THE Dutch choir Choraal Coqu from Utrecht is coming to the Church of St John the Baptist, Wellington, at the weekend when it will offer a free performance of music from the last five centuries in a programme entitled Holland meets Britain.

Several of the singers and the director, Jan Joost van Elburg, are no strangers to the area, having been involved for some years in Blackdowns Early Music Projects, which is hosting Coqu’s visit.

Coqu’s programme compares and contrasts music written in both countries by composers including Byrd, Clemens non Papa, Sweelinck, Purcell, Daan Manneke, Stanford, Flothuis and Benjamin Britten. 

The choir is made up of highly skilled singers, with a reputation for excellence, who enjoy working with a different director for every project they undertake. In this way they extend their expertise and repertoire with every new director, quite a different management model from the more familiar pattern in the UK, where a permanent director is usually employed to undertake all programmes with a choir.

The concert is on Saturday, May 7, and starts at 7pm and the programme will last about an hour. Admission is free – no ticket required – but donations at the end will be welcome if audience members enjoy the music.

For more information contact Blackdowns Early Music Projects on 01884 849172 or email [email protected]