Admission: £5 (free for UoB students & staff with valid UCard).
- Pay in advance via the University Online Shop or on the door (card only).
- Advance sales close 30 minutes before the concert; after that, tickets are available at the door subject to availability.
- Doors close at 1:15 pm. No late entry.
- We cannot accept cash payments.
Programme
As a conductor, I’m always pleased when a concert date is so close to the saints day of St Cecilia – the patron saint of music. Not only is it an excellent excuse to perform Britten’s phenomenal Hymn to St Cecilia, but also a chance to celebrate in a programme the extraordinary breadth of expression that choral music has inspired across centuries. St Cecilia has long symbolised the transformative power of music—its ability to console, to uplift, and to connect us to something beyond the everyday. In her honour, today’s programme brings together a wide tapestry of styles, each illuminating a different facet of musical imagination.
Our journey begins with the clarity and craftsmanship of the Renaissance, where William Byrd’s Laudibus in sanctis offers joyful, dance-like praise in vibrant polyphony. From there, the programme moves through contrasting sound worlds: the rich spiritual intensity of Bruckner and Rachmaninoff, the bright, contemporary sonorities of Cecilia McDowall, the earthy vitality of Copland’s folk colours, and the shimmering atmospheres of Ēriks Ešenvalds. At the centre sits Britten’s A Hymn to St Cecilia, the work that lends its name to our concert—a piece that intertwines poetic reflection with Britten’s abiding belief in music’s purity and purpose. Alongside these established and historic voices, University Singers are committed to honoring the continuing vitality of choral music today through works by young composers, like Millicent James, who are reimagining the choral tradition with fresh language and renewed curiosity.
Taken together, these pieces invite us to reflect on the many ways composers have sought to praise, question, celebrate, and reshape the art of music itself. They remind us that while styles evolve and contexts change, the impulse to make music—and to find meaning through it—is enduring.
Laudibus in sanctis William Byrd (c. 1540–1623)
Here Hum the Bees Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951)
Virgo Jesse floruit Anton Bruckner (1824–1896)
Bogorodiste Dyevo Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
A Hymn to St Cecilia Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
Las Agachadas Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
Lark Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
Amazing Grace Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)
Journey of a Butterfly Millicent James
The Conductors
Elinor Cooper
Elinor Cooper is a Bristol-based conductor and choral educator whose work spans professional, university and community ensembles across the UK. She is Assistant Director of The Rodolfus Choir and Musical Director of Bristol University Singers. Earlier roles include work with Collegium Singers, Swindon Choral Society, Clevedon Choral Society, UWE Singers, Spiro Singers, A Handful of Singers and Cardiff Polyphonic Choir. For seven years she was Assistant Conductor of Bristol Youth Choirs and she continues to work with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain as a conductor on their annual residential courses.
Known for her imaginative, inclusive approach, Elinor champions programmes that pair canonical repertoire with new music and underrepresented voices. She has premiered and recorded works by contemporary artists such as Sun Keting, Cecilia McDowall, Millicent James, Derri Lewis, and Sruthi Rajesekar, and led major community and cross-disciplinary projects in North Somerset and the New Forest. Beyond the podium, Elinor is an advocate for access and mentorship in choral music, supporting emerging conductors through her work at Bristol University and The Rodolfus Foundation.
Matthew Harrison
Matthew James Harrison is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, choral conductor and composer. He is Music Director at Risca Male Choir and led them to victory as ‘best in Wales’ at the 2024 National Eisteddfod, where he was also awarded the Ivor E. Sims memorial medal as winning conductor. As a freelancer he has performed as Principal Bassoon at the Welsh Chamber Orchestra and at the Bath Festival Orchestra, with whom he has recorded for BBC Radio 3.
Matthew is a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where he was awarded a First Class Batchelor of Music (bassoon) and a dual specialism Master’s Degree. He was a finalist in the College's prestigious Sir Ian Stoutzker Prize and received awards from the Leonard and Marian Jones Scholarship, the South Square Scholarship, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Scholarship and the Tillet Trust.
Matthew has worked in the choral sector since 2015, having previously held conducting roles at Cwmbran, Pontypool, and Bargoed Male Voice Choirs, and was the founder of Torfaen Male Choir. In 2018 he was awarded the Welsh Association of Male Voice Choirs’ Layton Watkins Memorial Award for Conducting.
The Choir
Bristol University Singers are the university’s foremost chamber choir, performing a wide range of choral music to a professional standard throughout the academic year.
Singers perform in a wide variety of settings, presenting concerts at venues including St George’s, Tyntesfield National Trust and the Victoria Rooms. The University Singers also collaborate with other ensembles and have previously performed alongside I Fagiolini, taken part in masterclasses with the BBC Singers, and appeared in an award winning Christmas advert with Foster & Foster.
Sopranos
Tilly Heath*
Charis Burden
Emma Stent
Louisa Goodfellow
Ania Musat
Mayuri Swaminathan
Alice Hughes
Caitlin de Sousa
Jenna Short
Chloe Fisher Murray
Altos
Eleni Fraser
Eliza Cohen Gregory
Eli Grundy
Leah Page
Zhi Xuan Lee
Lucy Hancock*
Ruby Redl
Snaedis Fridriksdottir
Tenors
Alexander Hemington
Theo Ball
Joe Walshe
Jay Parker
Tom Roberts*
Tomos Hawkins
Bakari Leon
Basses
Edward Boileau
James Outtrim*
Arthur Pritchard
Edward Stancombe
Rupert Fell
Will Stanger
Sam Tollervey
Concert dates for your diaries!
3pm, 7th December – A Christmas Journey
Wye Valley Music, Chepstow
7pm, 10th December – Gabriel’s Message
All Saints, Clifton
1.15pm, 20th March – Auditorium, Victoria Rooms
1pm, 16th April – St George’s Bristol
Further details and tickets available online at https://www.bristol.ac.uk/music/events/