The programme chosen by the Maidstone Singers for their two summer concerts this year embraces major sacred works by two of Britain’s leading composers – Bob Chilcott’s ‘Requiem’ and Karl Jenkins’ ‘Stabat Mater’. ALL SAINTS CHURCH, MAIDSTONE Sunday 19 June at 7.30 p.m. ST MARY’S CHURCH, WEST MALLING Saturday 25 June at 7.30 p.m. Composer and conductor Bob Chilcott (born 1955) has been steeped in the British choral tradition since he was a boy chorister. A former member of The King’s Singers, Chilcott is now one of the UK’s most prolific and creative choral composers, writing appealingly direct and accessible music with memorable melodies reminiscent of John Rutter at his best. Following the success of his first major work ‘Salisbury Vespers’, Chilcott wrote his Requiem in 2010. This is likely to be the first time the piece has been performed in Maidstone and the surrounding area. Sir Karl Jenkins was born in Wales in 1944. He studied music at Cardiff University and then at the Royal Academy of Music. Jenkins initially made his mark in the Jazz world of the 1960s and 1970s. However his classical work ‘Adiemus’, which was commissioned for a television commercial, topped the classical charts around the globe and brought him to the world’s attention. Stabat Mater was composed in 2008, and is based on the 13th-century Roman Catholic prayer Stabat Mater dolorosa. Like much of Jenkins’ earlier work, the piece incorporates both traditional Western music (orchestra and choir) with ethnic instruments and vocals – this time focusing on the Middle East.
