Reviews
from Nota Bene concerts
LUX
Concert of light
14 September 2024, St James Church, Lower Hutt
Wonder and Light
How to get ahead of yourself while the light still shines
20 September 2020, St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott Street
St John Passion
14 April 2019, St Mary of the Angels, Boulcott St
14
Fauré Requiem
July 2018, Sacred Heart Cathedral
Love's Illusions
April 2018, Sacred Heart Cathedral
Kindred Spirits
May 2017, Sacred Heart
Freedom and Captivity
October 2017, St Andrew on the Terrace
Petite Messe Solennelle
July 2016 Wellington Cathedral
Reviewed in Middle C by Lindis Taylor
Mothers, Daughters, Wives
November 2015
Reviewed in Middle C by Lindis Taylor.
Untold Stories
June 2015
Shape note singing from New England and New Zealand, conducted by Julian Raphael and reviewed by Lindis Taylor in Middle C.
Christmas at Prefab 2014
Another great Christmas event at Prefab, with enthusiastic participation from our lovely audience!
10th Anniversary Concert
For this concert, Nota Bene invited back former members to join with current singers, bringing the choir up to 40 in number. Nota Bene was also joined by special guest, former Radio NZ presenter Geoff Robinson, who toured with the choir for its theatrical Sentimental Journey series. Guest conductors Peter de Blois and Julian Raphael shared the conducting honours with Christine Argyle, and were joined by pianist Emma Sayers and bassoonist Penny Miles.
Nota Bene has always had a strong commitment to performing New Zealand music, with several composers writing specially for the choir. To mark its 10th anniversary, the choir has commissioned a work from noted choral composer David Hamilton. With lush choral textures and rich harmonies, Canción de Invierno is a setting of a poem by Juan Ramón Jiménez, based on the theme of singing.
Nota Bene’s 10th Anniversary concert was at St Andrews on the Terrace,
at 4.30pm on Sunday 14 September.
Bold as Brass
Works for choir and brass
Dufay, Croce, Gabrieli, Bruckner, Brahms, David Hamilton
Nota Bene, conducted by Peter Walls, with Ingrid Bauer (harp), Matthew Allison, David Bremner and Tim Sutton (trombones), Carsten Williams and Heather Thompson (horns), Douglas Mews (organ and piano)
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Saturday, 29 March 2014, 7.30pm
Pieces of Eight
Works in eight parts
de Monte: Super lumina Babylonis / Peter Philips: Ecce tu pulchra es
Byrd: Quomodo cantabinus / Purcell: Prelude (organ) Hear my prayer
Lotti: Crucifixus / Bach: Alle Menschen müssen sterben, BWV 117 (organ) Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225
Brahms: Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen (organ) / Unsere Väter hofften auf dich Wenn ein starker Gewappneter / Wo ist ein so herrlich Volk
Greene: Voluntary in E flat (organ) / Pearsall: Lay a garland /Great God of love
Holst: Ave Maria / Mendelssohn: No.4 from Lieder ohne Worte Op.19 (organ)
Kyrie, Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, Heilig, heilig
Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Peter Walls, with soloists, and Erin Helyard (chamber organ)Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill StreetSaturday, 15 June 2013, 7.30pm
Spring Sings: Lovers, birds and all these things
English songs by Moeran, Finzi, Michael Head, Parry, Holst and Rutter, arrangements by John Walker and Philip Walsh.
New Zealand songs by Janet Jennings, and American songs by Ken Neufeld, Scott Wilkinson, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Loesser and Charles Collins
Sharon Talbot (soprano), Stephanie Gartrell (mezzo), Juliet Kennedy (soprano)Nota bene conducted by Peter de Blois, with Rosemary Russell and Peter de Blois (piano)
Sunday, 16 September 2012
May Magnificat
Sarah MacDonald: Magnificat Tonus Peregrinus
John Tavener: Magnificat (Collegium Regale)
Arvo Pärt: Magnificat
Gerald Finzi: Magnificat
Doublas Mews (snr.): The May Magnificat
Janet Jennings: Magnificat
Charles Villiers Stanford: Magnificat in B flat for eight-part chorus
Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Peter de Blois, with soloists, and organ (Michael Fletcher)
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill Street
Sunday, 6 May 2012, 2.30pm
A Britten Christmas - St Nicholas
Alla Marcia; A Hymn to the Virgin; Simple Symphony; Rosa Mystica; Sweet was the Song; The Sycamore Tree; Saint Nicolas cantata.
Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Michael Vinten, with soloists, and orchestra, Amber Rainey and Ken Ryan (piano) and Douglas Mews (organ) in Saint Nicolas.
Sacred Heart Mary Cathedral, Hill Street
Sunday, 11 December, 2.30pm
Requiem
Herbert Howells: Requiem; Albinoni: Adagio; Schütz: Two choral pieces; Pearsall: ‘Lay a Garland’; Lukáš: Requiem Aeternam; Sam Piper: ‘Kyrie’; Jan Sandström: ‘Sanctus’; Barber: ‘Agnus Dei’; David Hamilton: Lux Aeterna; Fauré: ‘Pie Jesu’ from Requiem in D; Tavener: Song for Athene
Nota Bene Chamber Choir, conducted by Peter de Blois, with Lara Denby (soprano, in Fauré’s ‘Pie Jesu’) and Douglas Mews (organ, in Albinoni and Fauré)
St. Mary of the Angels Church, Boulcott Street
Sunday, 3 April 2011, 2.30pm
A Snow-free Christmas
Nota Bene Choir
Guest Conductor: Peter Walls
Carolyn Mills (harp) Frances Moore (soprano) / Peter Barber (viola) / Fiona McCabe (piano)
Saturday 6th December 2008
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill St, Wellington
