This concert provided a compelling dialogue between past and present as it explored themes of death and resurrection.

The Requiem is one of Mozart’s most loved and moving works. This unfinished masterpiece confronts mortality, combining great drama and transcendent beauty. Its architecture and emotional directness continue to reward, revealing new depths to those who return to it again and again. We were excited to be performing it again after 20 years. The fantastic orchestral setting composed for us for a smaller orchestra resonated with all the excitement, energy and pathos of this piece.

The oratorio Affirming Flame provides a modern response to the Requiem. Contemporary American-born composer Tom Randle has chosen poems that reflect upon war for his texts: poets include Siegfried Sassoon and Isaac Rosenberg, as well as more contemporary writers such as Saabri Youssef, the acclaimed Iraqi poet and translator. The poems present words of wisdom and experience, resilience and pathos. The music is urgent and forceful, intense and purposeful, as if burning with an inner flame that will persist through adversity; thus it creates a requiem for our time. With a new orchestration and an additional movement since it was first performed in 2019, this will formed a premiere for the choir.

Our four outstanding soloists for this concert were: Gillian Keith, Caroline McCartney, Tom Randle and Trevor Bowes.

CHRISTMAS REBORN – Music from the Renaissance to the present day

13th December 2025, 7.30pm – St Mary’s Church, Platt.

Organist: Alex Trigg

A celebration of sacred choral masterworks for the Christmas season.

This year’s Christmas concert presented a rich programme of sacred music spanning many centuries. Highlights included Tomás Luis de Victoria’s O Magnum Mysterium as well as three majestic, polyphonic pieces by Palestrina to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of Palestrina’s birth. Pierre Villette’s Hymne à la Vierge and contemporary piece by Will Todd (My Lord has Come) offered lyrical contrast. The programme also featured many favourite carols old and new, from Joys Seven to Silent Night, and seasonal gems by Darke, Bennett, Rutter, and Vaughan Williams. With audience carols to compete the evening, it was a an inspiring musical celebration of the season.

June 21st 2025, St Martin’s Church, Brasted

We were delighted to take our audience to 18th Century London to hear the music of Handel and his contemporaries. With music from opera houses, concert halls, pleasure gardens and churches we presented an exciting repertoire of secular and spiritual pieces from this period.

This is a time when London flourished with public concerts, as operas and chamber music grew in popularity. The elegant Baroque music of this period reflects the growing confidence and sophistication of the capital city. From Handel at his most pastoral to Arne at his most patriotic the programme evoked the many different styles of chamber music from this century. We were joined by Vivace to help recreate the vibrant musical playground of Georgian London.

Spring 2025

Sunday 6th April, 6.00pm

Pamoja Hall, Sevenoaks School

We performed the magnificent Brahms German Requiem for our Spring concert. This lyrical and heartfelt piece reflects upon the nature of grief, through a series of sacred texts that celebrate the peace and majesty of eternal rest; instilled with the sense of hope and renewal, Brahms’ expressive music brings intensity combined with solace and consolation.

We performed with an accompaniment arranged for two pianos with pianists David Knotts and Alex Trigg. In the marvellous acoustic of the Pamoja Hall, with two grand pianos on stage, they drew out both the sheer energy and gravity of the piece and its touching lyricism. We were also joined by two magnificent soloists Soprano Anna Gregg and Baritone Sonny Fielding making this a truly stirring event.

In addition we will be performed the sublime Abendfeier in Venedig by Clara Schumann – alongside a wonderful set of songs also by Clara Schumann performed by our two soloists.

Tickets are also available from Sevenoaks Bookshop and members of the choir.

Saturday 16th November 2024 – St. Mary, Kippington

Organist Benjamin Frost

Our Autumn concert brought together a selection of music by contemporary composers. The programme included songs of shining nights and radiant dawns, bringing light in darkness moving through to the end of the year. We presented music by contemporary composers including Macmillan, Dove, Whitacre and Lauridsen as well as our good friends Frahm and Morgan. There were settings of verses from the Bible and a poem by Marlowe, a folk song from Renaissance Granada and Te Deum. We also paid tribute to James Whitbourn, the composer and conductor of wonderful choral pieces and an influential programme maker at the BBC, who died earlier this year and with whom our choir had a special connection at its foundation.

Our concert included some well-known pieces alongside those we hoped would become favourites – it was a compelling and refreshing programme of current composers; we see this as a key part of our repertoire alongside performances of classical and baroque pieces. We were especially delighted to be performing a world premiere of a piece written especially for us – Come Live with Me and be my Love – after Marlowe – composed by Frederick Frahm – https://frederickfrahm.com/

Saturday 22nd June, St Mary Platt

To celebrate the Olympics we took our audience on a musical journey around the world: from Hawaii to Finland, South Africa to Japan we brought together a wide range of musical styles – lyrical songs, hymns to the homeland, lively folk tunes and classical pieces; music with soul and energy in equal measure.

We performed traditional songs like Shenandoah (USA) and Thula Sizwe (South Africa) as well as the lively El Hambo (Finland) and expressive Pokarekare Ana (New Zealand).  We completed our journey in Paris performing Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine as well as the Olympic Hymn.

We invited all our guests to travel with us through the different soundworlds across the globe – there was something for everyone! With a rousing encore we rounded off with evening repeating the wonderful stamping dances and movements that formed part of our South African songs.

9th March 2024

‘Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it I know not. God knows’ – So said Handel of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ in his Messiah in 1741.

Blending majestic choruses, tender and intimate arias, and expressive orchestration Handel’s Messiah tells the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The powerful narrative that flows through this piece as the drama unfolds, the range of moods and the beautiful alignment of text and music all combine to make this magnificent work the most celebrated oratorio in the choral repertoire. We were delighted to be performing again with Vivace! the period instrument ensemble for the first time since Covid.

Conductor Robin Walker.

Leader Hazel Brooks.

Soloists:

Soprano: Katherine Gregory
Countertenor: Alasdair Austin
Tenor: Joseph Hancock
Bass: Tom Butler

For our Christmas concert we performed spiritual and secular music to celebrate the season. Our programme presented a fantastic range of pieces featuring traditional carols alongside new discoveries from across the ages. We sung Bach’s motet Komm, Jesu, komm together with German, French and English carols as well as popular Christmas songs. We also performed less well known music including pieces by late Renaissance composer Marenzio and contemporary Lativan composer Dubra. With music by Praetorius and Brahms, Rutter and Willcocks we offered a wonderful range of pieces, some peaceful and some lively, all full of the spirit of Christmas. There were selections of favourite audience carols for everyone to join in with too. It was a wonderful and varied programme designed for all ages and all interests: we had a great audience join us for the evening as we got the Christmas season well underway.

Our summer concert Spice of Life was held on Saturday 17th June 2023 at the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Tonbridge- our organist was our good friend Iestyn Evans.

We continued to celebrate our 20th Year with a gala concert presenting our favourite music, drawn from our performances over the last 20 years, including Vivaldi’s Gloria, Gabrieli’s Jubilate Deo and Bruckner’s Locus Iste. From Gesulado to Rheinberger, Rachmaninov to Whitacre – a range to ensure there was something to delight everyone in our programme. We also performed pieces by Frahm, Morgan and Magnussen, composers who have been great friends of the choir, as well as Over the Rainbow (which we sang, along with the Gabrieli, when we won Top Choir Kent) and The Wellerman – recalling a dewy morning in Knole Park. We were also very excited to be able to welcome back past members of the choir to sing with us again – making this an extra special finale to our Anniversary year.

Saturday 13th May 2023

Out of one of the most violent periods of religious and political history in England came some of the most sumptuous and divine music ever written. This year marked 400 years since the death of two of the most noted figures of English choral music – William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes. In this concert we paid tribute to these two masters with performances including Salvator mundi by Tallis and Byrd’s Teach me, O Lord and Ne irascaris domine; it also featured other sacred and secular highlights of this era, including works by Gibbons (This is the record of John), Tomkins (When David heard), Dowland (Come again, sweet love doth now invite), as well as a setting of Greensleeves (attributed to Henry VIII).We had a wonderful evening of music from Tudor composers.

Tchaikovsky Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

Saturday 28th January 2023

Ely Cathedral with Ipswich Choral Society

Saturday 4th February 2023

The Chapel of St Augustine, Tonbridge School

We performed Tchaikovsky’s settings of texts taken from the Divine
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. We had performed it the previous week in Ely Cathedral which has been an amazing experience – collaborating with Ipswich Choral Society. For our own concert we were in chapel in Tonbridge School.

This is the most celebrated of the Eucharistic services of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Tchaikovsky felt a deep connection with this part of Orthodox worship, writing to a friend that, ‘it is impossible not to be profoundly moved by the liturgy of our own Orthodox Church… to be startled from one’s trance by a burst from the choir; to be carried away by the poetry of this music; to be thrilled when… the words ring out, ‘Praise the name of the Lord!’ – all this is infinitely precious to me! One of my deepest joys!’

The concert opened with a setting of the Prayer for Ukraine. It took place in the glorious setting of St. Augustine Chapel at Tonbridge School.

The programme also featured solo organ pieces including works by Dupré, Vierne, Rheinberger and Reger; this was an opportunity to hear the marvellous Marcussen Organ in the chapel.

Intense and stirring, made all the more thrilling in the
atmosphere of the chapel, we hope you enjoyed our performance as much as we did.

POULENC – GLORIA

SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 7.30PM

ST MARTIN’S, BRASTED

We performed a selection of music – Mendelssohn’s Lauda Sion, Magnussen’s beautiful setting of the Shakespeare lyric Fear No More, Vierne’s Les Angelus (for soprano solo and organ) and Poulenc’s Gloria; this last piece we performed to celebrate our twentieth anniversary – it was one of the pieces we performed for our first concert.

We were delighted to be joined by Soprano Gwen Martin and Organist Charles Andrews. Robin Walker, our director of music, conducted

Poulenc’s Gloria, completed in 1960, is one of his best-known works. It moves through many moods from jocular to mysterious, from melodious to joyous – sparkling with energy and excitement even its quieter more intricate moments and most especially in its glorious fanfares. The complex organ part evokes the brilliance and drama of a full orchestra. We enjoyed performing this 20 years ago and were delighted to return to it again to celebrate our anniversary.

First performed in 1846, though not published until after Mendelssohn’s death, Lauda Sion was composed to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Corpus Christi. It is celebratory and majestic, most often described as adopting a melodious Italianate style, and reaches a dramatic climax before a calm conclusion in the final movement.

Jonas Magnussen’s setting of the Shakespeare’s song from Cymbeline – Fear no More the Heat ‘o the Sun – simply stirs with soulful beauty.

Gwen Martin and Robin Walker performed Vierne’s Les Angelus, a work of wonderful clarity, at times intense, at others serene, perfect for in St Martin’s church.

SATURDAY 25TH JUNE 7.30PM

St. Mary’s Church, Platt

Sprig of Thyme

Conductor Robin Walker

We were delighted to perform our programme of American and English folk songs with music by Vaughan Williams, Rutter, Copland and Frahm.

We conjured a world of ballads and love songs where you could walk country lanes and sail the seven seas; find many wonders and curiosities – from American bandicoots to ghostly lovers – and hear the calls of the Ohio river boatmen and listen to the philosophies of the Miller of Dee.

In the 150th anniversary year of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ birth we sung Five English Folk Songs, together with John Rutter’s Sprig of Thyme; together these represent a lovely collection of songs, some recognisable, others less well-known.

Aaron Copland’s sound world is unmistakable in his settings of old American songs, whether he is reworking a minstrel song that recalls America’s majestic rivers or updating a lively farmyard nonsense song.

We were particularly excited to present the world premiere of Late-Night Lyrics by Frederick Frahm including a setting of the poem by Emily Dickinson, ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’. Late-Night Lyrics is a set of three sophisticated and subtle songs on three very different themes.

At times infectious, energetic tunes, at others wistful storytelling, these songs were wide ranging, bringing a host of characters (and animals!) to life. Folk songs tell us many things about beauty and loss, nature and the rhythms of life; this proved to be a perfect selection for a summer’s evening to celebrate the many stories they tell.

St. Mary, Kippington

KODALY – MISSA BREVIS and VERDI – FOUR SACRED PIECES

Conductor Robin Walker

We are delighted to be presenting this programme of richly layered and
dramatic sacred pieces. This is the concert we had been about to perform when
covid struck in 2020 and we are very pleased to be returning to these pieces
once again.

Kodály was born in Hungary and stayed there during the Nazi occupation. In
the last stages of the war he took refuge in the Budapest Opera House and it
was there that he composed Missa Brevis, building on an
earlier work composed in 1942. Its first official premiere was at the Three
Choirs Festival in Worcester in 1948.

The piece is imbued with folk melodies and romanticism. There are moments of
yearning and moments of joyousness; intense and rich, gentle and haunting,
exuberant and exultant, this piece is wonderful to perform and we hope you will
enjoy discovering it if you have not heard it before. 

Four Sacred Pieces, Quattro pezzi sacri, were
written separately between 1886 and 1897, towards the end of the Verdi’s life.
 They were published together in 1898 and they are generally performed in
the publisher’s order, rather than chronologically.

Ave Maria was a piece composed to try and harmonise the
enigmatic scale. Intended  as an exercise, it was not originally written
for public performance. The melody is sung by each line in turn and the other
parts harmonise around it, resulting in a lush and beautiful piece.

Stabat Mater is a theatrical composition as the music moves
between the different dramatic moods of the crucifixion.

Laudi alla Vergine Maria is a setting of a prayer in Canto
XXXIII of Dante’s Paradiso, a joyous hymn to the Virgin Mary, for four female
voices a cappella. Gentle and beautiful this is a moment of peace.

Te Deum is a setting for double chorus and provides another
opportunity for operatic drama. The piece ranges from lyrical passages to
thundering climaxes, providing stirring contrasts of mood and movement. This is
the piece Verdi wanted buried with him when he died.

The series as a whole provides music of great beauty and drama. If you came
to our performance of Christmas Oratorio in 2019, you will know we can promise
you an exciting and exhilarating concert. We hope you will join us on the 26th
March.

(UPDATED – when we actually performed the concert covid had unfortunately prevented Charles Andrews from playing the organ)

SATURDAY DECEMBER 18^TH 7.30pm. ST MARY’S PLATT

We were very sad to have to cancel our Christmas concert due to the Omicron strain of Covid that was on the

After our recent successful concert – a Serenade to Music – The Cantate Choir return again with our Christmas concert taking place at St.Mary Platt on Saturday 18^th December.

We were overwhelmed with the fantastic audience who joined us for our November concert, after such a long wait. Now we are back again to celebrate Christmas with a wonderful programme of carols and music for the festive season, with the organ in full song.

We will be performing a variety of traditional Christmas carols from across the ages and we will be including audience favourites too – come and sing along! Having had to cancel Christmas concerts last year we are looking forward to returning full of excitement and good cheer. The Christmas season is well upon us and we hope you will join us to celebrate the festivities in the traditional way!

For the latest covid precautions at our concerts click here.

13th November, St. Martin’s Brasted

We were delighted to be back rehearsing for this Autumn. It was a challenging 18 months being unable to gather, sing and plan for concerts since we had to postpone our Spring 2020 concert so many months ago. We have been very excited to be able to rehearse again and have an exciting series of concerts lined up. This first concert of 2021 was particularly exciting as we had such a wonderful audience come to our performance to welcome us back.

Our first welcome back concert for 2021 took place on 13^th November at St Martin’s Church, Brasted at 19.30.

We had missed singing so very much that our first programme was a collection of our favourite pieces which we had not been able to perform for a while. Our concert Serenade to Music was a celebration of music and included a range of contemplative, uplifting and majestic works by Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Britten and Stanford.

We celebrated music and harmony with pieces that explore the inspiring nature of music and song from composers across the centuries. Our concert included performances of Ave verum, Mozart and My heart is inditing by Handel. We sang Mendelssohn’s How lovely are the Messengers together with Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, including pieces by Stanford and Britten (Hymn to St Cecilia) and concluding with the stirring Blest Pair of Sirens by Parry. These included settings of words drawn from the Bible, as well as verses by Shakespeare, Milton and Auden, all exploring and celebrating music in its many uplifting guises.

Director of Music Robin Walker conducted and Ian Shaw will joined us on the organ.

Saturday 14th December 2019 at 7.30pm
at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Tonbridge.

Cantate was once again joined by their sister ensemble Vivace! to perform the first half of Bach’s great setting of the Christmas story. The first three Cantatas took us from the announcement and birth of the Christ-child to the shepherds going to Bethlehem to visit the stable. Masterful story-

telling and joyous choral music always make this piece a wonderful way to start the Christmas season.

For this special concert, Cantate was delighted to welcome back Gwen Martin (soprano) and Nick Pritchard (tenor) and to work with Natalie Davies (mezzo-soprano) and Cheyney Kent (baritone) for the first time. The period-instrument ensemble Vivace! was led by Hazel Brooks.

We enjoyed a glittering retelling of the Christmas story in the beautiful surroundings of St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Tonbridge.

Saturday June 22nd, 7.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Platt.

For our summer concert this year we explored styles of music which challenged us to get out of our comfort zone. We sang music which bridges over 900 years, opening our concert with music by one of the most important and influential composers in history, Hildegard von Bingen, followed by a work by Stevie Wishart written only a few years ago based around that ancient music. Stevie explores the Medieval sound-world through texture and vocal effects to create a rich and elaborate soundscape, reminiscent of monastic chant and ancient buildings.
A ‘first’ for Cantate was a programme which features exclusively female composers, and we performed music from the Renaissance and the 19th century, with pieces by perhaps the most well-known female composer of the last century, Amy Beach. We concluded our programme with two works by Lauren Redhead, performing one work which is a cappella and a second in which we had an element of improvisation and which we performed with electronics Lauren created especially for this performance.
This was a particularly exciting concert for the choir, working with two contemporary composers exploring the real cutting edge of vocal performance; it challenged us to try a whole new approach as a choir and led to an exciting and enjoyable evening.

DIXIT DOMINUS AND CHORAL AND INSTRUMENTAL WORKS BY PACHELBEL – including the famous Canon.

St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks

Saturday March 9th

7.30pm

We will be performing Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a wonderfully energetic and challenging piece, together with three stately but joyful baroque choral pieces by Pachelbel. We will be joined by Vivace! who will also perform Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Our guest soloists will perform a Magnificat also by Pachelbel.

Handel understands effect better than any of us—when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.’

—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart*

We are delighted to be joined by Vivace! led by Diane Terry as well as guest soloists.

The centrepiece of the evening is Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a setting of the Latin text of Psalm 110. Handel composed the piece while he was in Italy and it was first performed, it is believed, in 1707 when he was just 22. It is an exciting and energetic piece, not without challenges. In the King James version this psalm begins: ‘The Lord said unto my Lord: sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool’.  It is a dramatic, robust and declaratory psalm and this is reflected in the intensity of Handel’s music: there are vigorous arpeggios and majestic fugues, highly layered cascading chorus parts and beautiful solo melodies, leading to a final triumphant Gloria. If you have not heard it before it is a stirring piece, full of drama and contrast, and for those who have, hearing it performed live is always a fantastic and spirited occasion.

The concert will also present four choral pieces and one orchestral piece by Pachelbel. Pachelbel represents the flowering of the south German organ schools and is one of the most important composers of the middle baroque. The Canon in D is well known by many and it is always a delight to hear its elegant and measured chord progression. The choral works are less well known but the choir will be singing three lovely pieces: Jauchzet dem Herrn, a joyful setting of Psalm 100, the buoyant Singet dem Herrn and the stately Lutheran hymn, Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan. The final piece, a Magnificat, will be performed by the soloists.

Saturday 10th November 2018 at St. Mary’s Church, Kippington, Sevenoaks

A programme of music and readings, with organ.

Organist: Iestyn Evans

Readers: Sandy Walsh and Robin Lustig

Cantate’s next performance is a special concert to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. The programme includes songs and readings from poems written during and after the War alongside settings of sacred texts that reflect the choral traditions of the last century.  The centrepiece of the concert will be Herbert Howells’ Requiem. Other works include pieces by English composers of the 20^th Century, such as Ireland and Elgar, as well as music by Messiaen, Pärt and Whitacre, music to evoke both sadness and hope.

Tickets cost £15 (Friends £12 and under 18s £7.50) and include refreshments.

The programme is approximately 90 minutes without an interval.

Tickets available at Sevenoaks Bookshop, online at www.bpt.com or by phone 0800 411 8881.

Saturday 23rd June 2018 at All Saints Church, Tudeley at 7.30pm

An  performance of music ancient and modern, including the world premiere of a piece by local composer and supporter of the choir, Laurie Dunkin Wedd, inspired by the wonderful Chagall windows at Tudeley. We performed the Mass for 5 Voices by Byrd, the Chansons Francaises by Poulenc as well as If Ye Love Me by Tallis and Three Thomas Campion songs by Nunn.  It also included the world Premiere of a  piece by Frederick Frahm for clarinet and piano which encapsulated the different windows and was performed by Sarah Trigg on the clarinet accompanied by our Director of Music, Robin Walker on the piano.

We performed the E minor Mass and a selection of sacred motets, accompanied by organ and trombones at St. Martin’s Brasted on Sunday 22 April. It was a lovely sunny evening, quite a contrast from the original planned date of the concert which was postponed from March due to the snow.

Through their gorgeous harmonic language and polyphonic layering, their roving melodic lines and unexpected dissonances, these pieces represent compelling examples of Bruckner’s intense sound world. It was a stirring and rewarding evening.

Please note that the poster below has the old date on it.

 SADLY WE WERE NOT ABLE TO PEFORM THIS PROGRAMME DUE TO COVID BUT WE HAVE KEPT THIS AS A RECORD OF WHAT WE HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED.

Saturday 20^th June 2020, 7.30pm – St Botolph’s Church, Chevening

Midsummer Idyll – folk songs and part songs for a summer evening.

Saturday 7^th November 2020, 7.30pm – St Mary’s Church, Kippington

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot – A journey through pivotal moments in history with music for times of Revolution.

Saturday 12^th December 2020, 7.30pm – St Mary’s Church, Riverhead

O Tannenbaum – a feast of seasonal music and traditional carols for all the family, surrounded by St Mary’s Christmas Tree Festival.