Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir

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Two Bachs and two Italian nuns

Sunday 23rd March 2025

Our concert on Saturday 22nd March, in the splendid acoustic of St Mary’s church in Warwick, presented music by two members of the Bach family, arguably the most famous dynasty in classical music, alongside works by two virtually unknown 17th century Italian nuns.

Isabella Leonarda and Chiara Margherita Cozzolani spent their whole adult lives in cloistered convents in northern Italy, yet both were talented and prolific composers, writing choral and instrumental music for performance within their communities. Leonarda’s Magnificat (1698), which the RLSBC first performed in summer 2022, sets the text for four part choir, interspersed with instrumental interludes for two violins and continuo. Cozzolani’s Dixit Dominus (1650) is an eight part setting of Psalm 110, in which alternating slow and fast passages heighten the dramatic imagery of the text.

Between these two works, the Beauchamp Sinfonietta played a late orchestral work (his Overture in D, dated 1765), by Georg Philipp Telemann, a close friend of Johann Sebastian Bach and godfather to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel. Bach senior was represented by a short Sinfonia (from a cantata dated 1725) which began the second half of the concert, followed by a performance of CPE Bach’s magnificent Magnificat (1749). This work bridges the transition from the Baroque world, of which JS Bach and Telemann form the pinnacle, to the new Classical style. It retains the baroque orchestral line-up, but also espouses new fashions such as the extended form of the final ‘Amen’ based around a motif which is a direct quote from Handel’s Messiah.

The CPE Bach Magnificat provided an opportunity for our four soloists, all of whom have local connections, to shine in extended solos and duets. Soprano Imogen Baker, mezzo-soprano Hope Pugh and bass Oliver Barker are all recent graduates of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire: Hope continues to work locally with Ex Cathedra and Birmingham Cathedral, Oliver is Ex Cathedra’s current graduate scholar and also sings with the CBSO, while Imogen is pursuing operatic studies in Switzerland. Tenor Luke Swatman is from Wolverhampton, and also sings regularly with the CBSO.

Our thanks as always to our Musical Director Jim Bate for his vision in programming this imaginative combination of well known and unknown music, for his sheer hard work in coaching the choir week by week in rehearsals, and for his energy and enthusiasm on the day of the concert, which ensured another night to remember for audience and choir members alike.

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Jim Bate to be the RLSBC’s 19th Musical Director

Wednesday 29th May 2024

The RLSBC is delighted to announce the appointment of Jim Bate as its 19th Musical Director, to succeed Lee Dunleavy from the start of the 2024-5 concert season.

Jim is increasingly making his mark in the musical life of the area, both as a choral conductor and also as a singer. His successful appointment follows a three stage recruitment process, consisting of a written application, an interview with the committee, and an audition with the whole choir. Jim passed every stage with flying colours!

Music has been a vital part of Jim’s life from a very early age. He started learning the piano when he was four, and later he took up the organ, studying under Leeds Minster Cathedral Organist, Alex Woodrow. He gained an organ scholarship and a place to read Music at Lady Margaret Hall in the University of Oxford. It was while he was at Oxford that he developed his passion for choral conducting, through his involvement with his college’s sacred and secular choirs.

After graduating, Jim took a Master’s in Choral Conducting at the University of Birmingham, studying with Simon Halsey OBE and Julian Wilkins. He sings in the CBSO chorus, and was a lay clerk at Birmingham Cathedral, alongside starting work at PwC in Birmingham. He set up a choir in his workplace, delightfully named 'In-Voice', and in 2022 he became Musical Director of the Warwickshire Singers. He also co-founded and co-directs the Elgar Scholars with Laura Bailie, and conducts the B:Music Workplace Voices, formerly the Birmingham City Council Choir which was set up by Gareth Malone.

Jim says: “I am extremely excited to get started with RLSBC. Whilst studying for my conducting master's degree, this very choir was quoted as one to look out for later down my career and so applying for this role was an easy decision. I am very grateful to my mentors Julian Wilkins and Simon Halsey for all of their support and leadership in the run up to this post. I aim to continue the choir's superb trajectory in becoming one of, if not the best choir in the region. I think it is important not to lose touch with the choir's roots in the music of the Bach family, but I also believe that RLSBC's acclaim is an ideal platform for promoting new and exciting music as well as music by underrepresented composers.”

We are looking forward enormously to working with Jim, and to exploring unfamiliar musical territory under his leadership as well as revisiting old favourites, in this exciting new chapter in the history of the choir.