Exultate Singers
Encyclopedia
The Exultate Singers is a choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 based in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, UK, made up of 40 adult singers. It has mostly specialised in Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 sacred music.

History

Exultate Singers was founded in September 2002 by David Ogden
David Ogden (conductor)
David Ogden, is a conductor and composer, directing choirs, choral and church music workshops, courses and festivals in the UK and abroad.-Career:David Ogden is a freelance conductor and composer...

 to sing a live broadcast of Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

.

Since its inaugural broadcast, Exultate Singers has made several further appearances on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Radio and Television, including BBC Radio 4's Sunday Worship, a live broadcast from St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...

 on BBC Radio 4 for Ascension Day in 2005, BBC Radio 2's Sunday Half Hour, BBC Radio 3's The Choir and BBC One's Songs Of Praise
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...



The choir also performs live in concerts in Bristol, around the South West and further afield. Notable performances have included James MacMillan's Seven Last Words From The Cross; Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...

's Mass in B minor and St Matthew Passion; Roxanna Panufnik
Roxanna Panufnik
Roxanna Panufnik is a British composer of Polish heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik....

's Westminster Mass; Scarlatti
Scarlatti
Scarlatti was the name of several Italian composers:*Alessandro Scarlatti , Baroque composer known for operas and chamber cantatas*Francesco Scarlatti , Baroque composer and musician, brother of Alessandro Scarlatti...

's St Cecilia Mass; and Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

's Sacred Concert. In November 2009 the choir commissioned Roxanna Panufnik
Roxanna Panufnik
Roxanna Panufnik is a British composer of Polish heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik....

 to write a piece to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

. Her piece, All Shall Be Well, is scored for double choir and solo cello and was premiered in Clifton Cathedral
Clifton Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul is the Roman Catholic cathedral in the English city of Bristol. Located in the Clifton area of the city, it is the seat of the Diocese of Clifton and is known as Clifton Cathedral....

, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 on Sunday 9 November 2009. The concert also included the first UK performance of Petr Eben
Petr Eben
Petr Eben was a Czech composer of modern and contemporary classical music.-His life:Born in Žamberk in northeastern Bohemia, Eben spent his youth in Český Krumlov in southern Bohemia. There he studied piano, and later cello and organ...

's work for unaccompanied choir, Bitter Earth, sung in Czech.

David Ogden

David Ogden
David Ogden (conductor)
David Ogden, is a conductor and composer, directing choirs, choral and church music workshops, courses and festivals in the UK and abroad.-Career:David Ogden is a freelance conductor and composer...

 is conductor and creative director of Exultate Singers. He founded the choir in 2002 and is also the conductor of City of Bristol Choir
City of Bristol Choir
The City of Bristol Choir is a mixed voice choir of around 85 auditioned singers, whose aim is to sing a wide range of choral music to the highest possible standard. The choir gives five or six concerts a year in different venues around the South West, but mostly in Bristol...

 and the Millennium Youth Choir
Millennium Youth Choir
The RSCM Millennium Youth Choir is a British choir for singers aged between 16 and 23. It is the RSCM's leading national choir.In 1999 the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, George Carey, suggested its formation and it gave its first performance in the Millennium Dome in London.The choir has...

.

Recordings

Exultate Singers has recorded two CDs:
  • Visions of Peace (2005)

  • A Time for Singing (recorded and produced by John Rutter
    John Rutter
    John Milford Rutter CBE is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.-Biography:Born in London, Rutter was educated at Highgate School, where a fellow pupil was John Tavener. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the...

    in 2008

External links

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