Opinions
We enjoy reading reviews and feedback from our concertgoers.
If you'd like to share your thoughts on a recent concert, please feel free to email us your feedback.
Flemish Giants
27 November 2023 | John Pattinson
Good to see innovative and exciting programming continues to be the hallmark of Jubes performances.
27 November 2023 | Alyson Keller
Well done on your recent concert on Saturday. It was lovely to come along and watch. There were some tricky pieces. I loved the collaboration with the Renaissance group.
27 November 2023 | John Emeleus
That was an extraordinary concert and a great credit to Philip, Roger and all concerned.
The Jubilates excelled themselves and it was a stroke of pure genius to have included the Iranian item at both ends of the concert.
There are very few opportunities to hear instrumental ensembles from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Roger's Broken Consort was a revelation of how beautiful and contrasting the colours of the instruments are. How he juggled his instruments around was utterly amazing.
Fit for a King
10 August 2023 | Christine and John Coomber
We greatly enjoyed the recent concert "Fit for a King " performed by the Jubilate Singers under the direction of Philip Norman.
With guest artists the vocal ensemble "Oriana", the Christchurch Symphonic Brass and organist Jeremy Woodside, the choir performed an ambitious programme covering six centuries of musical composition written for royalty. We were treated to a composition written by Henry VIII himself in the sixteenth century to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s " Make a Joyful Noise " coronation anthem for King Charles III in May this year.
The choir had a good balanced sound and the whole performance was enhanced by fantastic brass and the great voices of the vocal quartet members.
30 July 2023 | Claire Hobbs
What a fabulous concert, thoroughly enjoyable. The brass were outstanding!!
Well done to all the singers (Courtney - wow!!) and to all of you for putting on such a great show. I am spending this morning on the computer with Purcell in the background as I found those pieces unbelievably haunting and unlike anything I’ve heard before.
Congratulations and thank you!
The Earth We Share
30 May 2023 | Adrian and Rona Buttimore
Congratulations to you all for a superb concert today. Great programming and a great performance. You deserved a much bigger audience but it lacked nothing in enthusiasm!
30 May, 2023 | Reviewed by John Pattinson
"Never say ‘die’” seems to be the unwritten motto of the Jubes. Now in their 46th year, they have weathered the storms & stresses of earthquakes, pandemics and other upsets. Having lost their customary performing venues, namely our two cathedrals, they have cheerfully resorted to singing in some unlikely locations, including, pubs, night-clubs - even once, in mid-air. If that were not enough, they have had to adapt to the widely differing tastes and styles of five musical directors. Little wonder, then, that over recent years the Jubes have, at times, seemed to be searching for an identity.
To my way of thinking, their recent concert, The Earth We Share, marked a turning point in the choir’s development. Actually, a re-turning point would be more accurate for, in eschewing all gimmickry, dressing-up or jokey programming, the Jubes did what they always do best, - stand and sing, - unsupported by instruments on this occasion, and mercifully free (almost) from interruption by the spoken voice (which, for me always breaks the spell of any concert).
An a cappella programme is always a stiff undertaking, particularly when the biggest ‘sing’ lies in wait at the end! But the Jubes proved themselves well up to the challenge, amazingly reserving enough in the tank to despatch Randall Thompson’s exhausting Peaceable Kingdom with confidence and panache. The overall theme du jour was the diversity of life on Earth, explored by way of 20c composers, the sole exception being Janequin’s Le Chant des Oiseaux, - a solitary flash of Renaissance levity in an otherwise deeply earnest bill of fare. The choir enthusiastically and effectively threw themselves into its humorously conflicting birdsong impressions.
Despite a temporary shortage of basses, the Jubes maintained a pleasing balance, and a striking beauty of tone characterised both Frank Ticheli’s Earth Song and Arvo Pärt’s The Deer’s Cry. Canadian Murray Shafer’s unconventional graphic scores had their heyday in the 1970s. In Magic Songs precise notation is replaced by suggestive shapes, inviting a certain degree of controlled improvisation. To perform these successfully demands utter conviction from the singers; here their message of protest and outrage was delivered in no uncertain terms! Erik Esenvald’s Stars is an engaging work of ethereal beauty. Sara Teasdale’s words, as in many contemporary choral works of this genre, are sacrificed in the cause of luminous harmonies. In Stars, the mystical effect is (ideally) enhanced by an accompaniment of rubbed wineglasses and Tibetan singing bowls. Sensibly, the Singers replaced these with a synthesiser, with no great detriment.
Enhancement of an entirely different kind illumined this excellent concert throughout, and credit must be given to Peter Hewson for his aptly selected, never intrusive slide projections.
I have an obvious interest to declare in writing about my old choir, but on this occasion I felt a distinct impulse to cry “Welcome back! Bravi!”
Wit and Wisdom
30 October 2022 | Wallace Woodley
I was privileged to be in the audience at The Piano this afternoon.
Thank you for such an entertaining programme reflecting your outstanding contribution to music composition and performance.
Your Singers were in great voice and your humour stitched it all together beautifully.
I am very glad that there were so many others present who also responded enthusiastically to the afternoon's programme.
Warm appreciation and very best wishes.