Hail Bright Cecilia! South West Chamber Choir

The South West Chamber Choir are performing at Stoke Damerel Parish Church on Sunday 22 November, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. The date is the feast day of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music, and the whole programme is built around her. They'll be joined by The Greenwood Consort, with Music Director Mark Bennett leading the choir.

The set pairs Purcell's Hail, Bright Cecilia! and Come Ye Sons of Art with Britten's Hymn to Saint Cecilia, and three versions of a plainchant honouring the saint: the original Cantantibus Organis, Cecilia di Rore's Cantantibus Organis Ceciliae, and Jennifer Chou's Cantantibus. It's a bit of a journey through the centuries, from the plainchant and Rore's Renaissance setting to Britten's 20th-century hymn and Purcell's Baroque works.

The South West Chamber Choir is based here in Plymouth, usually around 25 to 30 singers, and they mostly do unaccompanied choral music across Devon and East Cornwall. They put on about four concerts a year, with a summer weekend of choral services at cathedrals and abbeys around the country. They've also commissioned a Requiem for Peace from local composer Andrew Wilson and spent time working through English madrigalists from Tudor times to the late 19th century.

Adding the instrumental side is The Greenwood Consort, led by harpsichordist and organist Ian Hiscock and baritone and baroque flute specialist Mark Bennett. They've made a SOMM CD label debut and toured Bavaria, and they'll be providing the accompaniment to Purcell's music here. Tickets are £15, with a £5 price for 18 and under, and the concert runs from 3:00 to 4:30 pm at Stoke Damerel Parish Church, 85 Paradise Road, PL1 5QL.