UK chamber choir on Malta tour

The UK regional chamber choir, Dodecantus, will be touring Malta this week following its two very successful summer tours in the Burgundy region of France.

The choir will be giving four concerts between tomorrow and Saturday in different venues across the island.

Formed just four years ago, Dodecantus has already developed a significant following in the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire region, where it is based in the UK.

The choir's original intention was to perform with just 12 singers and, although numbers have swelled with a couple more voices, "there are still no hiding places", according to choir chairman Zelda Lawrence-Curran.

"Singing in such a small group requires dedication, commitment and a love of music, which we hope comes across in all our performances... Knowing that the Maltese take their music seriously too, we felt Malta was an ideal place to tour this spring," she said.

The tour starts tomorrow in St Paul's Pro-Anglican Cathedral, Valletta where Dodecantus will present a joint concert with the chamber group from The New Choral Singers (Malta), its "twin" choir on the island.

Together they will perform a varied programme of pieces, both sacred and secular, starting at 7.30 p.m. Entrance is free, however, because the choir likes to try to give something back to the region where it performs, there will be a collection at the end of the concert in aid of the cathedral's organ restoration fund.

At St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Dodecantus will present Gabriel Fauré's ever-popular Requiem as its main work on Thursday, in an intimate, chamber context that will give the audience a new perspective on this familiar music.

The programme will include a number of perhaps less well-known, smaller, choral pieces that the choir will choose to complement the serenity of the Requiem.

On Friday, at St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina, the choir will perform the Stabat Mater by Francis Poulenc. Dodecantus believes it is the only chamber choir to have performed this sublime composition, which is generally acknowledged to be one of the most difficult choral works, even for larger choral ensembles.

Smaller choral pieces will be performed alongside this massive work, to compare and contrast with it.

The final concert of the Dodecantus' tour will be at the church of St Lawrence, Vittoriosa, on Saturday, where the programme will feature Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore as the main work.

Alternatively serene and effusive, this semi-operatic masterpiece is an apt conclusion to a tour which the choir hopes will be a most charming and colourful feast of choral music.

The tour is being supported by Bentley Trust Limited (a member of the Butterfield Bank group) based in Portomaso, whose generosity has enabled the choir to bring Kerry Beaumont, head of music at Coventry Cathedral as its professional accompanist.

www.dodecantus.org.uk