Performance of ‘Requiem in Blue’ to be held in aid of Children & the Arts
A special performance of Composer Harvey Brough’s ‘Requiem in Blue’ will take place at 7pm on the 9th of July at East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf in aid of The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts.
The event forms an integral part of Business in the Community’s Give and Gain Day 2010 and features a massed choir from companies in the City of London and Canary Wharf together with children from Hackney Schools joining Harvey Brough and his band with soloists Clara Sanabras, Caitriona O’Leary, Mike Outram, James Pearson, Andy Hamill and Roy Dodds.
Building on the success of “The City Sings”, organiser Clare Delmar has brought together singers from City firms, including UBS, KPMG and Rouse Legal, to support music education in schools and communities.
‘Requiem in Blue’ was written in 1998 as a highly personal response to the untimely death several years earlier of Brough’s older brother, Lester. It was commissioned by East England Arts and premiered that same year. It has since enjoyed over 30 public performances. ‘Requiem in Blue’ is based on the traditional Latin mass and incorporates folksong, blues, jazz, gospel and improvised elements. The final movement, ‘Lux Aeterna’, features words from the inspirational play ‘Spoonface Steinberg’, written by Lee Hall. The work is scored for small ensemble (percussion, bass, keyboards, chamber organ, theorbo, Celtic harp & flugelhorn) with 3 vocal soloists, SATB choir and children’s choir.
Hailed as one of the UK’s most accomplished and diverse musicians, Harvey Brough’s career has covered an extraordinary range of musical styles including early music, classical, pop, soul and jazz. Brough founded the famous 1980s pop group ‘Harvey and the Wallbangers’. He started his musical life aged 6 as a choirboy at Coventry Cathedral. Then, aged 17, he studied oboe with Lady Barbirolli at the Royal Academy of Music followed by a scholarship to Clare College Cambridge. For the past thirty years, Brough has worked professionally in music as a performer, arranger, conductor, producer and composer, moving easily between the worlds of theatre, film, TV and radio.
The CD ‘Requiem in Blue’ is available from 21st June 2010 at all good record stores on Smudged Discs, catalogue number SMU 603.
Tickets for the performance are £10 (£5 concessions) and will be available on the door or can be reserved by emailing requiemlaunch@gmail.com.