Slavic Voices and Heartwood Chorus

Join us for a workshop and concert in the stunning setting of St Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol. Workshop. Participants will have the option of joining Slavic Voices choir in concert. Slavic Voices workshop is open to all. Come and learn some songs from Slavic Voices’ repertoire, ranging from ancient Slavic pagan ritual songs to a Macedonian ballad and a classical Orthodox score. Teaching both by ear and with sheet music. Concert: Slavic Voices London & Brighton choir present music of all styles from the Slavic world: Orthodox chants, beautiful classics by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Schnittke and others, refined XVIII-XIX-centuries Art songs and gritty folklore from the far corners of Siberia to the banks of the Black Sea. The choir’s repertoire is sung mainly in Russian but also in Polish, Ukrainian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belorussian, sometimes even Yiddish or Romanian. Slavic Voices’ perform in a way that is rarely encountered. There is freedom and spontaneity in their approach to folklore as well as precision and deep focus in their classical repertoire, presented with great attention to cultural context, history and style. With support from Bristol's own HeartwoodChorus. A 48-strong a cappella folk choir, Heartwood sings songs whose murky origins stretch back centuries and centuries. They sing songs their grannies taught them. They sing songs of rebellion, of love, of war, of sex, of death, of the turning of the seasons. Their voices come together to make a powerful sound which can be, by turns, huge or delicate. Original arrangements, quality singing and a singular vision are quickly transforming this choir from its origins as a community project into artists in their own right on the UK folk scene.