Get a Handel on Tewkesbury choir (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Get a Handel on Tewkesbury choir

FAMOUS counter-tenor James Bowman will be joined by other soloists, the Abbey School Choir from Tewkesbury and the recently formed Avonbrook Chamber Choir and Orchestra for a seasonal performance of Handel's Messiah in the splendid setting of Tewkesbury's medieval Abbey on Monday, December 20 at 7pm.

James Bowman will sing such glorious pieces as But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming, O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion and He Was Despised. He is joined by three first class soloists, soprano Emma Brain-Gabbott, tenor Benedict Linton and bass Julian Empett.

Cheltenham-born Emma joins Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic in Salzburg next spring for performances of Britten's Peter Grimes. Benedict Linton, having sung at New College, Oxford, now works both abroad and in the UK and most recently sang Curlew River at the Proms while Julian Empett made his Proms debut in 2002 and has sung with such leading choirs as The Sixteen, the King's Consort and the Tallis Scholars.

The Abbey School Choir, which consists of 16 boy choristers and 12 professional lay clerks and choral scholars, sings Evensong in Tewkesbury Abbey every weekday except Friday and is building up a fine reputation among Britain's leading cathedral choirs.

It has broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, recorded for various labels and given concerts around the world, including in Moscow, Venice and New York.

Tickets for Messiah from the Abbey Shop on 01684 276655.