Kantos Chamber Choir’s winter programme brings literature, seasonal singing and Baroque grandeur to some of the North West’s most distinctive venues, with three concerts spanning the Brontë sisters’ literary legacy, candlelit Christmas favourites and Handel’s enduring oratorio.
Across November and December, the choir pairs its adventurous approach to choral music with settings that lend each performance its own character, from a literary tour through Lancashire and Yorkshire to festive gatherings in historic churches and a major concert at The Monastery in Gorton.
Traditional carols, contemporary choral writing and the glow of candlelight set the tone for Kantos’ annual yuletide concerts, with performances in two historic churches. The repertoire includes John Tavener’s The Lamb, John Rutter’s Christmas Lullaby and Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, alongside familiar seasonal songs such as White Christmas and It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.
The programme also features the winning entry from Kantos’ 2026 Carol Competition, judged by composer Cecilia McDowall, while organist Ben Collyer accompanies congregational favourites including Silent Night and O Come, All Ye Faithful.
With audience participation encouraged, the concerts offer a chance to join in with some of Christmas music’s best-loved traditions, alongside the choir’s own selections and festive refreshments.
A fixture of the festive season for more than 280 years, Handel’s Messiah is beloved across generations for its sequence of reflective arias, stirring choruses and the jubilant, inimitable Hallelujah Chorus.
For this December performance, Kantos reunites with its artistic partner Manchester Camerata in the Great Nave of The Monastery, Gorton, bringing the celebrated oratorio to one of Manchester’s most striking architectural settings.
Conducted by Laurence Cummings, Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music and a leading Handel specialist, the concert features Kantos Chamber Choir and Manchester Camerata alongside four soloists: soprano Georgie Malcolm, countertenor Dominic Mattos, tenor Guy Elliott and bass Peter Edge.
www.kantoschamberchoir.com
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Fri 23 Oct 2020
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë’s windswept literary worlds take on a new dimension in Brontë, an evocative performance of choral music and spoken word seen through the perspective of their friend and champion, Elizabeth Gaskell. Drawing on passages from Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, alongside Gaskell’s own writing, the programme considers the sisters’ fierce creative independence and the social constraints that shaped their lives.
Co-curated by Kantos Creative Director Ellie Slorach and Elizabeth Gaskell specialist Dr Sherry Ashworth, the performance features music by composers including Helen Neeves, John Ireland, Tõnu Kõrvits and Cecilia McDowall. Ashworth presents the spoken-word elements, illuminating the connections behind the programme, with pre-concert talks offering further insight into the creative process.
The tour visits Lancaster Arts on Thu 12 Nov, Manchester’s Stoller Hall on Sat 14 Nov and St Michael and All Angels Church in Haworth on Sun 15 Nov, resurrecting the Brontes’ lives and work across their native region.