Carols and Carillons December 14, 2008

Dunblane Cathedral Handbell Ringers will present their annual Christmas Entertainment Carols and Carillons in the Cathedral at 7.30pm. All are welcome to enjoy a feast of festive music at this very popular event which will this year feature guest choral group Stirling City Choir. This popular and well-established 50-strong choir will perform seasonal choral pieces by Palestrina, John Rutter, Morten Lauridsen, Peter Warlock and Bruckner. All of the Cathedral's 3 children's and 2 adult handbell groups will perform Christmas music from through the ages from traditional Scottish carols to popular French, German and American Christmas melodies. There will also be much audience participation with a chance to join in singing several well-known carols led by the choir, brass, strings, woodwind, keyboards, handbells and percussion. And there will be coffee and mincemeat pies in the hall following the performances.

Stirling City Choir first formed in 1866 as Stirling Choral Society, which was incorporated into Stirling and District Choral Union when it formed in 1951, and in 2002 the name was changed to Stirling City Choir in celebration of the new city status of Stirling. Performances by this choral group have included many well-known major choral works including Haydn’s “The Creation”, Elgar’s “Dream of Gerontius”, Mendelssohn’s “Elijah”, and the Requiems of Brahms, Verdi, Faure and Mozart. They have also included more contemporary works and have twice sung in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with composer Karl Jenkins, in performances of his “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace” and his “Requiem”. Stirling City Choir conductor is Eric Dunlea. Further information about the choir is available on their website at www.stirlingcitychoir.org.uk

Dunblane Cathedral Handbell Ringers own and perform on Scotland’s largest sets of handbell instruments. Since formation in 1977 Dunblane Cathedral Handbell Ringers have made 15 television appearances, 22 radio broadcasts, travelled over 35,000 miles throughout the UK to give over 650 performances from Exeter to Inverness, won the only UK-wide competition open to all 1000 handbell groups in the UK, shared stages with 14 well-known orchestras, bands or choirs, performed in 9 different countries, produced 3 commercial recordings and been featured on those of 2 other groups, and raised many thousands of pounds for numerous charities. They have been selected to perform at national showcase concerts of the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain on 4 occasions, performed in 5 international symposia, organised 4 Scottish Festivals, hosted 25 overseas groups, organised 19 seminars, supported the formation of 75 handbell groups in Scotland, and organised 4 residential ringing weeks for ringers from around the world. Notable performance venues have included Scotland’s major concert venues such as the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, Glasgow City Hall, and Dundee’s Caird Hall. They have performed alongside many celebrated soloists such as Donald Maxwell, Linda Ormiston and Peter Morrison.