ICS October 2018 concert image

Following on from their First World War Centenary concerts earlier in the year, Ipswich Choral Society mark another centenary, the birth of Leonard Bernstein. The Bernstein Centenary Celebration will be held on 20 October at St Mary-le-Tower church.

Leonard Bernstein (25 August 1918 – 14 October 1990) was a world renowned musician, conductor and composer. He served as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic and conducted the world’s major orchestras. The finale of the concert will be a performance of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, originally commissioned by the Very Reverend Walter Hussey for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival.

Another highlight will be discovering more about Leonard Bernstein with Ipswich Choral Society President Cem Mansur who will give a talk during the interval. Cem studied with Bernstein at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute and has since gone on to work with major orchestras and opera houses across the world.

Ipswich Choral Society will also be performing settings of two psalms ‘The voice of melody’ and ‘Idols’ by British-French-Israeli composer Nimrod Borenstein, whose music is widely performed throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Japan. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra recently performed the world premiere of his second Cello Concerto.

The concert programme will feature other works by Bernstein and a collection of choral works by Sergei Rachmaninov, Eric Whitacre and Stevie Wishart among others.

A retiring collection will be made after the concert for Ipswich Choral Society’s nominated charity for 2018, Diabetes UK, Ipswich & District Support Group. Their goal is to provide support and advice to people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes as well as their family and friends.

ICS 20 Oct 18 concert poster