An evening with Will Todd: Jazz Missa Brevis, Passion Music and a set from ‘All Will be Well’

Durham Choral Society

The concert will feature award-winning North East chamber choir Voices of Hope, members of Newcastle's Strictly Smokin' Big Band and vocalist Alice Grace, with Will Todd accompanying on the grand piano. Will Todd is an internationally renowned composer whose compositions frequently combine classical liturgical themes with contemporary styles such as blues, jazz, and gospel music.

The concert will open with the Jazz Missa Brevis (2015), which combines traditional Latin Mass texts with a variety of jazz styles and showcases the composer’s distinctive jazz harmonies and melodic craftsmanship. Voices of Hope will then perform a set from their 2025 album All Will Be Well, an album of previously unrecorded works by Will Todd. The theme is one of hope but also concern for the relationship with living things and the planet we inhabit. The second half of the concert, Passion Music (2018), is a significant choral work known for its masterful fusion of jazz, gospel and classical choral styles. It draws on hymns and gospel quotations in a highly expressive modern approach to the Passion of Christ.