2024 Concert Series
We are excited to announce the Concert Series for 2024, featuring a wonderful mix of our Cathedral musicians, local artists, and international talent.
We are thrilled again to partner with Adelaide Baroque for our Christmas Celebration concerts, and also for the first time to partner with Adelaide Cantata Band for our Good Friday Meditation Concert; and of course our magnificent Cathedral Organ, of which the Cathedral is rightly proud, is an central feature of our program.
The first concert in the series is already announced - The Windborne Singers, a vocal quartet from the USA, who specialise in early polyphony and folk music from across centuries and continents. The Windborne Singers promise to be a unique, unusual and fascinating concert, in our wonderful Cathedral. If you haven’t grabbed a ticket to this yet, now is your chance - Thursday 7th March at 7pm.
March also sees our annual Good Friday Meditation Concert. This is a free concert, and a fixture on the calendar for many at this reflective time. This year, we present the short dramatic cantata “The Denial of St Peter“ by French baroque composer Charpentier. This is paired with a wonderful choral work, the ‘Son of God’ Mass by James Whitbourn. The Cathedral Choir sings a number of excellent anthems by James Whitbourn - his setting of “Were you there?” is a favourite during Holy Week, and the choir recently sang his dramatic carol “The Magi’s Dream” at St Paul’s Cathedral London! The ‘Son of God’ Mass features Choir, Organ, and soprano saxophone - an extraordinary sound in the Cathedral. Friday 29th March at 3pm.
In June, our annual Patronal Festival Organ Recital welcomes Michael Stewart, Director of Music at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, and one of New Zealand’s finest concert organists. Michael will present a wide-ranging program of excellent music, including the great Grande Piéce Symphonique of César Franck, alongside contrasting works by J.S. Bach, Frescobaldi, and more. Saturday 29th June at 2pm.
August sees our Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Consort take centre stage for Angel Voices, in a mixed program of choral music, from chant to exciting new modern works. As part of this program, we will acknowledge that 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of that great mainstay of Anglican choral music, Sir Charles Villers Stanford. Saturday 24th August at 2pm.
In October, two organists share the same organ bench for Organ Fireworks. As lovers of Cathedral music, we of course love organ music - and what could be better than having twice the number of hands and feet! Director of Music Anthony Hunt and guest organist Josh van Konkelenberg team up to present an afternoon that promises to be great fun. Saturday 26th October at 2pm.
Finally, after the enormous success of Handel’s Messiah at Christmas in 2023, we again team Adelaide Baroque Orchestra with the St Peter’s Cathedral Consort, to present Handel’s other great virtuosic choral work, Dixit Dominus. This extraordinary piece of Handel - one might argue he is rather “showing off” in this work! - is paired with that great, dancing and tuneful baroque Christmas piece, the Messe de Minuit (Midnight Mass) by Charpentier. And we also welcome guest soprano Jessica Dean for Handel’s sublime Salve Regina. We hope to see you again at this wonderful Christmas Celebration, conducted by Anthony Hunt. Friday 20th December and Saturday 21st December at 7pm
We look forward very much to seeing you again at St Peter’s Cathedral across the year, to enjoy our wonderful music.
