FIORI Musicali will present two choral works by Armidale composer Richard Peter Maddox on Saturday, 8 June.
They are a setting of the traditional hymn Te Deum Laudamus (“We Praise Thee O God”) and a new work Mirandum Est (“It Is Wonderful”).
There will also be a major work by Olivier Messiaen played on the restored Willis organ by Warwick Dunham.
Fiori Musicali has had a 20-year tradition of performing a cappella music, (particularly sacred works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods) but has also presented many contemporary works.
The Te Deum and Mirandum Est were especially written for them, with organ and timpani accompaniment. Warwick Dunham, an outstanding organist who has played many of the great organs around the world, including in the Sydney Opera House and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, will accompany the choir of 25 voices.
Warwick recently played a recital to celebrate the restoration of the fine Willis organ in the Uniting Church, which will be used in this concert.
Between the two choral pieces, Warwick Dunham will also play organ music by the great French composer Olivier Messiaen.
The timpanist is Morgan Broadbent, resident timpanist with the Armidale Youth Orchestra.
The two works are presented as companion pieces for a program which combines a traditional religious text with a seminal piece of writing that has had a profound influence on scientific thought over the past 150 years.
The conductor is Graham Maddox, well-known to Armidale audiences through his frequent appearances conducting the Armidale Symphony Orchestra and the Choral Society.
Fiori Musicali’s concert will be held in the Wesley Uniting Church, Rusden Street, on Saturday 8 June at 6pm. Admission is by donation $15/$5 at the door.
