The Guernsey Choral and Orchestral Concert

Guernsey Choral and Orchestral Society is a mixed-voice choir of about 80 singers and orchestra, that will perform a programme of choral music by John Rutter, including the works “Requiem”, “Choral Fanfare” and “Feel the Spirit”, featuring talented local soprano soloist, Laura Oxburgh.

British composer John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and is best known for his popular arrangements of Christmas carols. His musical style is influenced by English and French choral compositions as well as American songwriting. He completed Requiem in 1985, in memory of his father. It is centred on text from the Latin Requiem Mass, alongside settings of of the Psalms in English. This melodic work has been described as intimate, contemplative and lyrical.

“Feel the Spirit” is a setting of seven spirituals, ranging from reflective numbers such as “Steal Away” to the Dixieland flovour of “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” and the exuberant finale “When the Saints Go Marching In”