布莱顿节日合唱团 Brighton Festival Chorus

Brighton Festival Chorus (abbreviated to BFC) is a large choir of over 150 amateur singers based in Brighton, UK. One of the country's leading symphony choruses..,and considered "one of the jewels in the city's musical crown",BFC performs in major concert halls throughout Britain and Europe, particularly in Brighton and London. BFC has also made 10 appearances at the BBC Proms since its first Proms performance in 1986 and two of its many recordings of classical works have been nominated for Grammy awards. As of November 2015, the chorus has performed 579 works in 503 concerts and 80 recording sessions at 95 different venues. It has worked with 107 orchestras, 154 conductors, 716 soloists and 110 other choirs. BFC was formed by the Hungarian-born conductor Laszlo Heltay for the 1968 Brighton Festival specifically for a performance of Sir William Walton's large-scale cantata Belshazzar's Feast, conducted by the composer with the RPO at the Brighton Dome. The performance was a huge success and launched Brighton Festival Chorus as an important part of the music scene in Britain and, under Laszlo Heltay's directorship, one of the most successful choirs in the country, as well as becoming a "symbol of the festival".In the same year the chorus performed Mozart's Kyrie in D Minor (conducted by Sir Colin Davis with the BBCSO) and Kodály's Budavari Te Deum (conducted by Laszlo Heltay with the BPO). Building on this success, BFC performed three more concerts in Brighton in 1969, and in 1970 made its first recording: Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus with the LSO conducted by István Kertész. In 1972, BFC performed its first concerts outside Brighton, when it took part (as the English Bach Festival Chorus) in a series of concerts for the English Bach Festival (EBF). The first of these concerts, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms with the LSO conducted by Leonard Bernstein, marked BFC's first performance at theRoyal Albert Hall. This work was recorded, with the same forces, 2 days later at Abbey Road Studios. Three more concerts were performed by BFC for the EBF that year in Oxford and London. The following year saw a marked upturn in the number of BFC's engagements to perform, with 4 concerts in Brighton and Hove, 2 concerts in London, a recording ofJanáček's Glagolitic Mass and the chorus's first concert abroad: Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1975, BFC's recording of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass with the RPO under Rudolf Kempe was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Classical Performance - Choral" category. In 1976 the chorus began a long association with the conductor Antal Doráti, under whose baton the chorus performed in 18 concerts, mostly in the Royal Festival Hall, and made 5 recordings. The 1980s saw a marked upturn in BFC's concert and recording schedule. Overall, the decade saw BFC perform in 139 concerts (24 in 1988 alone - BFC's busiest year to date) and make 8 recordings. During the 1984 Brighton Festival, BFC performed the British premier of Penderecki's Te Deum, conducted by the composer, the performance being considered the musical high point of the Festival. In 1985, BFC began a series of engagements with the RPO under André Previn, including two performances of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé in that year; a performance and recording of Walton's Belshazzar's Feast and two performances and a recording of Tippett's A Child of Our Time in 1986; two further performances of Daphnis et Chloé in 1987; Brahms's German Requiem in 1988; and Beethoven's 9th Symphony in 1989. A recording of Tippet’s A Child of Our Time with the RPO under André Previnsaw BFC receive its 2nd Grammy nomination in the "Best Choral Performance" category In 1986, BFC performed for the first time at the BBC Proms, performing Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with the RPO under Vernon Handley. The following year, BFC took part in two promenade concerts, performing Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain under Pierre Boulez and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé with the RPO under André Previn. As well as an increase overall in concert and recording engagements, the decade also saw a significant increase in demand for BFC's services from overseas. The chorus undertook tours of Greece (1981), France (1985 and 1987), Spain (1988) The Netherlands (1988) and Belgium (1988) during the decade. BFC continued to be in demand with major orchestras in the UK and Europe during the 1990s, working under the baton of such conductors as Yehudi Menuhin (who became honorary President of the Chorus), Vladimir Ashkenazy, Richard Hickox and Mark Elder, who became honorary President of the Chorus following the death of Yehudi Menuhin in 1999. <a href="<a href=" https:="" en.wikipedia.org="" wiki="" brighton_festival_chorus'="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Festival_Chorus'>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Festival_Chorus