Bamford & Norden June 2015

Greater Manchester choirs in
harmony for new commission
Two well-established, but very different, choirs - Rochdale-based Cantare, for female voices,
and Greater Manchester Police Male Voice Choir (GMPMVC) who first sang together at
a sell-out concert at the Curtain Theatre, Rochdale, in December - are coming together
for an exciting musical project - their most ambitious to date.
Composer and University of Manchester alumnus Chris Roe
Last year the choirs, who share the same musical
director, Michael Betteridge, invited proposals for a
brand new choral piece that they will perform
alongside Fauré’s Requiem and Bob Chilcott's A
Little Jazz Mass, at the newly refurbished Royal
Northern College of Music Concert Hall in
July. The competition was open to composers under
30, with links to the North West.
Mr Betteridge said, "We received some exceptional
entries which made judging very difficult". Luckily, as
well as representatives from both choirs, they were
able to call on the expertise of conductor
Manvinder Rattan, who has appeared as a judge on Gareth Malone's shows, and
internationally acclaimed choral composer Gabriel Jackson, to assess the applications.
The commission was won by exceptional young composer and University of Manchester
alumnus, Chris Roe. Mr Betteridge continued, "Chris’s proposal, and the portfolio of works
he submitted, demonstrated an excellent understanding of choral writing, as well
as a really unique compositional voice. He met both choirs in order to get to know them
better before embarking on composing the new work, “Visions of Paradise”, which has just
been completed. Joint rehearsals will begin in March. It is a really exciting chapter in the
history of the choirs!"
Mr Roe commented "I am thrilled to be working with these choirs as they join forces. I
attended a couple of separate rehearsals in 2014, and the enthusiasm and energy that they
bring to their singing is more than a composer could ever ask for. I am looking forward
to hearing how they progress with "Visions of Paradise” which takes inspiration from the
“In Paradisum” movement of Faure's Requiem, and explores what paradise means to different
people. A series of short movements take us through a variety of potentially paradisiacal
moments, including a placid nocturnal scene, a raucous drinking song, and a frantic
account of a package island holiday towards the end. I can't wait to see how the choirs
bring out the different characters throughout the piece!”
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