A choral concert by The Sixteen exploring sacred music from Spain's Siglo de Oro, including the world premiere of Kerensa Briggs' 'Lead, Kindly Light'.
The Sixteen bring their Choral Pilgrimage to Greyfriars Kirk on Saturday 17 October, with Harry Christophers conducting. The concert is part of a wider tour that takes the ensemble through a specific stretch of choral history, and this stop in Edinburgh is one of the dates on that journey.
The first half of the programme looks back to Spain's Siglo de Oro, the Age of Gold, with polyphony by Cristóbal de Morales and Sebastián de Vivanco. Their counterpoint once filled the cathedrals of Ávila and Salamanca, and that's the sound they're bringing here—Renaissance choral music from the Spanish Golden Age.
From there, the concert shifts to two settings of poems by Saint John Henry Newman. One is Nothing in Vain, commissioned in 2021 by the Genesis Foundation for Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. The other is the world premiere of Lead, Kindly Light by Kerensa Briggs, which was commissioned specifically for the Pilgrimage, so this is one of the first times it'll be heard.
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If you're keen on singing yourself, there's a Choral Workshop for Wellbeing the following day, led by The Sixteen's associate conductor Eamonn Dougan and sopranos Julie Cooper and Charlotte Mobbs. Buying a workshop ticket in the same transaction as the concert takes £5 off. Greyfriars Kirk has level access throughout and accessible toilets. The concert starts at 16:45, and tickets are £15 to £35.
