Tuesday 10 July 2012, 7:30pm John Rutter, “Requiem” William Dougherty, world premiere “Ripples of Hope” The Darius Brubeck Quartet St Martins in the Fields Tickets £25, £15, £10

The London Chorus sings: John Rutter's 'Requiem', world premiere of William Dougherty's 'Ripples of Hope' and the Darius Brubeck Quartet – all in aid of Footballs for Fun at St Martins in the Fields

The London Chorus has just announced a gala concert in aid of African children's charity Footballs for Fun on Tuesday 10th July at 7:30pm in St Martins in the Fields, Trafalgar Square.
Conducted by Ronald Corp, OBE, The London Chorus will be singing the John Rutter 'Requiem' accompanied by the New London Orchestra, and a new piece specially written for the chorus by young composer William Dougherty: "Ripples of Hope". The Darius Brubeck Quartet are making a special guest appearance.

Tickets are available from the St Martins box office: St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ
(Charing Cross Tube) Tickets £25, £15, £10
Box Office: 020 7766 1100
Online: www.smitf.org

William Dougherty
'Ripples of Hope' is a new piece written especially for the chorus. It is in eight parts, and the music is composed to bring alive the words of Robert F. Kennedy's "Day of Affirmation" speech at the University of Cape Town, South Africa on June 6th 1966 – "Ripple of Hope".
"This is a Day of Affirmation, a celebration of liberty. We stand here in the name of freedom. At the heart of that Western freedom and democracy is the belief that the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, groups, the state, exist for his benefit. Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any Western society."

Dougherty came to The London Chorus through the Making Music 'Adopt a Composer' scheme which pairs amateur choirs, orchestras, and ensembles with a composer for one year. It is funded by the PRS for Music Foundation and run by Making Music and Sound and Music. "The Adopt a Composer project is a wonderful annual opportunity for an amateur orchestra, choir or band to 'adopt' an up-and-coming composer" said Cat Duval, Regional Manager for the South East. "The composer will work with the performing group over the course of 12 months to produce a new piece of music, culminating in a première performance."

Born in Philadelphia, William began his studies of piano at the age of 5 and composition at the age of 16. In his senior year of high school, William was mentored in music composition at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. After winning the Howard County Scholarship of the Arts, William enrolled as an undergraduate of music composition at Temple University where he earned scholarships and awards including the Diamond Scholarship, the Conwell Undergraduate Research Award, the Global Scholarship, the Garrigues Scholarship, and the Jeffrey Cornelius Tribute Award. During his undergraduate studies William spent six months in Vienna, Austria studying music at the Institute for European Studies and privately with Nancy Van De Vate. Graduating first in his class from the Boyer College of Music in the spring of 2010, William went on to study as a scholarship student at the Ecoles de Musique in Fontainebleau, France in the summer of 2010.

In 2011, William was named, by James MacMillan and Bob Chilcott, as a finalist in the King James Bible Composition Competition for his choral work, Sing Unto the Lord, which was premiered by the Royal College of Music Junior Department Choir at Temple Church in London. William participated in the summer of 2011 at the Acanthes summer course in Metz, France where he worked with Philippe Hurel, Unsuk Chin, and Oscar Strasnoy in addition to having his work Acrid Dance performed by the Orchestre National de Lorraine. With a particular interest in new ways to engage audiences, William recently premiered and streamed live on the web his interactive work Breaking News for mezzo soprano and chamber ensemble, a work where audience members had a say, through a web interface, how they wanted the piece to unfold as it was performed. As a recipient of the coveted Marshall Scholarship, William is currently pursuing a master's degree in music composition at The Royal College of Music in London under the guidance of Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Ripples of Hope is a three movement work written especially for The London Chorus. It features a soprano soloist, Laura Oldfield, and organ, Alexander Wells. It sets fragments of text from Robert F. Kennedy’s famous 1966 speech of the same title, given at Cape Town University, South Africa. Kennedy draws parallels between the American civil rights movement and renewed pushes in South Africa for an end to apartheid. The first movement, with its fanfare-like character, comments on Kennedy’s repeated use of politically loaded words like “liberty, freedom, and democracy”, words which in themselves are quite powerful, but when overused, lose their lustre. The second movement sets Kennedy’s description of injustices in the late 1960s, injustices that are strikingly similar to those ongoing today. The third movement is a lively and rhythmic play on the words “Ripples of Hope”.

The Darius Brubeck Quartet
The Quartet has acquired an enthusiastic following for its strong programmes of South African jazz, Dave Brubeck hits and Darius' original compositions.

Playing to consistently sold-out houses at regional festivals and clubs, including London's Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express and 606 Jazz Clubs, the London-based Quartet's acoustic sound is melodic, spontaneous and rhythmically exciting. Audiences also appreciate the talk between songs. The London-based Quartet has toured Europe and the Middle East and recorded two CDs, "For Lydia and the Lion" and "Two And Four/To And Fro".

"More than half a century after [Dave Brubeck] invited listeners to start counting in odd numbers, the music has lost none of its poise… Darius is as cultured a pianist as his father."
Clive Davis, The Times