Summer Concert 2026
📅 Saturday 4 July 2026
🕖 7:30 PM
📍 Keele University Chapel, Keele · ST5 5BG

🎶 Programme
•     Cecilia McDowall – The Girl from Aleppo
•     Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending (choral version)
•     Will Todd – Mass in Blue (with piano, bass, and drums)
🎻 Featuring Alison Loram (violin) in McDowall and Vaughan Williams

✨ About the Concert
This summer we present a trio of varied and wonderful works:

•  McDowall’s The Girl from Aleppo – A secular cantata for choir, violin, and piano, telling the extraordinary journey of Nujeen Mustafa and her sister Nasrine from war-torn Syria to safety in Germany. McDowall blends British choral tradition with Middle Eastern tonalities, jazz elements, and her own unique voice in this moving and optimistic piece.
• Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending – In its choral version, violin and piano intertwine with the choir to evoke the skylark’s soaring freedom. A quintessentially English work, full of nostalgia and lyrical beauty, perfect for a summer evening.
• Todd’s Mass in Blue – A joyous and uplifting fusion of blues and jazz. With soprano soloist, choir, piano, bass, and drums, this vibrant work celebrates energy, passion, serenity, and the groove of creation itself.

Together, these works promise an unforgettable evening of music that spans cultures, emotions, and styles.

💌 Additional Information

• Programme status: Provisional
• Charity support: Donations invited for ASHA, the local refugee and asylum seekers’ support charity
• Booking: Opens approximately 4 weeks before the concert

🚗 Parking

• Free parking all weekend and after 5 PM on weekdays across campus (including permit-only areas)
• Blue Badge parking available near the chapel (see pink letters on the campus map)

 

 

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