John Touhey narrator Stephen Tilton musical director Stephen Burrows alto Roland Robertson baritone John Bowen tenor Nicholas Todd tenor John Rowlands-Pritchard bass Occasional members: Julian Stocker tenor Richard Butler tenor Paul Tindall tenor Stephen Taylor alto

Spoken word and sung music. Opus Anglicanum’s 5 men singers and former BBC reader John Touhey present their unique sequences on literary, biographical, historical, meditative, and social topics. Founded in 1988 they continue to perform regularly, commission new music, record, and give workshops. Opus Anglicanum has worked with Winchester Early Music Festival, National Trust, Southern Cathedrals Festival, Warwick Arts, English Heritage, Chelmsford Cathedral Festival , Three Choirs Festival Gloucester, Bude Festival, Festival de Wallonie, Radio 3, Stour Music, and Berry Bros & Rudd of St James. Workshops in Gregorian Chant have been given for Ely Cathedral choir, Durham Cathedral choir, Exeter Cathedral choir, Chester Cathedral choir, Salisbury Cathedral choir, Chichester Cathedral choir, RSCM Devon, RSCM Essex, for festivals, general groups and for OA’s ‘Music in Rural Churches’ scheme. New work has been commissioned from Judith Bingham, Gabriel Jackson, Malcolm Archer, Patrick Larley, Howard Skempton, David Bednall, and Sally Beamish.

Sample Programme:

Love’s Music: The extraordinary and dramatic story told by Shakespeare’s sonnets as a context for songs from the plays and madrigals by Morley, Ward, Dowland, Johnson and others; and with a specially commissioned setting by young new composer David Bednall.

Education:

Workshops in Gregorian Chant and Traditional English Folk Song, either stand-alone or in conjunction with a group concert in which participants join. Led by John Rowlands-Pritchard who has led courses for English Heritage, Adult Residential Colleges, RSCM and the cathedral choirs of Salisbury, Chichester, Durham, Chester, Exeter and Ely. OA Trust’s project Music in Rural Churches has taken the group’s teaching and performing work to rural communities across the country.

Recordings:

The Canterbury Pilgrims 1995; Mediaeval Carols 1997; The Seeds of Love - Collecting English Folk Music 1997; The Garden 2000; Figgy Pudding 2001; The Journey 2005; Green and Pleasant Land 2005; Bede 2006; Mediaeval Carols 2 2006

Performances:

13 May 07 Newbury Spring Festival
21 Jul 07 Southern Cathedrals Festival
25 Sep 07 Windsor Festival

Contact:

John Rowlands-Pritchard,
92 St Thomas Street, Wells BA5 2UZ

Tel: 01749 675131

Email: info@english-singers.com
Website: www.english-singers.com