Students from the University of Liverpool Chamber Choir have recently returned from a hugely successful concert tour of Belgium.
25 members of the choir took part in the visit, with students representing Schools and Departments from across the University. They were accompanied by three members of Music Department staff; Louise Ellinson (Choral Director), Dr Ruth Minton, and Dr Sarah Price.
During their visit, the choir performed at four very different venues, providing the students with valuable opportunities to enhance their expertise and abilities in diverse acoustics and showcase a wide repertoire to a range of audiences.
The first concert was in the stunning surroundings of St Salvator’s Cathedral in Bruges; the second was at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) in De Panne on the coast, the third took place at Talbot House in Poperinge, and the final performance was a moving experience at the daily Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.
In addition to the concerts, the students visited the Talbot House Museum, Tyne Cot Cemetery (the biggest war cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world), and In Flanders Fields museum in Ypres. They also visited the Choco Story and undertook a boat trip through Bruges. There tour also provided time for the students to soak up the culture of Belgium, and also to bond with each other: an important factor in improving a choir’s ensemble sound.
Louise Ellinson, Choral Director, said: “Belgium has a plethora of beautiful venues with wonderful acoustics for choral singing, and a steady stream of audience members as concerts are very much a part of everyday life for many people over there.”
“The choir sang music from the renaissance period right through to the modern day, with composers as diverse as William Byrd and Emma-Lou Diemer. The piano at one of the venues had technical difficulties so two of the students decided to accompany one of the pieces on a guitar and African djembe drum that they found at the venue, which worked surprisingly well!”
The tour was made possible by the very generous contribution from the Alumni and Friends Fund, and also funding from the Music Department.
Get involved
Entry to the choir is by audition and is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students, with auditions held during Welcome Week and the first week of Semester One.
Over the past couple of years, the choir have performed at lunchtime concerts, with the LUMS Symphony Orchestra, with Liverpool Welsh Choral, and in other venues around the city, There are more exciting things in the pipeline for 2023-34.
Any interested singers can email Louise Ellinson for more details.