Come, listen to us!
Christmas Concerts 2024
There was a Star
This year, the title of the concert is taken from The Shepherd’s Carol (2000), a poem by the British author 
and playwright Clive Sansom which is exquisitely set to music by Bob Chilcott. The words narrate the experience of the shepherds who are drawn by starlight to the baby Jesus.
The programme also includes music by John Rutter, Daniel Elder, Howard Goodall and Rachmaninoff, with a selection of traditional Christmas carols.
For the concert in The Hague and Voorburg, we have invited the tenor soloist Georgi Sztojanov to take part. We will be accompanied by Bert Mooiman (organ) and Eduardo Proença (piano) under the expert guidance of our conductor Sanda Audere.
Audience participation in some of the carols and traditional interval refreshments are, as usual, part of the fun.
The afternoon concert in the charming Sloterkerk is of shorter duration and organised by the Stichting Vrienden Sloterkerk. Tickets are available through the website of the church.
Sunday 8 December at 15:00
Sloterkerk, Osdorpweg 28, Amsterdam (Sloten)
sloterkerk.nl/event/ceciliakoor-uit-den-haag-met-beroemde-chrismas-carols/
Thursday 12 December at 20:00
Oud-Katholieke Kerk, Juffrouw Idastraat 7-13, 2513 BE Den Haag
http://www.ticketkantoor.nl/shop/carols2024-OKK
Sunday 15 December at 15:00 – please note this is an afternoon concert
Franse Kerk, Franse Kerkstraat 24, 2271 CN Voorburg
http://www.ticketkantoor.nl/shop/carols2024-FRA
Past performances
Music of Brahms and Fauré was the title of our Summer Concert 2024. The concert featured two of the best known of the Romantic composers, bringing a summer luminance to the evening. We performed the Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11 and Requiem Op.48, two pieces by Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) who is considered one of the most influential of French composers, linking the end of Romanticism with the beginnings of the modern era.
Our third piece was Schicksalslied Op. 54 (“Song of Destiny”), by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), the highly respected German who is also considered a leading composer in the Romantic period. The piece is a choral setting of a poem written by Friedrich Hölderlin, where the blessed heavenly existence of the gods is contrasted with the doomed suffering of humanity and is considered to be one of his best choral works.
For our Christmas 2023 concerts the title was ‘O Magnum Mysterium’ from the piece we sang with music composed by Morten Lauridsen. This haunting piece captured the miraculous mystery of the birth of Jesus Christ. Our programme also included a beautiful selection of seasonal songs modern and old, such as Exsultate justi by Ludovico da Viadana, Rachmaninoff’s Bogoroditse Devo, Spotless Rose by Ola Gjeilo and In the bleak midwinter by Harold Darke, and many others. In addition, we sang our usual traditional carols when the audience is invited to participate.
Our Summer Concert 2023 was Dido & Aeneas by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell and was written around 1684-85. It is a short semi-staged opera with the story based on Greek and Roman mythology and set after the Trojan war, which was probably located in what is now Turkey. The concert was a change for the choir who enjoyed it very much. We were joined by professional singers and musicians with a set especially designed for the evening.
What Sweeter Music was the title of our Christmas Concerts in 2022. The words are from the beautiful and tender Christmas song written by Robert Herrick (1591–1674) with music composed by John Rutter. The programme also featured pieces by the American Daniel Elder ‘Ballade to the Moon’, Norwegian Ola Gjeilo ‘A Spotless Rose’, British Howard Goodall ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’ and Estonian Arvo Pärt ‘Bogoroditse Djevo’. The programme also included some traditional and lively songs such as ‘I Saw Three Ships’ and provided opportunities for the audience to join in the singing of well known carols.
Mozart Requiem & Madrigals was the title of our Summer Concert in 2022. We performed a selection of English Madrigals from Shakespeare’s time along with one of the most famous choral works in the classical repertoire, Mozart’s Requiem. The choir was conducted by Sanda Audere and joined by soloists Bethany Shepherd (soprano), Tim Braithwaite (alto), Stefan Kennedy (tenor) and Jonty Coy (bass), accompanied by organist Wim Voogd and a Viol Consort led by Alex Baker. The concert was held at the historic Lutherse Kerk in Den Haag.
Recordings of fragments from some performances may be downloaded by clicking the Recordings page.
A selection of posters from recent years is set out below, most of the artwork was done by Colin Reeves with the most recent posters designed by Annemieke Louwerens. Click on the image for an enlargement.
