On Saturday, 4th March, Emma will sing as the alto soloist in Mozart’s arrangement of Handel’s Messiah, with conductor Dirkjan Horringa and La Pellegrina choir and orchestra. Mozart arranged Handel’s Messiah in 1789. It was intended for use in private concerts hosted by Baron van Swieten in Vienna. As well as promoting contemporary composers such as Mozart, Hadyn, and Beethoven, Baron van Swieten also (and unusually) arranged concerts of music by deceased composers such as J.S. Bach and Handel.

Mozart arranged Handel’s Messiah for a private concert hosted by van Swieten on 6^th March, 1789, almost thirty years after Handel’s death. Mozart himself conducted. For more information about Mozart’s arrangement of the Messiah, click here.

The concert will take place at 20:15 in the Rehobothkerk, Briljantlaan 6, Utrecht. Tickets (€18/€15) are available at the door, and may be reserved in advance with a reduced fee (€15/€12) here.

On Sunday, 19^th February the Leidse Cantorij, under conductor Hans Brons, will give the first performance of Emma’s new motet, Jesu Mihi Omnia, during Evensong in the Dorpskerk in Leiderdorp, the Netherlands. The motet is also programmed for Evensong in Utrecht Cathedral on 2nd March at 19:00, and in the Hooglandse Kerk in Leiden.

The text for the motet is from the gravestone of the (allegorical) fifteenth-century esotericist, Christian Rosenkreutz.

Piano and clarinet by Aruko-chan, ©2009-2017 Aruko-chan

Whereas most lieder are written for solo voice and piano, there is some repertoire for voice and ensembles – a form of chamber music, if you will. Clarinettist John Macfarlane has invited Emma to sing a programme of music for voice, clarinet, and piano, together with pianist Hein Putter. The repertoire includes an arrangement of Brahms’ Gestillte Sehnsucht and Geistliches Wiegenlied (originally composed for voice, viola, and piano), songs by Louis Spohr and Margot Wright, and Three Folksongs arranged for voice, clarinet, and piano by John McCabe.

The trio will perform on Wednesday, 25^th January at 17:00 at the LUMC Boerhaaveplein and on Saturday, 4^th February at the Oxford and Cambridge Society of the Netherlands’ Candlemas evening (members and their guests only).

2016 has been a wonderful year with a huge variety of experiences, including Remembrance ceremonies in Normandy and Ypres, concerts for veterans, singing in Tattoos in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland, oratorio solos, Lied recitals, and thigh-slapping as King Arthur in The Hague’s expat pantomime. It is now two and a half years since I graduated and I would like to use this moment to reflect.

One of the lessons I have learned is that the most satisfactory performances are often nicely unexpected. I first realized this one rainy day back in March, 2010. A friend called me with a rotten cold to ask if I would replace her singing ‘Ave Maria.’ It turned out that I was to sing to a terminally-ill lady in a hospital. I found it very difficult to hold back my tears, knowing that this lady was soon to die and leave her daughters behind.

That same day, I sang for the first time at the Dutch National Opera. A conductor had invited a group of conservatoire students, myself included, to sing as a chamber choir in Dallapiccola’s opera “Il Priggioniero.” I was twenty-four and singing in a world-famous opera house: a potential moment for excitement, even pride. Instead, my thoughts turned back to the seven people in the hospital.

After I graduated, I spent the best part of a year earning through singing alone. Whilst I enjoy singing, I find networking, self-promotion and auditioning tiring, expensive, and demotivating. I therefore decided to be more selective about where and what I sang. Since then, many interesting opportunities have opened to me. In particular, singing with the Band of Liberation and the West Yorkshire Police Band at remembrance ceremonies in Normandy, Ypres and the Netherlands. 

Remembrance ceremonies are humbling. As I stood preparing to sing during the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate on Armistice Day, I noticed the plaque on the wall: “To the armies of the British Empire who stood here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave.” My stomach turned. I had mistakenly thought the thousands of names on the gate were of all those who died in Flanders. But the names are in fact only those who went missing in the battle of Ypres alone: a mere fraction of the total losses.

When one sings at a remembrance ceremony, a children’s hospice, or an old people’s home, it does not feel like a performance, but like an act of service. There is very little I can do to atone for the war dead or for the traumas of survivors. But I can sing, and maybe, though singing, I can show my respect to them and my gratitude for the freedom and comfort in which we live today.

And this is where I find satisfaction in my work: in singing as serving. Of course, it is thrilling when large audiences are appreciative – I will not easily forget the sound of 11,000 people clapping at cheering at the Belfast Tattoo – but the most beautiful moments are when one feels a sense of duty done.

There are already several performances planned for 2017 including remembrance ceremonies in Normandy and Flanders, military tattoos, lied recitals and oratoria.

Men and Brass

On Friday, 16^th December, Emma Brown will sing as the guest soloist with ‘s-Gravenzands Male Voice Choir ‘Eendracht Maakt Macht,’ Westland Brass Band, organist Patrick Hopper, and conductor Freek Elbers. Emma sang with the ‘s-Gravenzands Male Voice Choir when she was a student in 2014. She is delighted to have been invited back.

The concert begins at 20:00 in the Dorpskerk in ‘s-Gravenzands. Tickets, costing €10,00, are available on the door.

O Nata Lux

On Sunday, 18th December, the Leidse Cantorij will perform Emma’s motet “O Nata Lux” in their Advent Concert. Entrance is free: afterwards there is a collection for the choir. The concert begins at 20:00 in the Hooglandse Kerk in Leiden.

Salon Concert

Meanwhile on Christmas Eve, Emma will be singing in a Salon Concert in the Eemwijkplein series.

Lof sy dat soete kindeken cleyn

On Christmas Eve, Emma’s motet “Lof sy dat soete kindeken cleyn” will be sung by Cantiamo with conductor Nicky Bouwers in De Bron church in Krimpen aan den IJssel. The concert starts at 21:00. Emma is thrilled that her music is to be performed.

Vespers in Amsterdam

Emma will be singing as a guest soloist in the Christmas Eve Vespers in the Thomaskerk in Amsterdam at 17:30. This short church service will last about an hour.

Xenia Christmas Bruch

Emma ends her Christmas singing in the intimate atmosphere of the Xenia children’s hospice in Leiden, where she will sing during their annual Christmas brunch.

A very Merry Christmas one and all! 

On Sunday, 11^th December, Emma will sing at a Worldwide Candle Lighting Ceremony (Wereld Lichtjesdag) to honour the memory of children and young people and to show compassion to their families. This tradition began in the US in 1997. All around the world, on the second Sunday of December, candles are lit at 19:00 local time.

In Leiden, the Netherlands, the ceremony will be held in the Hooglandse Kerk. The famous family therapist, Else-Marie van den Eerenbeemt, will lead the ceremony. Emma will sing ‘Londonderry Air,’ the song of mother parting with her son, and the lullaby “Wiegala” by Ilse Weber. Ilse Weber was a children’s nurse in Theresienstadt during the Second World War. When the children in her care were sent to Auschwitz, she accompanied them voluntarily, even into the gas chamber. Her simple lullaby is beautiful and haunting.

The event has been organised in Leiden by Xenia Children’s Hospice.

The ceremony begins at 18:45, with the doors open from 18:15. All are welcome.