WHO SHALL SEPARATE US?
Haddo House Chapel
Saturday 1st April 2023
Benjamin Britten – Te Deum in C
James MacMillan – Who Shall Separate Us?
Gabriel Fauré – Requiem Op. 48
HHCOS sang two performances of this uplifting choral music programme in the Haddo House Chapel. The programme had been selected due to its connections with Haddo and HHCOS. Benjamin Britten once conducted the choir, James MacMillan was commissioned to compose a piece for last year’s Haddo Arts Festival by Haddo Arts (who work in conjunction with HHCOS to bring the experience of high-quality classical music to the local area and build on the history of the Arts at Haddo), and Faure’s Requiem has been performed many times before by the choir, however, for many of us it was a first performing this work as Faure originally wrote it with an organ instead of an orchestra.
Dr. Paul Tierney – Musical Director
Dr. Roger B. Williams MBE – Organ
Soloists – Christopher Brighty, Ellie Donald & Toto Coxe
Christmas Carol Concerts – 2022
Our Christmas Carol Concerts were a huge success, selling out days beforehand. The audiences were treated to a selection of traditional and modern carols. From Elgar’s ‘The Snow’ with its gorgeous violin accompaniment to the ethereal calmness of Lauridsen’s ‘Magnus Mysterium’ to the spritely ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’ and ‘Jingle Bells’, with many more in between. After the performances, the audience was treated to refreshments in the beautiful Haddo House Library.
Musical Director: Dr Paul Tierney
Organist: Dr Roger Williams
Rossini – Petite Messe Solennelle
In their first full concert since 2019, HHOCS performed Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle on October 8th to open the 2022 Haddo Arts Festival. The audience, who had come from near and far to be there, received it extremely well. The sound that filled the hall once more after lockdown was quite something to hear from the choir and the amazing soloists.
HHCOS were very proud to promote a fundraising concert on 26th June 2022 featuring Sofia Shokaima & Jing Huang, two Ukrainian refugees being hosted in Ellon. The audience was treated to a high level of performance by the two girls on the Haddo Steinway piano, and from the other performers,
local musicians; George Davidson (Award winning fiddle player), Toto Coxe (Voice), Laura Smith (Clarinet) & the Haddo Choral Society.
The Open Air Picnic Concert we held on 22nd May 2022 was a great success. It was chilly, but the rain held off, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to see some ex-choir members and current members who could not sing that day in the audience. We miss you, but it’s lovely to have your support.