Summer Serenade at St Mary’s, Bitton

You are warmly invited to a Summer Serenade in support of St Mary’s Church Development Fund.

Join Exultate Singers, conducted by David Ogden, for an enchanting summer afternoon concert of choral music spanning five centuries.

The programme features radiant works by Renaissance masters Giovanni da Palestrina and Raffaella Aleotti – an Italian nun and pioneering female composer – alongside vibrant contemporary pieces by Toby Young, Patrick Hawes, Ian Carpenter, and John Barber.

Also included are madrigals by 19th-century composer Robert Lucas Pearsall, who lived in nearby Willsbridge and had close ties to St Mary’s. His tombstone, brought from Switzerland in 2012, now rests in the church porch – a lasting tribute to his legacy.

Robert Pearsall Lay a garland
Josep Ollé I Sabate Ave Maris stella
Ian Carpenter Ave Verum
Giovanni da Palestrina Sicut cervus
John Tavener A Hymn to the Mother of God
Patrick Hawes Angelus Domini
John Barber Ring out
Robert Pearsall Great God of Love
Pärt Uusberg Muusika
William Byrd Sing joyfully
Traditonal arr. Erb Shenandoah
Josef Rheinberger Abendlied
Charles Villiers Stanford Beati quorum via
Robert Pearsall Light of my soul
Robert Pearsall Sing we and chaunt it
Raffaella Aleotti Surge, propera amica mea
Toby Young Two Greek Love Songs
Traditional arr. Roderick Williams Eriskay Love Lilt
Gerald Finzi My spirit sang all day

Tickets £15, to include a cream tea, available to buy online.