, or who wants to see the college for the first time or enjoy its ambience to have a meal here. There's something for everyone."
Tickets are £8 for adults and
£5 for concessions, free for children under 14 are
available from Kathryn Alderson on 191 373 8579, or bicentenary@ushaw.ac.uk.
The Dinner with concert is £22
© Independent Catholic News 2008
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