Magnificat Performance has crowd on its feet!

On Saturday 21^st May, the College was delighted to welcome back live audiences to share some wonderful performances from the Ellesmere College Choral Society and Ellesmere Sinfonia – both community ensembles. We were also delighted to welcome Shrewsbury Cantata Choir to join with us for this musical celebration in St Oswald's Chapel.

The Magnificat, the canticle of the Virgin Mary, is found in the opening chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, the point where Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth after learning that she is to be the mother of Christ. Traditionally, the words have been ascribed to Mary, through their strong resemblance to the Old Testament Song of Hannah and to various psalms makes it more likely that Luke himself interpolated them to express an appropriate sense of rejoicing and trust in God.

The programme was designed to be uplifting and joyous and with performances of two short anthems by John Rutter, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and For the Beauty of the Earth by the choirs.

It was then the turn of Ellesmere Sinfonia, an orchestra made up of students and members of the local community who performed under the direction of Ed Wadon. They performed Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 and an arrangement of Gershwin's Lady Be Good. The stylish arrangement of the latter took us to the interval.

The second half consisted of the Choirs and a chamber ensemble performing the Magnificat by John Rutter – an eclectic piece that fuses Latin rhythms with plainsong chant and everything in between. The performance was conducted by Director of Music Anthony Coupe and was fizzing with energy from the start. Performed with skill and expression with Gemma King adding expressive solos, the performance ended with a standing ovation.

Since the event, numerous good wishes and comments have come in from those who were lucky enough to attend and experience such a special performance, some of these are shared below. 

Wow! What a performance. I felt privileged to be in the company of the choir. David A

The concert went really well, and the standing ovation at the end said it all. Keith S

Thank you for all the efforts you put in to make singing the Rutter Magnificat with you on Saturday night so enjoyable. It really is a wonderful piece of music and, as you said in your intro, it's written in such a positive way - and don't we all need that right now Roger C

Many congratulations again on Saturday's concert.  My word, they made a good sound!  Gerry H

Magnificent Magnificat - what a wonderful time we had yesterday at Ellesmere Jen G

After all the months hard work I think you could say it went down a storm. The audience loved it, the choirs loved singing it, the soloist was heavenly and the accompanists were wonderful. We fairly raised the roof! John R

This marks the end of the year for Ellesmere College Choral Society. If you are interested in joining the choir or Ellesmere Sinfonia please contact Anthony Coupe: tony.coupe@ellesmere.com

To watch a selection of excerpts from the concert please visit: Magnificat Concert 2022

26th May 2022  Back to News