Skip to main content

Royal Marine to Release Debut Choral Album at Portsmouth Cathedral


After months of work, Royal Marine musician and composer James Dunlop will officially launch his debut choral album, Ascension, with a free concert at Portsmouth Cathedral on Monday November 30th.

The Ascension album is an independent collaboration between young composer James Dunlop and the Portsmouth Cathedral Choir. This 18 month project is the debut album of 26 year old composer James Dunlop and has been funded by the Arts Council England and a crowd funding campaign.

It features 12 tracks of new contemporary choral music composed by James Dunlop and consists of A Cappella works, whilst also featuring the Northumbrian Smallpipe performer, Alice Burn, finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards, as a soloist with the choir. It features works set to religious text as well as modern contemporary pieces of a melodic, thematic nature.

This is James Dunlop’s debut album and a big leap in his musical career; it shows an extraordinary journey with director Dr David Price and the Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and brings new, fresh works to the genre, as well as a new composer’s voice.

Work on the album has been ongoing for the last 18 months and looks set to be a welcomed addition to choral repertoire. Ascension features a broad range of different styles; from commissioned remembrance works, to a Gregorian chant; a new work based on the Big Ben chimes and an experimental ceilidh dance reel with Northumbrian Smallpipes and choir.

It was recorded on location at Portsmouth Cathedral, Hampshire, UK by Sony and Decca utilised sound engineer Andy Deacon with post production by the award winning Badshot Farm Studios, and is a new, modern collection of works to continue and promote the catalogue of choral music.

Ascension is to be released digitally with all major digital music stores and streaming services, on high definition digital music stores, and physically in two versions, a standard jewel case edition and a hard casebound book limited edition.

The Ascension album will launch with a concert in Portsmouth Cathedral on the evening of the launch day, Monday 30th November. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start and is free to attend. The evening supports the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, The Roberts Centre and Portsmouth Cathedral.

As part of the album launch, all of the sheet music from the album will be released for free at www.riverwoodair.com for one week commencing Monday 30th November.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Delicious thinly sliced pork in Korean marinade

Sometimes you found a recipe and wrote it down on a piece of paper to try it out. Having done that, you forget where the recipe came from. Likewise this Korean recipe for pork, which turned out to be so delicious we have cooked it for everyone. The marinade is simple to make and yet really packed with flavours. For the Korean marinade you need  3 garlic cloves 1/2 brown onion 1/2 a pear or apple Blitz these ingredients together and then add 5 tablespoons soy sauce (I use Kikkoman) 3 tablespoons caster sugar 2 tablespoons sesame oil 3 tablespoons mirin black pepper For dinner for 2 people, 200g pork tenderloin is enough. Slice this thinly, and bash it to an even thinner piece with a meat mallet. Marinade in the sauce and leave it in the fridge for an hour. Then heat a frying pan on medium heat with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and fry the thin pork pieces until browned. You want some of the edges of the meat to be dark brown and caramelised, if you can. Don't cook too many pieces or
Post a Comment
Read more

Explore the rich musical tradition of the Royal Navy at a special two-day event at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Whether you love sea shanties full of salty metaphors and swashbuckling action, or the stirring sound of a military band with brass and drums, there will be music across Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in a new event on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th June 2023, which is completely free with a valid ticket to the given attractions. The rich history of music in the Royal Navy is being explored at a brand new two-day event, featuring a wide range of musical performances and styles, from The Royal Marines School of Music to Tudor Opera singing with Jay Britton. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard comes alive with music, beginning on Friday 23rd June, with a special Solent Shanty singing event in collaboration with the Portsmouth Music Hub. This special collaboration has allowed the museum to host a special performance of sea shanties by over 700 children in the shadow of the legendary HMS Victory. This new event continues on Saturday 24th June, featuring performances across Portsmouth Historic Docky
Post a Comment
Read more

‘Southsea dinosaur’ returns

Luna Park 2021, an eagerly anticipated new public artwork for Portsmouth designed by internationally renowned artists Ivan Morison and Heather Peak of Studio Morison will be launched on 2 October 2021 on a celebratory day in Southsea Common.  The 1.4 metres bronze sculpture is a tribute to the original 53-foot high 2010 artwork Luna Park, which tragically burned down on Southsea Common. The artists will unveil a new sculpture that responds to ten years of public demand to ‘bring back the Southsea Dinosaur’.  The new public artwork will be located within a direct sightline to the position of the original Luna Park sculpture. It will sit on top of a fossil Portland stone plinth with a QR code which when scanned with a smartphone will connect to an Augmented Reality experience. People will be transported to a digital rendering of the original artwork, seemingly standing life-size in front of them on Southsea Common. Viewers will also be able to use their mobile devices to visit a digital
Post a Comment
Read more