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For our first concert with newly appointed Music Director Howard Ionascu we are performing Handel’s iconic Messiah. Composed by George Frideric Handel in just 24 days in 1741, it premiered in Dublin on April 13, 1742, and has since become a cornerstone of the choral repertoire, particularly during the Christmas season.
The oratorio is divided into three parts: the prophecy and birth of Jesus Christ; His passion and resurrection; and His glorification and promise of eternal life. Handel’s music illuminates the powerful narrative of the libretto, compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, leading the audience to experience humanity’s whole emotional range, from the solemnity of He was despised to the exultant Hallelujah chorus, one of the most famous choruses ever written, to the equally joyous Amen.
Soloists: Katie Trethewey – Soprano; Rebecca Leggett – Mezzo; Jeremy Budd – Tenor; Ben McKee – Bass.
Brandenburg Sinfonia.
Tickets £24. Half price for full time students.
Howard Ionascu - Conductor
After a degree in music at Manchester University, Howard’s diverse career began as a professional singer in Wells Cathedral Choir, performing on many recordings, broadcasts and international tours.
Choral conducting began in 1997 when he founded The Laudate Choir, which continues to perform regularly in venues across the south east of England. Howard is also Musical Director of the Exeter Philharmonic Choir.
Past conducting roles have included Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir, Finchley Children’s Music Group Trebles Choir and The Esterhazy Singers of London. Howard is also in regular demand as a guest rehearsal conductor, and in recent years has worked with Choir of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, Orlando Chamber Choir, City of London Choir, Rodolfus Choir, Guildford Choral Society, Winchester Philharmonic Choir and on Eton Choral Courses.
Howard has conducted a number of the leading UK orchestras and ensembles, including Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, English Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, New London Orchestra and Onyx Brass.
Howard has a long association with music education, having led departments at some of the UK’s finest educational establishments and directed the choirs at Winchester College, King’s Canterbury and Junior Royal Academy of Music.
Katie Tretheway - Soprano
Katie Trethewey is an English soprano specialising in the performance of Baroque and Classical oratorio. She has appeared regularly as a soloist at many high-profile UK venues, including London’s Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall and St John’s Smith Square, and Symphony Hall in Birmingham. She was delighted to fulfil a dream and make her solo debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 2016, performing, amongst others, the Pie Jesu from Fauré’s Requiem for Carlos Acosta’s The Classical Farewell tour with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. In 2022, she performed Vaughan Williams’ Scott of the Antarctic with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Martyn Brabbins. She has received solo engagements for various UK festivals, including the Three Choirs Festival and Brighton’s Early Music Festival and has also appeared at the Händelfestspiele in Halle, Germany, performing William Boyce’s Solomon with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Handel’s Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music.
Described as ‘sensational’ by Gramophone Magazine in her recording of Nunes Garcia’s Laudamus Te from his Missa Pastoril, Katie has also received great critical acclaim for her concert performances, notably Mozart’s Requiem with Ex Cathedra at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Orff’s Carmina Burana for Birmingham Royal Ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome, and Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Academy of Ancient Music. She sang the role of Anne Hathaway in the world premiere of Sally Beamish’s A Shakespeare Masque, with poetry by Carol Ann Duffy, and the arias in a reconstructed performance of The Garrick Ode by Thomas Arne, recorded by the BBC.
An established consort singer, Katie has worked with many of the elite UK vocal ensemble and consort groups and regularly performs across the UK and abroad, both as a soloist and consort member, singing a huge variety of music. Katie is a featured soloist on Ensemble Plus Ultra’s Grammy-award-winning discs of Victoria’s sacred works and on A Tender Light, Tenebrae’s critically-acclaimed CD of works by Paul Mealor. An impressive discography comprises numerous recordings with celebrated ensembles Ex Cathedra, The Cardinall’s Musick, Dunedin Consort, Ensemble Plus Ultra, the Gabrieli Consort, The Tallis Scholars and Tenebrae.
A busy 2024 includes soprano solo in the première of John Adams’ Vespers of the Blessed Earth with CBSO, Bach’s St John Passion with Ex Cathedra, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, several performances of Haydn’s Creation, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, and several performances of Handel’s Messiah across the country.
Rebecca Leggett - Mezzo
Rebecca Leggett trained in London at both Trinity Laban Conservatoire and The Royal College of Music. She is part of the 11th edition of ‘Le Jardin des Voix’ 2023/24, the young artist programme of Les Arts Florissants. They have toured Purcell’s ‘The Fairy Queen’ internationally with William Christie and Paul Agnew to venues including Teatro alla Scala, Lincoln Center NYC and the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms 2024. Future engagements with LAF include the role of Piacere in Handel’s ‘Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno’ and William Christie’s 80th birthday tour in 2025 to venues such as Carnegie Hall.
Rebecca is also one of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s ‘Rising Stars’ for 2023/25 and in the Spring she performed Bach’s ‘Easter Oratorio’ at the Southbank Centre with the group conducted by Peter Whelan. Other concert highlights from the past year include a programme of Bach at the Wigmore Hall with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, Mozart’s Requiem with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at The Sheldonian Theatre and Handel’s Theodora with Collegium Musicum Bergen in Norway conducted by Nicholas Kraemer. This autumn she will make her Monteverdi Choir concert debut as alto soloist for a programme of Charpentier and Bach conducted by Christophe Rousset.
Rebecca was a finalist at the Kathleen Ferrier Award 2023 with pianist George Ireland at the Wigmore Hall. She and George received first place at the 2022 London Song Festival’s British Art-Song Competition and whilst studying at the RCM she won the 2020 Brooks-van der Pump English Song Competition. Song is high on the agenda for Rebecca and in recent years she has given recitals for the Lewes Song Festival, Thames Concert Series, Ludlow Song Weekend, London Song Festival, Brighton Festival and the Oxford International Song Festival (Oxford Lieder Festival). She is represented by CLB Management:
Jeremy Budd - Tenor
Born in Hertfordshire, Jeremy Budd started out as a Chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral in London before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music. Since finishing his studies he has been much in demand as soloist on the concert platform, particularly for his Baroque repertoire. Jeremy has worked with many of the foremost conductors in this field, including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Christophers CBE, Masaaki Suzuki, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Charles Mackerras, Paul McCreesh, John Butt and Bernard Labadie.
His discography includes over ten years of recordings for The Sixteen, many of which feature him as a soloist, including Handel’s Acis and Galatea (as Acis) and Saul (as the Witch of Endor), and James MacMillan’s Stabat Mater.
Other notable recordings are the award-winning discs of Purcell’s King Arthur and The Fairy Queen with Paul McCreesh, and Acis and Galatea with the Early Opera Company and Christian Curnyn.
Ben McKee - Bass
Ben began his career as a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, studied music at the University of Manchester, and is currently a Lay Clerk at Westminster Cathedral in London. He has developed a reputation for both his consort work and performances of new music, in addition to an increasingly busy solo career.
Ben is a member of EXAUDI, Fieri Consort and regularly sings with groups including The Tallis Scholars, the BBC Singers, Academy of Ancient Music and The Gabrieli Consort. Ben has also performed abroad with Theatre of Voices and was formerly a member of Ars Nova, Copenhagen.
Outside of singing, Ben is a newly qualified physiotherapist, developing a special interest in musculoskeletal treatment for performing artists and professional vocalists. His passions include running, rock climbing and film photography.
