The evening includes dramatised scenes written by Graham Warrener, directed by Jake Sleet with music from St Bride’s Choir and the period instrument ensemble Endelienta Baroque. We are delighted that Giles Coren, journalist and presenter, will be joining us as a guest reader.

The event commemorates England’s greatest architect in this his 300th anniversary year.

We are grateful for the support of Fleet Street Quarter – a local business initiative founded to foster inclusion, diversity, innovation, celebrate culture and help deliver a green and sustainable business district.

Please note, refunds are not available. All proceeds go to support the work and ministry of St Bride’s and the restoration of one of Wren’s most beloved masterpieces.

Creative Team

Jake Sleet – Director
Jake graduated with First Degree Honours in Film Production, with his final year film opening the horror section of the world’s largest youth film festival in Seattle. Having gone on to study commercial direction at the National Film and Television School, his desire for innovative storytelling led to his work for an LGBT+ charity receiving worldwide attention and gave him the opportunity to direct the school’s cinema ad, which played for 2 years across 83% of UK cinemas. More recently, Jake has begun directing for theatre, most recently collaborating with Graham Warrener on the WWI drama ‘Don’t Shoot The Meistersinger’, which was selected for a development run as part of the New Wimbledon Theatre’s 2022 ‘Premiere’ season. Keen to broaden his develop his talents, he is currently combining his theatre projects with further studies in Scotland, under Mark Thomson, former artistic director of Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.

Graham Warrener – Writer
Graham began his professional writing career whilst studying drama at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. His plays have been presented in both London and regionally. His football comedy ‘Nice Bit O’Fish in High Wycombe’ was named Time Out’s ‘Play of the Week’, whilst his critically acclaimed comedy drama about the life of Les Dawson ‘Cissie & Ada: An Hysterical Rectomy’ toured the UK from 2012 to 2014, playing to sold-out houses. He founded Profugo Arts, through which he mentors young and upcoming creatives across the world, and stages new plays by emerging writers struggling for recognition.

Performers

Formed in 1957, St Bride’s Choir is an ensemble of twelve professional singers which sings at the two choral services each Sunday at St Bride’s Church, and at many other events during the church’s busy year. This experienced team is under the direction of Robert Jones and explores a huge repertoire with great enthusiasm and musicianship.

Originally founded in 2017, Endelienta Baroque comprises some of the country’s most talented young performers on historical instruments. Our aim is simple – to revel in the joy of performing music from many baroque repertories, and to invite our audiences to participate in that joy.

Giles Coren is a restaurant critic and columnist who has been writing for The Times since 1993. A previous winner of British Press Awards food and drink writer of the year, he was also named the restaurant writer of the year at the Fortnum & Mason Awards in 2016. As well as an award-winning journalist, Giles is a television presenter and author.

Join us for an evening of baroque music in the sublime surroundings of the St Peter & St Paul Chapel at the Old Royal Naval College. The first-class Brandenburg Symphonia will be playing a delightful programme of Purcell and Handel alongside the thirty-five strong Trinity Laban Chapel Choir, conducted by Ralph Allwood MBE.

About Ralph Allwood

Ralph has conducted choirs for over 40 broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. In 2015 he co-founded the Pimlico Musical Foundation to enable children from Pimlico Primary Schools to sing in choirs, particularly at St Gabriel’s Church.

In 2017, the Archbishop of Canterbury presented him with the Thomas Cranmer Award for Music and Worship and is Chair of the Choral Evensong Trust.

About the Brandenburg Symphonia

The Brandenburg Symphonia has performed in the UK, France, USA, Bermuda, the Channel Islands, Barbados, Cyprus, Malta and Russia.

Its repertoire ranges from Bach to Lloyd Webber and its members give over one hundred performances of orchestral, chamber, choral and operatic music during the year.

Programme

• Purcell: My heart is Inditing
• Handel: Organ Concerto Op 4 no. 1 in G minor (Jonathan Eyre, organ)
• Purcell: Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas (Sofia Bagulho, soprano)
• Handel: Dixit Dominus

 

For details on the individual events, please click here.

Come and enjoy a unique, not to be missed vocal music marathon featuring hundreds of singers from over 11 community choirs across nine City of London churches.

Marking the tercentenary of the death of Sir Christopher Wren the Wrenathon Vocal Marathon will feature gospel, a cappella, pop, immersive choral theatre, global and folk song, classical choral music and will include vocalists young and old. This very special, one-off vocal music marathon brings together singers of all styles to showcase the talent and breadth of community singing today.

Not just an audible joy but a visual spectacle too, the community choirs will perform in the stunning architectural surroundings of the Square Mile Churches, four of these City churches were designed by Sir Christopher Wren (*=Wren church).

The Wrenathon Vocal Marathon celebrates the joyful, healing and uplifting spirit of singing together in the City churches of Sir Christopher Wren. Highlights include a specially created site-specific improvisation by Filament Theatre Company, including music lamenting the climate crisis; a new collaboration between poet Adisa and Newham-based youth choir NewYVC exploring African forms of resistance and spirituality through song and spoken word; and the performance of a new co-created song in a collaboration between migrant City workers and Sing Tower Hamlets community choir.

All performances are 25 minutes long, allowing 20 minutes for audiences to journey on to their next church.

All performances and venues are relaxed environments. This means there is a relaxed attitude to noise and movement throughout the Wrenathon Vocal Marathon, and people are free to come-and-go as they choose.

 

Performances: 12noon, 12.45pm & 1.30pm

Singology Gospel Choir
All Hallows by the Tower
Byward Street, London EC3R 5BJ, https://www.ahbtt.org.uk/ 

Singology Gospel Choir is a community chorus performing uplifting, feel-good songs founded in 2004, with four choirs across London. Singology’s director, Mark De-Lisser, is known for his television work as vocal coach on The Voice; Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure; and as choir director for the King’s Coronation and Platinum Jubilee. His vocal arrangement of Stand by Me, for the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has been enjoyed more than 22 million times on YouTube.

 

Sing Tower Hamlets
St Katharine Cree
86 Leadenhall St, London EC3A 2BJ, https://www.stkatharinecree.org/ 

Sing Tower Hamlets is a community choir based in East London directed by Leanne Sedin. For their performance at the Wrenathon Vocal Marathon, Sing Tower Hamlets have collaborated with the community of city workers and migrant women in workshops at St Katharine Cree, to co-create a new song which you will hear at this event. The rest of their musical program draws inspiration from Wren’s architecture, with songs relating to the theme of light.

 

NewYVC & Adisa: If words had wings
St Botolph without Aldgate
Aldgate High St, London EC3N 1AB, https://www.stbotolphs.org.uk/ 

NewYVC is a youth choir for young people aged 11-25 in Stratford, led by Musical Director Naveen Arles, and is part of the Spitalfields Music Family. For the Wrenathon Vocal Marathon, NewYVC have created the performance, If words had wings, through a series of workshops with poet, Adisa. Their collaboration is inspired by Adisa’s work at Fulham Palace exploring forms of resistance and African spirituality in enslavement. This powerful performance intertwines NewYVC’s unique vocal arrangements with spoken word performance from Adisa.

 

Performances 2.15pm, 3pm & 3.45pm

SOUND
St Mary Abchurch*
Abchurch Yard, London EC4N 7BA, https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/15387/ 

SOUND is an a cappella group founded by Musical Director Liz Swain, with the aim to give talented singers from all musical backgrounds a chance to sing pop, soul, R&B and other contemporary music. SOUND take their cue from some absolutely awesome international groups and like to practise innovative new approaches.

 

Some Voices Borough
St Magnus the Martyr*
Lower Thames St, London EC3R 6DN, https://www.stmagnusmartyr.org.uk/ 

Some Voices started in 2010 with just seven choir members meeting up in London to sing and socialise and has grown to over 1,400 members meeting in rehearsal venues across the UK. Some Voices is known for their signature style of performing original arrangements of popular songs that range from Bowie to Björk, from Britpop to Hip Hop, and everything in between, all arranged by musical directors Laura Howe and Curtis Stansfield.

The Wrenathon Vocal Marathon performance features singers from Some Voices Borough choir, directed by Rebecca Baxter.

 

Finsbury Park Singers & Finsbury A Cappella
St Stephen Walbrook*
39 Walbrook, London EC4N 8BN, https://ststephenwalbrook.net/ 

Finsbury Park Singers is a mixed-voice community choir from North London, founded in 2018. They perform a range of music, from pop to folk to gospel and classical, with appearances including the BBC Proms and Barbican with LSO. This performance includes arrangements of Autumn Leaves, Over the Rainbow, and I Say a Little Prayer For You.

Finsbury A Cappella is a new upper voices choir, founded in January 2023. They sing complex and exciting a cappella arrangements, including Ola Gjeilo and Fleetwood Mac.

Both choirs are led by conductor, Hannah Brine.

This Wrenathon Vocal Marathon performance is in collaboration with Central London Samaritans, the founding branch of the wider Samaritans organisation, that began supporting people at St Stephen Walbrook 70 years ago. Our volunteers are here to listen every hour of every day and have provided this support without interruption since then. Learn more about the Samaritan’s here. 

 

Performances: 4.30pm, 5.15pm & 6pm

Filament Theatre Company
Holy Sepulchre
Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DQ, https://hsl.church/ 

Filament Theatre Company explore the possibilities of dynamic choral singing and the relationship between voice, movement, harmony, body percussion and improvisation. For this performance, audiences will be immersed in sound as singers both physically and acoustically takes over the nave of Holy St Sepulchre. The program includes site-specific improvisation and songs from Filament’s archives, including lamentations on climate change from their work, Earth Makes No Sound, which will be performed in full at Southbank Centre on Saturday 15^th July.

 

London Chinese Philharmonic Choir
St Michael’s Cornhill
St Michael’s Alley, London EC3V 9DS, https://www.st-michaels.org.uk/

London Chinese Philharmonic Choir is a city-based choir conducted by Bo Wang. The largest community Chinese arts organisation in the UK, the choir includes people across four generations from China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Malaysia and the UK. As music is the language without borders, London Chinese Philharmonic Choir use music to promote Chinese culture and exchange.

Performance 5.15pm-5.40pm only: 
London Sea Shanty Collective
St Vedast-alias-Foster* 
4 Foster Ln, London EC2V 6HH, https://www.vedast.org.uk/ 

London Sea Shanty Collective are a community choir based in Dalston who love singing together and keeping shanties and songs of the sea alive and relevant to today. Almost everything they sing has been arranged, sometimes with a contemporary twist, by our members. A collective committed to social justice and equality, they welcome everyone to sing with them! Hear them perform at St Vedast alias Foster before having the chance to sing-along with them at Ye Olde Watling pub from 6.45pm.

Singalong Finale: 6.45pm-7.15pm

London Sea Shanty Collective
Ye Olde Watling
29 Watling St, Greater, London EC4M 9BR

The Wrenathon Vocal Marathon culminates at Ye Olde Watling pub, burned down in the Great Fire of London, and rebuilt out of old ship’s timbers by Sir Christopher Wren in 1668 to house his workers. Grab a drink and join together to sing-along with shanties and maritime songs with the London Sea Shanty Collective to culminate the day of song!

The festival offers a snapshot of musical life at the point of Wren’s death, three hundred years ago in 1723. This was the year of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the year Bach was appointed cantor in Leipzig; it was also a time of rebirth for London following outbreaks of bubonic plague and the Great Fire, with Henry Purcell at its forefront.

St Stephen Walbrook was the first church exclusively designed by Sir Christopher Wren of the 52 that were built by him following the Great Fire of London in 1666. Its design became the blueprint for the great dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, completed three decades later. Key to the major restoration of the church completed in 1987 is Henry Moore’s marble altar placed centrally under the Dome.

Baroquebusters: 22 April, 19:30-21:30

On Saturday 22 April the OAE presents one of their signature Baroquebusters concerts. From fellow-Londoner Handel to Bach, Albinoni and Pachalbel, this engaging and interactive concert of much-loved Baroque favourites offers a snapshot of musical life at the end of Wren’s life, exploring why these works are still so popular today. There will be an opportunity for the audience to meet the players and learn about their historical instruments.

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment:

The OAE is a pioneering orchestra of specialists on historical instruments founded in 1986. Performing repertoire on instruments (or replicas) from the time the music was written, they are not aiming to recreate the past, but to create something that is exciting now, using historical information. With no music director, the musicians call the shots, offering trailblazing performances of music from throughout history.

Important information:
There are no toilet facilities at the venue. The venue has limited accessibility, but provisions can be made for wheelchair users using the rear entrance to the church. Please make yourself known at the main entrance on arrival and we will assist you, and please purchase a wheelchair ticket.

The festival offers a snapshot of musical life at the point of Wren’s death, three hundred years ago in 1723. This was the year of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the year Bach was appointed cantor in Leipzig; it was also a time of rebirth for London following outbreaks of bubonic plague and the Great Fire, with Henry Purcell at its forefront.

St Stephen Walbrook was the first church exclusively designed by Sir Christopher Wren of the 52 that were built by him following the Great Fire of London in 1666. Its design became the blueprint for the great dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, completed three decades later. Key to the major restoration of the church completed in 1987 is Henry Moore’s marble altar placed centrally under the Dome.

Vivaldi: 21 April, 19:30-20:30

On Friday 21 April the festival continues with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons played by Kati Debretzeni, one of the OAE’s leaders. The Guardian writes of her, ‘Debretzeni’s joyful, spirited playing, precise but free, gives endless pleasure.’ Vivaldi’s cycle of four violin concertos, each depicting a season with visceral energy, is believed to have been completed in 1723, the year of Sir Christopher Wren’s death.

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment:

The OAE is a pioneering orchestra of specialists on historical instruments founded in 1986. Performing repertoire on instruments (or replicas) from the time the music was written, they are not aiming to recreate the past, but to create something that is exciting now, using historical information. With no music director, the musicians call the shots, offering trailblazing performances of music from throughout history.

Important information:
There are no toilet facilities at the venue. The venue has limited accessibility, but provisions can be made for wheelchair users using the rear entrance to the church. Please make yourself known at the main entrance on arrival and we will assist you, and please purchase a wheelchair ticket.

The festival offers a snapshot of musical life at the point of Wren’s death, three hundred years ago in 1723. This was the year of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the year Bach was appointed cantor in Leipzig; it was also a time of rebirth for London following outbreaks of bubonic plague and the Great Fire, with Henry Purcell at its forefront.

St Stephen Walbrook was the first church exclusively designed by Sir Christopher Wren of the 52 that were built by him following the Great Fire of London in 1666. Its design became the blueprint for the great dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, completed three decades later. Key to the major restoration of the church completed in 1987 is Henry Moore’s marble altar placed centrally under the Dome.

Purcell: 20 April, 18:30-19:30

On Thursday 20 April the OAE presents a 60-minute recital of music by Purcell, interspersed with atmospheric readings from the period. After bouts of bubonic plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666, Wren rebuilt the city whilst Purcell composed the music for its reviving theatre scene and newly opulent church and royal court.

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment:

The OAE is a pioneering orchestra of specialists on historical instruments founded in 1986. Performing repertoire on instruments (or replicas) from the time the music was written, they are not aiming to recreate the past, but to create something that is exciting now, using historical information. With no music director, the musicians call the shots, offering trailblazing performances of music from throughout history.

Important information:
There are no toilet facilities at the venue. The venue has limited accessibility, but provisions can be made for wheelchair users using the rear entrance to the church. Please make yourself known at the main entrance on arrival and we will assist you, and please purchase a wheelchair ticket.

A concert in St Mary’s Church featuring the premier of Aiming at Eternity a work about Sir Christopher Wren, for choir and flute and piano composed by Andrew Wilson in collaboration with the poet Stella Davis.  This will be performed by the Orlando Singers (conductor, Sam Hanson), with Ruth Molins (flute). The choir will also be singing music contemporary to Wren.