Sir Karl Jenkins - The Armed Man

We are pleased to announce the two date Concert Schedule of this powerful and compelling work: charting the growing menace of a descent into war, interspersed with moments of reflection. Commissioned for the millennium by the Royal Armouries and dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo crisis.
This unique work will take you on a journey of discovery and hope.

 
 

HAMILTON

St Paul’s Collegiate Chapel

77 Hukanui Road
Chartwell

Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 3.00pm

AUCKLAND

Holy Trinity Cathedral

Cnr St Stephens Ave & Parnell Rd
Parnell

Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 7.30pm

 
 

FEATURING

 
 
 

Sir Karl Jenkins

Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins,[1] CBE, FRAM, HonFLSW is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus" and the Adiemus album series; Palladio; The Armed Man; and his Requiem.

Jenkins was educated in music at Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music: of the latter, he is a fellow and an Associate. He joined the jazz-rock band Soft Machine in 1972 and became the group's lead songwriter in 1974. Jenkins continued to work with Soft Machine up to 1984, but has not been involved with any incarnation of the group since. Jenkins has composed music for advertisement campaigns and has won the industry prize twice.

This piece is one of Jenkins' most popular works, and is regularly performed by professional and amateur musicians. By March 2008 it had already seen 537 performances worldwide. Of the 348 UK performances, the majority were by non-professionals.

Jonathan Griffith Singers

Founded by conductor and educator Jonathan Griffith in 1987 as a chamber choir of 24 professional singers in Portland, Oregon, the Jonathan Griffith Singers is now a flexible ensemble of 80-120 amateur and professional singers from across the United States and Canada, based in New York City.

Members of the Jonathan Griffith Singers have performed in some of the world’s finest concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome, and the Cathedral Duomo of Pisa in Italy. Recognized for their appealing and accessible programming, the Singers perform a wide range of repertoire.

Recent performances include our 2019 Messiah… Refreshed Recording Project at Abbey Road Studios in London, a performance tour in Barcelona, and two concerts with Turkey’s Turksoy orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall in New York and at the Music Center at Strathmore in Maryland. In 2011, the Singers toured to Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Ares, Argentina performing Mozart’s Requiem and a work by Dinos Constantinides. In 2009, the Singers traveled to the People’s Republic of China, where they performed the Chinese premiere of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: Music for Peace with the celebrated Xin Ya Kong Qi Symphony Orchestra at Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall and Shanghai’s Oriental Arts Center. These highly anticipated concert events were recognized internationally, as they commemorated the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and China.

 

Jonathan Griffith

An acclaimed conductor, educator, and lecturer, Jonathan Griffith has led performances across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Maestro Griffith is co-founder and artistic director of Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), which has brought together, under his artistic leadership, thousands of musicians and choral singers in concert at prestigious venues across the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Disney Hall. The founder and music director of the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra, Maestro Griffith also oversees DCINY’s mentoring program for conductors.

He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 1989 and has conducted well over 150 performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center combined. In addition to the major works of the classical repertoire, conducting highlights includes the U.S. premieres of Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater, The Armed Man, and Te Deum, Sergei Taneyev’s Upon Reading a Psalm, Miloš Bok’s Missa Solemnis, Luigi Boccherini’s Villancicos, and Eugene Goossens’ reorchestration of Handel’s Messiah, along with world premieres by Eric Funk, Seymour Bernstein, and Robert Convery.