Guy Elliott – tenor
Kieran Rayner – baritone
Nigel Foster – piano
David Mildon – speaker

An exploration of the songs and the life of Peter Warlock, real name Philip Heseltine, one of the greatest composers of that incredible flowering of English song that took place in the first half of the twentieth century. This concert combines many of his most beautiful songs with extracts from his letters, read by actor David Mildon, to paint a fascinating portrait of this bon vivant and lover of life and music.

City of Bristol Choir
Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra
Catherine Black leader
Esther Mallett soprano
Annie Gill mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
Conducted by David Ogden

W.A. Mozart Requiem
W.A. Mozart Ave Verum
Elgar Sospiri

In a poignant return to the concert platform, City of Bristol Choir marks its 30th anniversary season with a programme that includes the first piece that the choir ever performed – Mozart’s Requiem. The work is full of drama and exquisitely crafted music for soloists, choir and orchestra. Each hour-long performance also includes Mozart’s bite-sized masterpiece, his setting of the Ave Verum, and Elgar’s atmospheric and reflective orchestral work, Sospiri.

Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for students in full time education and under 18s, available from City of Bristol Choir’s online box office

City of Bristol Choir
Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra
Catherine Black leader
Esther Mallett soprano
Annie Gill mezzo soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
Conducted by David Ogden

W.A. Mozart Requiem
W.A. Mozart Ave Verum
Elgar Sospiri

In a poignant return to the concert platform, City of Bristol Choir marks its 30th anniversary season with a programme that includes the first piece that the choir ever performed – Mozart’s Requiem. The work is full of drama and exquisitely crafted music for soloists, choir and orchestra. Each hour-long performance also includes Mozart’s bite-sized masterpiece, his setting of the Ave Verum, and Elgar’s atmospheric and reflective orchestral work, Sospiri.

Tickets £10 for adults, £5 for students in full time education and under 18s, available from City of Bristol Choir’s online box office

Lotte Betts-Dean: Mezzo-Soprano
Kieran Rayner: Baritone
Nigel Foster: Piano

A concert exploring the 40-year long relationship between Pauline Viardot, composer and celebrity opera singer whose bicentenary falls in 2021, and the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, telling their story through her songs. The programme touches on Viardot’s friendships with Chopin, Liszt, Gounod, Berlioz and Tchaikovsky and shines a light on her extraordinary life at the centre of the international musical world of the 19th century, moving from St Petersburg to Paris, their château at Courtavenel, Baden-Baden and back to France.

Join Australians Lotte Betts-Dean – a versatile mezzo soprano whose performance experience includes contemporary repertoire, early music, art song and opera – and Royal Academy of Music alumnus, pianist Joseph Havlat, as well as award-winning New Zealand baritone Kieran Rayner on Friday 11 February 2022 from 6pm to 7pm.

The programme will feature works by British, Australian and  NZ composers and is part of the FANZA Festival to complement the 2021/2022 Season of Culture celebrating the cultural relationship between Australia and the UK.

The venue, St Mary-at-Hill Church, has a beautiful interior designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is a popular venue for concerts and recitals. Doors will open at 5.30pm and the ticket price of £25 includes a glass of wine afterwards. [Special price tickets for young adults and under-25s.]

There are many good restaurants within walking distance of the Church for those who wish to make a night of it.

Sit in on an exciting coaching session focusing on French Song.

Named as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, pianist Susan Manoff is currently a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. She is devoted to the relationship between singer, pianist, composer and poet. For this masterclass she will be joined by singers and pianists from the 2021-22 cohort of Britten Pears Young Artists.

Sit in on an exciting coaching session focusing on French Song.

Named as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, pianist Susan Manoff is currently a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. She is devoted to the relationship between singer, pianist, composer and poet. For this masterclass she will be joined by singers and pianists from the 2021-22 cohort of Britten Pears Young Artists.

Outstanding singers and pianists from the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme give an end of course recital, following an intensive course of coaching and public masterclasses with Susan Manoff.

The German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion with an original libretto by playwright Ross McGregor, in Southwark Cathedral (7pm 17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (6pm 19 March).

Kieran Rayner will play Robert Scholl (Sophie’s father) and Möhr (an interrogator), as well as singing the bass arias.

Hans and Sophie Scholl are amongst the most famous personalities in Germany. Nearly every town has a Scholl Square, a Geschwister Scholl School, or a Sophie Scholl Street. Their lives are a set part of the German history curriculum in every school and every year new books, documentaries and films about their lives are published.

On May 9, 2021, it would have been Sophie Scholl’s 100th Birthday.

The lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl, founder of the White Rose resistance group, are widely unknown in the UK. That there was resistance in the public during NS time is for many British still news, having learnt at school mainly about the obeying Germans during the war and the enormous following for Hitler.

The German Choir of London wants to tell a different story.

For this concert the German Choir commissioned a play that accompanies J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion to highlight the story of Sophie Scholl, executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for opposing Hitler with a campaign of non-violence during the Second World War.

The concert will tell the story of Sophie, confined in Stadelheim Prison, Munich in the period before her death, through an original libretto created by playwright Ross McGregor, by combining letters, newspaper articles, the White Rose leaflets and court protocols with the music of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

This new interpretation will be performed with the German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir in Southwark Cathedral (17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (19 March). It will encourage us to remember that the courage of Sophie Scholl and her fellow conspirators is an inspiration through time, a reminder that fighting injustice, fighting against systems which are wrong, even against the greatest odds, is truly a message of our time.

The German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir perform a new interpretation of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion with an original libretto by playwright Ross McGregor, in Southwark Cathedral (7pm 17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (6pm 19 March).

Kieran Rayner will play Robert Scholl (Sophie’s father) and Möhr (an interrogator), as well as singing the bass arias.

Hans and Sophie Scholl are amongst the most famous personalities in Germany. Nearly every town has a Scholl Square, a Geschwister Scholl School, or a Sophie Scholl Street. Their lives are a set part of the German history curriculum in every school and every year new books, documentaries and films about their lives are published.

On May 9, 2021, it would have been Sophie Scholl’s 100th Birthday.

The lives of Hans and Sophie Scholl, founder of the White Rose resistance group, are widely unknown in the UK. That there was resistance in the public during NS time is for many British still news, having learnt at school mainly about the obeying Germans during the war and the enormous following for Hitler.

The German Choir of London wants to tell a different story.

For this concert the German Choir commissioned a play that accompanies J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion to highlight the story of Sophie Scholl, executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for opposing Hitler with a campaign of non-violence during the Second World War.

The concert will tell the story of Sophie, confined in Stadelheim Prison, Munich in the period before her death, through an original libretto created by playwright Ross McGregor, by combining letters, newspaper articles, the White Rose leaflets and court protocols with the music of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

This new interpretation will be performed with the German Choir of London and Coventry Cathedral Choir in Southwark Cathedral (17 March) and Coventry Cathedral (19 March). It will encourage us to remember that the courage of Sophie Scholl and her fellow conspirators is an inspiration through time, a reminder that fighting injustice, fighting against systems which are wrong, even against the greatest odds, is truly a message of our time.

A story-led song recital with a twist: the audience chooses the direction of the narrative.

Baritone (and scriptwriter) Kieran Rayner, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts Dean and pianist Bradley Wood present a vocal recital where the audience decides the direction of the narrative, influencing which songs are performed. Featuring potential song repertoire ranging from Schubert, Poulenc and Finzi to new works.

Kieran reprises one of his favourite song cycles with orchestra, Mahler’s heartbreaking Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). With the Lambeth Orchestra conducted by Peter Selwyn, at All Saints Church, West Dulwich.

Concert also features:
LISZT: Les Preludes
MAHLER: Blumine
STRAUSS: Tod und Verklärung

Join the critically acclaimed London Oriana Choir under Musical Director Dominic Peckham, The Meridian Sinfonia and an array of international soloists for Bach’s masterpiece as we look toward Eastertide.

Siân Dicker: soprano

Lotte Betts-Dean: mezzo-soprano

Will Wright: tenor

Kieran Rayner: bass

Peter Kirk: Evangelist

As winner of the 2022 Sing Finzi competition, Kieran will perform Finzi’s major song cycle Before and After Summer, a collection of Hardy poems centring around love, loss and reminiscence, as well as an exciting Judith Weir cycle The Voice of Desire. Joined by Krystal Tunnicliffe on the piano, and Sing Finzi runner-up Siân Dicker.

St Laurence’s Church

Siân Dicker soprano
Kieran Rayner baritone
Krystal Tunnicliffe piano

Gerald Finzi  Til Earth outwears
Judith Weir  The Voice of Desire
Edward Rushton  From Katherine Mansfield’s Diary (Premiere)
Gerald Finzi  Before and after Summer

This is the preview showing of an exciting new musical by Sam Peña, One Shoe of Each Colour, which explores identity, growth and change. More details to follow.

Saturday 2nd December 2023
4:30pm at United Reformed Church, Broxbourne

An Amazing Musical Matinee!

While away your Sunday afternoon in the capable hands of the nation’s best loved raconteur, Gyles Brandreth, as he is joined by poet, comedian, songwriter and presenter Pam Ayres MBE.

Gyles Brandreth will compère live musical performances from the imagination of award-winning composer Louis Mander in his impressive catalogue of opera and musical theatre, written in collaboration with Pam Ayres, Stephen Fry and Hinge & Bracket.

Soprano: Jesscia Hopkins; Tenor: Wiliam Diggle; Baritone: Kieran Rayner; Piano: Louis Mander.

Kieran Rayner | Kieran Rayner – Baritone

Kieran returns as a soloist with Llanelli Chamber Choir, this time to sing the bass solos in Haydn’s Creation.

What If?

An uplifting and moving concert and play combined, exploring love, loss, war, and women’s suffrage through song – where you, the audience, get to choose the direction of the story.

Kieran Rayner baritone
Gamal Khamis piano

What If? is a play and song recital combined – with a twist. At pivotal moments in the story, the audience votes to decide what the protagonist should do, changing the plot and musical programme.

Set in 1914, What If? features multiple characters acted and sung by Kieran, with piano and sound effects played by Gamal. Our story explores love, loss, friendship, war, and women’s suffrage, all while giving the audience agency over the direction of the narrative.

Whichever paths are picked, we guarantee a fulfilling and uplifting experience: an entertaining script connecting a rich selection of German and English songs, including Schubert, Robert and Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, Butterworth, and Finzi, alongside contemporary composers.

What If?

Jubilee Choir Odiham

Kieran sings the bass solos in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonnelle, which is neither short nor solemn.
It is a joyous piece reflecting Rossini’s love of opera.

Platinum Consort, described by BBC Radio 3 as a ‘vocal supergroup’, returns to Sinfonia Smith Square for their fourth annual performance of Handel’s most beloved masterpiece, Messiah. Conductor Scott Inglis-Kidger uniquely combines Platinum’s top class professional consort singers and choristers, recreating the sound-world of the first performances in Dublin and London. With soloists stepping out from the choir and the period instrument orchestra, Platinum 415, this performance will prove to be the Messiah of the season.

Kieran will sing bass solos and join the ensemble.

“This is singing that brings great pleasure.” – International Record Review

DEBUT’s monthly classical music experience south of the river at Brunel Museum’s historic Grade II* listed Thames Tunnel Shaft. Join us for our much loved Christmas Celebration (early booking recommended, these concerts sell out fast!)

MUSICIANS

Lizzie Holmessoprano, host & founder
Sam Peñaresident pianist & improviser

Kang Yang GuZheng
Eleanor Garside soprano
Meriel Cunningham mezzo soprano
William Diggle – tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone

DEBUT’s monthly classical music experiences at the cosy Shoreditch Treehouse. Join us for our much loved Christmas Celebration (early booking recommended, these concerts sell out fast!)

MUSICIANS

Lizzie Holmessoprano, host & founder
Sam Peñaresident pianist & improviser

Kang Yang GuZheng
Eleanor Garside soprano
Meriel Cunningham mezzo soprano
William Diggle – tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone

DEBUT’s monthly classical music experiences at the cosy Shoreditch Treehouse. Join us for our much loved Christmas Celebration (early booking recommended, these concerts sell out fast!)

MUSICIANS

Lizzie Holmessoprano, host & founder
Sam Peñaresident pianist & improviser

Kang Yang GuZheng
Eleanor Garside soprano
Meriel Cunningham mezzo soprano
William Diggle – tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone