Sunday 3 February 2013 2:00PM Be a Chorister! Day The nationally acclaimed choirs of All Saints are opening their doors to Boys in years 3 to 6 and Girls in years 5 to 8 for a fantastic afternoon of fun, music and games! Up to forty children can attend the event, which runs from 2:00pm to 6:45pm. The day includes singing games, designing t-shirts, learning about the programme of international tours and recordings, and finding out what a Chorister really does. Snacks are provided, and at the end of the day the children sing Evensong with the combined Boys’ & Girls’ Choirs – parents are extremely welcome! Please call the Music Department on 01604 632845 to reserve a place. Thursday 7 February 2013 1:10PM Lunchtime Live! Anniversary Time The Director of Music gives a recital of organ music from composers who celebrate anniversaries this year – expect to hear the music of composers such as Paul Hindemith, Gabriel Pierné, Simon Preston, Francis Poulenc, Henry Thomas Smart and Richard Wagner – but no Britten, just yet! Admission FREE with retiring collection. Wednesday 13 February 2013 6:00PM Ash Wednesday with Allegri’s Miserere Each year the choirs perform Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus, for Ash Wednesday, and this year it sees the turn of the choir of girls and men to lead our singing. This setting is the last of twelve settings composed and chanted in the Sistine Chapel since 1514. At some point it became forbidden to transcribe the music and it was allowed to be performed only at particular services, adding to the mystery of the piece. Famously, Mozart is said to have transcribed the work, and the setting with its soaring top Cs, is said to be related to his transcription. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, and derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. The ashes used are typically gathered after the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. All are welcome. Thursday 14 February 2013 (and five Thursdays following) 1:10PM Sermon-Sonnet-Song A series of six midweek meditations given by Dr David McConkey, exploring the prophecies of Isaiah and the metaphysical poetry of John Donne. Dr McConkey is the Parish Priest at All Saints, having previously served in the United States and Zimbabwe. He is a graduate of Yale University and holds a PhD in Church History from the Graduate Theological Union. He will be joined at each meditation by acclaimed tenor Philip Slane and pianist Lee Dunleavy, who will perform Donne’s Holy Sonnets in the settings by Benjamin Britten (in the centenary year of the composer’s birth). Admission FREE with retiring collection. More information about the Sermon-Sonnet-Song Series can be found here. Saturday 23 February 2013 1:10PM Lunchtime Live! Duo Piccolo e Grande Presenting a programme of rare baroque works, Duo Piccolo e Grande comprises Enzo Puzzovio on baroque mandolino and hurdy-gurdy with Stewart McCoy playing lute and theorbo. Composers represented in the concert include Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Corrette. Admission FREE with retiring collection. More information about the Duo Piccolo e Grande Concert can be found here. Wednesday 6 March 2013 1:10PM Lunchtime Live! Bach for Solo Violin Andrew Maddick, graduate of the Freiburg Academy and member of the Orchestra of the Swan performs unaccompanied solo violin music by Johann Sebastian Bach in the church whose acoustics were so admired by Yehudi Menuhin. Admission FREE with retiring collection. More information about the Bach for Solo Violin Concert can be found here. Please note that the usual monthly organ recital will not be given on Thursday 7 March, when the Sermon-Sonnet-Song series of midweek meditations will continue. More information about the this series can be found here. Sunday 31 March 2013 10:30AM & 3:00PM Opera for Easter and Hymn Festival The combined choirs of Boys, Girls and Men sing the Mass of Easter Day to Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and Mascagni’s Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana. This should be a most rousing and joyous way to celebrate the great Feast of Easter. Later in the day the choir of Boys and Men lead an Easter Hymn Festival. All are welcome! Sunday 14 April 2013 11:45AM & 6:00PM Choirs in Residence at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford Immediately after their Easter break, the choir of Boys and Men visit Oxford for the first time in a number of years to sing at the services of Choral Eucharist and Choral Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford. The Cathedral is uniquely, the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. It is also recognisable as the background to many of the Harry Potter films (as is the Great Hall of the College, located just next door to the Cathedral). All welcome.