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Dear Friend of Hastings Philharmonic Choir
Welcome to our first, rather belated, newsletter of the 2025-26 season! And there's now just a week to go until our exciting autumn concert! This is a very special event for us this year, as we're joining Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra in celebrating their milestone 10th season!
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, the 'Choral'
O'Meara: No Man
20 November, 7pm at the White Rock Theatre, Hastings
Founded in 2016 under that auspices of Hastings Philharmonic Choir, HPO's opening concert included two magnificent works: Beethoven's iconic Ninth Symphony, the 'Choral', and a new special commission by Philip O'Meara, No Man.
Choir and Orchestra, together with soloists Helen May (soprano), Sarah Denbee (mezzo-soprano), Leonel Pinheiro (tenor) and Robert Winslade Anderson (bass), under the baton of Marcio da Silva, join forces to repeat that inaugural programme on Thursday 20th November, 7pm at the White Rock Theatre.
Beethoven extended musical boundaries when he integrated vocal soloists and a full chorus into the final movement ('Ode to Joy') of his Ninth Symphony in 1824 - the first time that a major composer had done such a thing. The work remains one of the most performed and revered in the classical repertoire.
O'Meara's No Man leads the listener on a musical and literary journey, from the 'No Man's Land' of war to the 'No Man is an Island' message of peace and unity of John Donne's famous sonnet. Drawing on texts in English, French and Latin by W.B. Yeats, Victor Hugo, Donne, the Psalms of the Bible and Friedrich Schiller; and weaving together the melodies of ancient Gregorian plainsong and a reforming of the famous theme from Beethoven's choral finale, No Man presents an 'Ode to Joy' for the modern age.
Tickets, priced from £10-£29.50, are available online via the choir's website: www.hastingsphilchoir.org.uk/autumnconcert2025
or in person from the White Rock Theatre Box Office.
Don't miss this momentous concert - book now!
 Table of Contents - Carols for All, Saturday 13 December, 2025, 5pm at Christ Church, St Leonards
- HPC Spring Concert, Saturday 14 March 2026, 7pm at Christ Church, St Leonards
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