Duruflé: Requiem
Russell Hepplewhite: I Wake (text by Wendy Cope) world première
Poulenc: Gloria
Andrea Brown - musical director
Andrew Millington - organ/piano
Gweneth Ann Rand - soprano
Timothy Dickinson - baritone
Isabella Farleigh - cello
I Wake is part of Living Voices, a new collection of ten inspirational pieces for choirs, all of which portray an aspect of modern life. Composer Russell Hepplewhite invited ten British poets to create poetic responses to our world today. Their reflections cover birth and death, youth and age, sickness and health, and landscape and memory. Hepplewhite’s music translates the message of each poem into a vibrant collective choral sound, uplifted by his abundant experience of writing for the theatre.
During 2025, the entire collection is to be premièred across the UK by ten different choirs, of which EFC is the first. Full details can be found at https://stainer.co.uk/living-voices/.
We are delighted to be performing with some fine musicians, all of whom have connections with Exeter or the South-West.
Andrew Millington was director of music at Exeter Cathedral for six years and prior to that was musical director for Exeter Philharmonic Choir. He is actively involved in the PipeUp Devon Scheme, which provides subsidised tuition for budding organists.
Gweneth Ann Rand studied at the university. She first performed Poulenc’s Gloria as a teenager with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.
Isabella Farleigh grew up in Devon. She is the youngest soloist to have performed at Budleigh Music Festival, when 11 years old.
Timothy Dickinson and soprano Amy Carson are the founders of The Echoing Air, an ensemble based in the South-West and largely made up of musicians from the region.
The venue has full disabled access.
