Conductor and composer
Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd December at 7.45pm David conducts The Bristol Choir with City of Bristol Choir (Friday) and Exultate Singers (Saturday) in this annual festival of revelry at St George’s Bristol. Tickets from St George’s box office on 0845 40 24 001.
Sunday 2nd December at 4.45pm, BBC One David conducts Exultate Singers, Bristol Schools Chamber Choir and the boys and girls of Westbury-on-Trym Parish Church as well as congregational hymns in St Alban’s Church, Westbury Park for a special episode of Songs of Praise for the First Sunday of Advent (photograph Ken Kay / BBC)
Sunday 9th December at 6.30pm, St George’s Bristol David Ogden and Martin Le Poidevin conduct the Bristol Schools Chamber Choirs – juniors, intermediates, boys ensemble and senior girls – in a Christmas celebration at St George’s Bristol. Tickets available from St George’s box office on 0845 40 24 001 or on the door
David conducted the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir in a powerful and moving service of Sunday Worship, live on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 18th November from Bedford. The service was led by the Rev Sharon Grenham-Toze, chaplain of Bedford Prison. After the service, the singers gave a concert in Bedford Prison to around 40 inmates.
Listen again to the service:
The Choir: Sing While You Work, BBC Two David was asked by Gareth Malone to take rehearsals for the Bristol Royal Mail postal workers choir featured on the episode of Gareth Malone’s new series on Thursday 27 September. David worked with the singers who were selected for choir especially for the programme, teaching them a number of songs featured on the programme and working on their choral technique http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01n2xgz/?t=19m12s
Saturday 10th November 2012, 7.30pm at Colston Hall, Bristol
David conducts the 140 voices of City of Bristol Choir and Exultate Singers together Grammy award-winning bass Jonathan Lemalu to perform William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. Full of drama, despair and triumph, the piece is a fast-paced tale of the Babylonian king Belshazzar, and the liberation from exile of the Jewish people.
Herbert Howells’ masterpiece Hymnus Paradisi receives its first Bristol performance in this concert. Written in the 1930s after the death of Howells’ young son, it was first performed in 1950. It is an extraordinary work of remembrance and passion, with an ecstatic conclusion looking towards the promise of eternal life.
Tickets £15 – £30 from Colston Hall box office on 0117 922 3686 and www.colstonhall.org
Sunday 7th October, 3pm at St James Priory, Bristol
A decade after it sang its first notes in the medieaval church of St James Priory, Bristol’s accomplished chamber choir Exultate Singers returns to mark its birthday with a celebratory concert of the choir’s favourite pieces including music by Palestrina, Parry, J.S. Bach, Purcell, Harris, Whitacre and Stanford. Come and enjoy a slice of birthday cake and an afternoon of beautiful choral music!
Tickets £8 (£7 concessions, £4 students, £2 under 18s) from Providence Music Shop on 0117 927 6536 and online at www.exultatesingers.org
Thursday 23rd – Friday 24th August 2012
Come and enjoy two concerts of music from the 16th century to the present day, sung by the fresh and vibrant young voices of the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir, conducted by David Ogden and accompanied by professional organist Daniel Moult.
The first is an hour-long concert in the church of St Mary Virgin, the oldest covered building on Holy Island, reputed to stand on the site of the original monastery founded by Aidan in 635AD. Entry to the concert is free, and there will be retiring collection to be divided between the choir and the parish church.
The second concert will be given on Friday 24th August at 7.30pm in Elvet Methodist Church in Durham, during which the choir will sing a programme of music showcasing its wide repertoire and versatility, from 16th century Italian Renaissance music to pieces written in the last 12 months. Tickets will be available on the door, priced at £5 for adults, £4 concessions, £1 for under 18s.
During the week, the singers can also be heard singing Evensong at Durham Cathedral (daily at 5.15pm from Monday 20th to Saturday 25th August, except Thursday), and Sunday services at 10am (Matins), 11.15am (Sung Eucharist) and 3.30pm Evensong.
“The emergence of the Exultate Singers, founded in 2002 by David Ogden, adds to the growing list of stellar British mixed choirs capable of producing topnotch performances of some of the most dauntingly challenging choral literature.” AllMusic
“This imaginatively programmed disc marks the Exultate Singers out as a choir to be reckoned with.” BBC Music Magazine
“Sung with requisite purity by the Exultate Singers under David Ogden… the most powerful tracks are John Tavener’s exotic Syvati and Henryk Górecki’s Totus tuus, a work that encourages pure contemplation.” Financial Times
“Exultate’s style of singing stands apart from the mainstream major British choral groups, the warm quality generated by thirty-eight voices, and being much larger than their famous counterparts, the tone is not stressed. Very good sound from the popular UK recording location in St. George’s, Bristol.” David Denton, Naxos.com