Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir

M is for MatthewA UK premiere

16th March 2024 7:45pm

Bridge House Theatre
Warwick School Myton Road Warwick CV34 6PP

Craig Hella Johnson Considering Matthew Shepard

TO PURCHASE TICKETS: please click here.

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE AND START TIME.

Our Spring concert features the UK première of a major work by Grammy Award winning composer Craig Hella Johnson, his Considering Matthew Shepard. This oratorio is a musical response to the tragic real-life consequences of intolerance and prejudice, leading us from anguish to understanding.

In October of 1998, Matthew Shepard, a young, gay student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie was kidnapped, severely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in a lonely field under a blanket of stars. Twenty years later, the composer Craig Hella Johnson responded to this tragic event with his first concert-length work, Considering Matthew Shepard. This three-part fusion oratorio speaks with a fresh and bold voice, incorporating a variety of musical styles seamlessly woven into a unified whole.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, this event has moved to the Bridge House Theatre, with a later start time. Any tickets already purchased have been transferred to the new venue, and the purchaser notified by email.

PLEASE NOTE that this concert will run without an interval; the piece lasts approximately an hour and three-quarters.

Soprano:
Georgia Humphrey

Mezzo soprano:
Zara Donaldson

Tenor:
Nathan Stubbings

Baritone:
George Salmon

Narrators:
Julie Godfrey, Paul Curran

Clarinet:
Nathan Isaac

Guitar:
Pete Ross

Percussion:
Christina Slominska

Piano:
Colin Druce

with:
string players from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire