Press Release

Cantate Choir go international!

This May Kent based chamber choir ‘Cantate’ are spreading their wings and performing in Tuscany. They are preparing to tour abroad for the first time with a delightful summer programme and will return to England for their final 2 concerts in London and Kent. The choir have built an enviable following due in major part to their musical director Robin Walker who has worked with Cantate for nearly 10 years. Such was Robin’s enthusiasm for the choir when his wife’s ministry led to their relocation to Florence that Robin and the choir were determined to stick together. It was inevitable that the choir would be lured by Robin to experience the rich and diverse culture of Tuscany, to show off the choir and some of England’s choral treasures.

Their ‘a capella’ concerts will feature music from the 15th to the 20th century, with a particular focus on Italian and English composers, including Giovanni Gabrieli, Antonio Lotti, Charles Wood, William Harris, John Dowland and Edward Bairstow.

All three concert venues are ancient churches with rich histories. The first is the Methodist Church in Florence, built in the 12th Century as a monastery, and the place where the clavichord was perhaps invented. It is also only a few doors away from the palazzo in which dramatic recitative was first heard, the birthplace of modern operatic style. The church is only a few hundred yards from the church of Santa Croce, where Rossini is buried, whose Messe Solennelle the choir performed in March this year.

The 13th century church of Saint Augustine in the UNESCO World Heritage town of San Gimignano, south of Florence, is the choir’s second port of call. San Gimignano is famous for its many tall towers, used to dry long lengths of cloth dyed with local saffron, and visible for many miles around. The town was used in the film Tea with Mussolini, and is the setting for the video game Assassin’s Creed II !

For their final concert the choir perform in one of Florence’s most ancient churches, La Badia Fiorentina (Florence Abbey), which dates back to the year 978, and where Robin is currently organist. The monastic community there have given the choir special permission to give a rare concert, which will be the final highlight of the trip.

For those who don’t fancy Florence in early Summer (and who could resist!) there are two chances to catch the summer programme in England. First on Thursday 16th June when the choir will sing in the City of London at St Margaret Patten’s Church and then the European tour will climax on the opening night of the Sevenoaks Festival at St Martin’s Church Brasted on the 18th June.

The three Tuscan dates are Tuesday 31st May at 9pm, Wednesday 1st June at 3pm, and Thursday 2nd at 9pm. They are all free to the public, and last one hour. If you are visiting Florence why not add the dates to your diary! Tickets for the UK concerts can be obtained via the box office on 01732 770570 or at Sevenoaks Bookshop: For further information visit the choir’s website: www.cantate-choir.info