Modern Christmas music

Following a successful year celebrating its Golden Jubilee, Thames Philharmonic Choir returns to Kingston on Saturday 5 December with a concert of recent Christmas music by English composers. The concert at All Saints Church will be conducted by young local conductor Max Barley and feature his newly formed Wimbledon Youth Choir making their debut. It will also feature mezzo soprano Chloe Hinton, who has appeared with the Choir with great success in recent seasons, and Andrew Lenon playing All Saints' famous and recently-renovated Frobenius organ.

The programme for the concert consists of two works by English composers, complemented by a selection of popular carols for choir and audience participation.

Bob Chilcott's On Christmas Night (2010)

Bob Chilcott, a chorister and Choral Scholar of King's College, came to prominence as a member of the popular singing group The King's Singers. On Christmas Night is a sequence of eight carol settings in his characteristically attractive style and follows the sequence of the Christmas story, from the fall of Adam to the Nativity.

Christmas Cantata, published in 1948, by Geoffrey Bush

Christmas Cantata by organist and teacher Geoffrey Bush consists of mostly traditional carol texts plus an Epilogue and is full of good tunes and well-known words – they include The first good joy that Mary had, Little Jesus sweetly sleep, This endris night, O sisters two, and I saw three ships.

With the Choir's Artistic Director John Bate temporarily indisposed, the concert will be conducted by Max Barley. Like Bob Chilcott, Max was a chorister of King’s College Cambridge, and later became an Oxford organ scholar. He is now Director of Music at St Mary’s Parish Church, Wimbledon and an experienced conductor; in September he formed the Wimbledon Youth Choir to provide keen young singers with the opportunity to sing a wide variety of music. Chloe Hinton, who hails from Richmond, sings with Holland Park Opera and other companies. Andrew Lenon is also a former Oxford organ scholar and regularly plays the organ at St Mary's Wimbledon.