Zimbe! and A Little Jazz Mass

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ZIMBE! Sing the songs of Africa

23 June in Windsor Parish Church

The Royal Free Singers’ sell-out summer concert  with Dedworth Middle School Choir, the G:Force Gospel Choir, from Formby School, Lancashire and the Call Me Al Jazz Quintet was a memorable and uplifting event for all who performed and attended. The performance of Zimbe! a brilliant fusion of traditional African song and jazz, completed a full programme of African, gospel and jazz music.

 Zimbe! (the anglicised version of the Swahili word for “Sing them”) is a vibrant sequence of twelve African songs imbued with the spirit, energy and simplicity so typical of the African tradition.  It includes simple children’s playground songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe, a Xhosa lullaby, a rousing drinking song, and music for religious occasions. Alexander L'Estrange is the composer and we were privileged to have him conduct this performance by the three choirs singing together.  See and hear more about Zimbe! on http://www.zimbe.net/.

Alexander L'Estrange

The other major work in the concert, conducted by Ben Gunner, was Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass, composed in 2004, which the Royal Free Singers enjoyed performing in 2008. It embraces a variety of Jazz styles: an easy tempo Kyrie, a Gloria with real swings, gentle laid back Sanctus building in volume through the Benedictus, culminating in a blues-inspired Agnus Dei – gorgeous, soulful music in an utterly original setting. This work is inspiring to sing and has now become a firm favourite of Royal Free Singers members.

Audience comments: 
'Lovely concert - really uplifting! Thanks a lot and well done the cast of millions!' 
“…… the concert on Saturday was incredibly inspiring and uplifting – we couldn’t sit still and wanted to get up on the stage with the singers – well done what a triumph.”

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Royal Free Singers in Slovakia!

Some 60 or so Royal Free Singers with attendant 'groupies' landed in Budapest on June 1st, ready for our singing tour of Slovakia. Met by our wonderful tour guides, Martina and Lenka, our first stop was Kosice - where we booked into the Hilton for the first four nights of the tour, and then five nights in Banska Bystrica. We sang four concerts in beautiful churches (and enjoyed the standing ovations!); we went up mountains, into forests (narrowly missing a bear!), into caves, restaurants, bars and castles. Some of us loved the traditional slovak dumplings with special cottage cheese and bacon - others were less certain! There were many coach journeys, conversations, some truly dreadful singing on the coach - to contrast with the beautiful concerts, many loo breaks and lots of ice cream.

Musical highlights included Janacek's Otcenas - with lovely solos from our two star tenors, Richard and Peter - Lauridsden's O Magnum Mysterium and, of course, The Storm is Passing Over - with Linda Chanan conducting.

The last night party saw many choir members getting up for 'impromptu' solos and some very amusing group pieces. The hat dance, copied from a Slovakian dance seen earlier, ended in chaos, with some people playing less than fair!

Ben Gunner, our conductor and host, led the choir once more into unknown territory, giving us wonderful experiences in the sunshine and bringing us all back safely - into the rain!

Verdi Requiem - March 31st 2012

Verdi – Missa di Requiem

The Royal Free Singers accompanied by the Orchestra of London and professional soloists performed Verdi’s Requiem in Eton College School Hall on 31^st March.

Audience comments:
'Stupendous performance'
'Really raised the roof!' 
'So uplifting!'
'A particularly beautiful performance by soprano, Susan Piggott' 
'Thank you and the Royal Free Singers for your splendid concert on Saturday,  I came with a co-Trustee of the Royal Albert Institute Trust, and we both enjoyed it enormously, and want to thank you all.  It is a wonderful and ambitious work to put on, and you certainly did it justice! '

Verdi, an ardent Italian nationalist, composed it in memory of the Italian poet, novelist and national hero Alessandro Manzoni, whose death in 1873 had greatly affected him. Although its first performance was in a liturgical setting (in St. Mark’s Church, Milan on the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death), it is unashamedly theatrical in style, described by a contemporary, the eminent conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, as ‘Verdi’s latest opera, in church vestments’, and following its first concert performance at La Scala Opera House, it became an overnight sensation, with performances throughout Europe soon following. Its British premiere in May 1875 in the Albert Hall, was conducted by Verdi himself.

The Royal Free Singers gratefully acknowledge the support of

The Prince Philip Trust and the Royal Albert Institute

Mahler - Symphony No. 2

Eton College School Hall

Conductor, Leon Gee

Some 60 or so members of the Royal Free Singers joined the Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra and singers from the London College of Music to sing the last movement in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 at Eton College School Hall on March 10th.


The audience reaction at the conclusion of the piece was testament to the power of the performance, and the inspiration of Leon Gee, the conductor. Some of the comments afterwards were: 'Quite the most moving concert I've been to in years - I was moved to tears in several places' and 'Simply magnificent!'

It was a special occasion for the Davies family, with all four members on the stage: Eifion and Sharron on Double Bass, Ali playing Oboe and Cor Anglais, and Marilyn singing alto with the choir!

We were pleased to have the opportunity to work with Leon, whose charisma and energy encouraged us to give of our best.

Royal Free Singers : Schubert and Swayne

November 26th, 2011, Windsor Parish Church

The Autumn Concert from the Royal Free Singers featured a modern work by Giles Swayne. Acclaimed by The Times as the finest choral composer writing today, Giles Swayne's Missa Tiburtina owes much to the experiences gained on his first visit to Africa in 1981, in particular an awareness of how the greed of the richer countries of the West was damaging Africa's environment and the culture and quality of life of ordinary Africans, a theme marked by the written verses which he uses to annotate the score. It is not a liturgical work, but gives a voice to the poor calling out for sanity to prevail.

The other main work in the programme was Miriam's Song of Victory by Schubert, a cantata based on the Israelites' hymn of praise and thanksgiving following their safe crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh's army. The final item on the programme is the ‘Five Mystical Songs’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams, four meditative songs each with its own character, ending with a hymn of praise.

At this concert we raised more than £250 for the Save the Children Fund.

Royal Free Singers in Ireland, November 2011

St Mary's Church, Clonmel, Tipperary, was the venue for our Saturday evening concert when we visited Ireland for a weekend in November, and we sang for the mass on Sunday morning, too.

Some forty or so members of the choir came away with great memories. We all now understand why castle staircases are built the way they are, and our very entertaining guides for our castle visits told us much more besides. Particularly about sanitation!

Gavin's bar, where we met up with our host choir after the concert, offered the opportunity for even more Guinness (some of us had found places to sample the national brew earlier), ample portions of delicious dinners, and some excellent singing and dancing - thanks to you Linda C - to round off the evening. (Although some rounded it off again afterwards back at the hotel!)

It was a long way to Tipperary, but our hearts are still there!