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Alexander Richard William L'Estrange (born 7 April 1974) is an English composer of choral music and music for television and an arranger for vocal ensembles. He is also a jazz musician (piano and double bass), choral workshop leader, presenter of children's concerts and was a jazz examiner and trainer for ABRSM.
Born in Bristol, L'Estrange grew up in Oxford and attended New College School, during which time he was a member of New College Choir as chorister and soloist. [1] He was then educated at Lord William's School, and then at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. He read Music at Merton College, Oxford, gaining a First Class Honours Degree. He is married to professional musician Joanna Forbes L'Estrange with whom he has two sons, Toby and Harry. [2]
L'Estrange's flagship work Zimbe! Come sing the songs of Africa! (2008) [3] established his name as one of Britain's most popular living choral composers, receiving 150 performances worldwide within its first five years. Scored for SATB adult choir, unison children's choir and jazz quintet, the music is a fusion of African song and jazz. With the same scoring, Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose (2013) [4] is a fusion of Tudor songs and sea shanties, commissioned to commemorate the opening of Portsmouth's state-of-the-art museum which houses the hull of King Henry VIII's warship, the Mary Rose . Zadok rules – hallelujah! (2013) was commissioned by the Hanover Band to celebrate sixty years since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. [5] Based on Handel's coronation anthems, the piece is scored for SATB adult choir, unison children's choir and Baroque orchestra and the text traces all of Britain's monarchs from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II. Song Cycle – vive la vélorution! (2014) is a choral work comprising songs (both original and arranged) about cycling and the great outdoors, performed in York Minster at the opening of the Tour de France in 2014. [6] His Wassail! Carols of Comfort and Joy which won the Music Teachers Award for Best Classical Educational Initiative, was commissioned by the United Learning group and premiered in November 2017. [7] The following year came his next large-scale works, this time in collaboration with his wife, Joanna Forbes L'Estrange. Freedom! The power of song (2018), commissioned by Salisbury Choral Society, was premiered by Salisbury Community Choir in November 2018. Other large-scale choral works include And the stones sing and Let all the world in every corner sing. [2]
Choral anthems with organ include Lute-book lullaby and Tune me, O Lord. In 2016 the professional chamber choir Tenebrae recorded an album of L’Estrange’s sacred and jazz inspired choral works, called “On eagles’ wings". Unaccompanied choral anthems include Love comes quietly, My song is love unknown, Oculi Omnium, Epiphany Carol (runner-up in the St Paul's Cathedral commission competition 2013) and Prayers for peace, three settings of the prayers God be in my head, Lighten our darkness and The Lord's prayer. Choral pieces suitable for children's choirs include Irish blessing, Go forth in peace and This is our world. Most of L'Estrange's compositions are published by Faber Music. [8] however since 2018 some of his more recent works have been self-published through his own record label Andagio.
L'Estrange's output as a songwriter includes three settings for solo voice and piano of poems by Shelley, Tennyson and Byron entitled Love's philosophy: She walks in beauty, Now sleeps the crimson petal and Love's philosophy are on the ABRSM singing syllabus. [8] He has also written a one-woman musical, in collaboration with author Michelle Magorian, called Hello life! and several jazz originals recorded on the album New things to say by his jazz ensemble L'Estranges in the Night. [9]
L'Estrange is consultant editor and chief arranger for the Choral Basics series, published by Faber Music. [8] He has arranged for vocal ensembles including The Swingle Singers, The King's Singers, amarcord, Voces8 and Tenebrae. L'Estrange wrote all of the arrangements for and produced Great American Songbook , the album released in 2013 by The King's Singers. [10]
L'Estrange composed the theme tune and incidental music for the BBC's CBeebies programme Magic Hands (2012), [11] recorded by his sons, Toby and Harry L'Estrange. He also writes for the production music company Audio Network with his music featuring on such television programmes as The One Show , Grand Designs and Antiques Roadshow . [8]
Recordings of arrangements and original compositions by Alexander L'Estrange
Music performed a cappella, less commonly spelled a capella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
A choir ( KWIRE; also known as a chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words is the music performed by the ensemble. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.
The 7th Annual Grammy Awards were held on April 13, 1965, at Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1964. João Gilberto & Stan Getz won 4 awards.
The Swingles are an a cappella vocal group. The Swingle Singers were originally formed in 1962 in Paris under the leadership of Ward Swingle. In 1973, Swingle disbanded the French group, and formed an English group known initially as Swingle II and later as the New Swingle Singers, before settling on the Swingles name.
Sir John Milford Rutter is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music.
Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century. It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.*
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House the City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as chorus for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Philip Lawson is a British choral conductor, composer and arranger. For 18 years he was a baritone with the King's Singers and the group's principal arranger for the last fifteen years of that period. In 2009 the group's album "Simple Gifts", on which Lawson arranged 10 out of 15 tracks, won the Grammy award for "Best Classical Crossover Album". In February 2012, he left the King's Singers to concentrate on his writing career.
"Personent hodie" is a Christmas carol originally published in the 1582 Finnish song book Piae Cantiones, a volume of 74 Medieval songs with Latin texts collected by Jacobus Finno, a Swedish Lutheran cleric, and published by T.P. Rutha. The song book had its origins in the libraries of cathedral song schools, whose repertory had strong links with medieval Prague, where clerical students from Finland and Sweden had studied for generations. A melody found in a 1360 manuscript from the nearby Bavarian city of Moosburg in Germany is highly similar, and it is from this manuscript that the song is usually dated.
The London A Cappella Festival is an annual series of concerts based at Kings Place, London, showcasing a cappella acts from around the world, curated by the vocal group The Swingle Singers and Ikon Arts Management. The aim of the festival is to celebrate the human voice in all the wide-ranging musical forms; including choral singing, beatbox, barbershop, gospel music, close-harmony, pop, and jazz.
The Paris-based Swingle Singers recorded regularly for Philips in the 1960s and early 1970s and the successor London-based group continued to record, for Columbia / CBS, Virgin Classics and other record labels from 1974 to the present.
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Ben Parry is a British musician, composer, conductor, singer, arranger and producer. He is the director of London Voices and was formerly artistic director of the National Youth Choir.
The Company is a Filipino vocal group since 1985. The current members are Moy Ortiz, Annie Quintos, Sweet Plantado and OJ Mariano.
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Voctave is an 11-member a cappella group based in Central Florida, United States. The group often performs intricate arrangements of music from Broadway, Disney, jazz standards, and Christmas music. Among the unique characteristics which set the group apart from other a cappella groups is an extremely wide vocal range of 5 full octaves.
Joanna Forbes L'Estrange is a British singer, composer and choir director.
Tobias Hug was a German a cappella singer, beatboxer, coach and judge. He was the first German member of a cappella group, The Swingle Singers and one of its longest serving members, performing with them for 11 years. Hug founded the a cappella festival Black Forest Voices in 2019.
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