Reflections - 75 years of LGS

Leeds Guild Of Singers

A memorable evening of choral music, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Leeds Guild of Singers, one of the finest chamber choirs in Yorkshire.

Our Musical Director, Benjamin Kirk, has created an exciting programme, which looks back at the Guild’s rich past, as well as considering what the present and future have to offer chamber choirs like LGS. The centrepiece will be “Stabat Mater” for solo cello and choir by acclaimed Norwegian composer, Knut Nystedt.

The cellist will be Daniel Bull, currently 2nd principal cello at Opera North Orchestra. He will accompany the singers in two more moving pieces, including “Svyati” by John Tavener.

You’ll also enjoy a wonderful range of unaccompanied choral music. To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, we’ll perform his emotional “Tristitia et Anxietas” in its entirety. From the programme of our very first concert in June 1948, we’ve picked out Parry’s “My Soul, there is a Country”. And in a nod to our proud Yorkshire heritage, we’ll be singing an arrangement of Emily Brontë’s poem “The night is darkening round me” by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits.

The rousing “Bring us, O Lord God” by William Harris will make an appearance alongside a well-known folksong by Gustav Holst, among several others. LGS supporters have also requested some old favourites that they'd like to hear again, including Stanford's "The Bluebird" and Pearsall's "Lay a Garland".